Dust Collection Option

I see this topic had been bounced around and some cool solutions. I will be running the Nomad in my house so don’t really have a work shop or tools to make something sophisticated. We are going to put a counter and cabinet along one wall so we can store stuff out of sight and still use the room. As I read I’m a little concerned by the possibility of dust and trying to find a simple solution that might work for me. I was playing around with SketchUp and a Nomad model and wondering about doing something like the attached image, rather than cutting into the Nomad sides and such, if I can build a collection plate with sloped sides, that could be mounted to the wood counter, drill a hole that would allow the dust and chips that falls through the Nomad’s bottom plate to fall into the collector and I would put a small vacuum inside the cabinet. I was thinking this might be quieter, create suction that would pull the dust down into the vacuum and prevent me from having a guest room with the Nomad and all sorts of hoses popping around it. Your thoughts?

PS. My Nomad should be in house in another two weeks or so.

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Welcome!

Interesting idea! I also run mine in an office where dust is discouraged instead of a workshop Your thoughts run along the same path as mine, except I was thinking a drawer that pulls out on the front which can be dumped instead of the sloped collection plate.

Unfortunately I doubt the suction from below would provide a noticeable effect up above. Ultimately I just pause the job from time to time and swoop in with a small shopvac to clear a majority of the chips from the top and then deal with that which falls through the slots every month or so.

I have heard of others sealing around the door with some rubber or tape strips to keep dust in but I have not done that myself.

I find that is usually enough to keep me out of dust trouble but in full disclosure I do a majority of cutting on metals and plastics where fine dust is less of an issue.

PS. In your design keep an eye on those slots behind the gantry legs - either block them up or find a way to collect what falls through.

Hope that helps!

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Ah, thanks. I just came back to delete the post because I figure I was getting carried away. :slight_smile: I appreciate the feedback. I may get additional ideas when I have the unit.

Great community here by the way.

Thanks.

That might do a good job for the breathable dust, especially if you gasket for a good air flow path inside the machine. I would have concern about small chips and particles getting pulled under the bedplate, onto the rails, and into the area of the Y axis leadscrew, though… Those ares are tough to keep clean, as it is. If you go with this, I would suggest that you make sure you have easy access to the underside for inspection and cleaning.

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Yeah, having negative pressure in the machine and ensuring that nothing gets out is a good idea. I kind of wonder how well this design would work with one of the spindle fans which folks were trying out earlier (I did one out of blue painter’s tape, but was quite taken aback by how thoroughly it distributed the dust.)

There have been a couple of dust shoe designs published for the Nomad here, e.g.,

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I might end up seeing if I can buy a dust boot from someone if it comes to that,. Be nice if there was an off the shelf solution but I guess I should wait until I get the machine to sort out what works.

I actually had another idea last night but will have to see the Nomad up close to see how it is built to see if it makes sense. I was thinking that maybe the wood side panels could be moved out a half inch or so, then the access to the area under the bedplate from those sides blocked - maybe by a sheet of acrylic that goes no higher than the bedplate. This would provide a trough or a moat around the bed and maybe the suction could pull/blow the dust to the sides and out.

Anyway back to my day job. Thanks.

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