Just got my Shapeoko 5 Pro and building a stand for it. Do you get much dust down thru the bed underneath the machine?
Scott
Just got my Shapeoko 5 Pro and building a stand for it. Do you get much dust down thru the bed underneath the machine?
Scott
In my shop dust and chips get everywhere… including under the machine. Using good dust collection helps a ton though.
Thanks for the reply.
Do you think a cyclone like the Mullet and a good shop vac is enough or do I need to step up to a real dust collector?
Scott
I’ve had good results with a good shop vac and dust collectors. But using a cyclone seperator does help a lot on either. If you do long carves, you might want to go dust collector.
In a noise-induced, migraine-fueled rage, I bought a cyclone (Oneida Ultimate Dust Deputy — this is before the Mullet was available) and a “dust extractor” (a Festool CT Midi) and it has worked well for cuts which have lasted so long as to make the finance committee (my wife) almost as mad as when I bought it.
It’s rare that I turn on a shop vac type vacuum without a cyclone on it. I have Oneida, one from Kreg and Home Depot version. The small ones that sit on a 5 gallon bucket work very good for the lower CFM flow of a shop vac. I have been impressed with the dust collection on my S5Pro and is there chips to clean up, yes. But I don’t breath in the chips and thats part of wood working.
Shop vacs are noisy, I use hearing protection. Just part of machining.
The Mullet works well for me to capture the bulk of chips and dust. I use a Dewalt stealthsonic for a vacuum. A cyclone will significantly help using up vacuum bags.
The dust collection at the Sweepy is the main source of extra dust migrating around the shop.
There is nothing wrong with the Sweepy ( I suggest the Deep version for noise reasons ), but it does not completely pickup everything.
You will have dust under/over/around the work area no matter what you do.
I am in my garage. My leaf blower is the primary tool for mass cleanup.
A broom and a second vacuum to pick up debris.
I would strongly consider the noise factor with dust collection. I have a big cyclonic dust collection system in my shop but for my Shapeoko I use a Dewalt Quiet shop vac with the Dewalt cyclone separator. It is much quieter than my main dust collection system and works as well as any dust collection system can work with a CNC machine.
I can be running the CNC machine for several hours and the noise is a major factor to consider with running dust collection along with my standard router. I would go for the quietest possible solution which is probably the Dewalt combination.
Dust and chips are like a thief. You can stop them you can only slow them down.
Anywhere that chips can go they will go. Simple as that.
A good dust boot and vac setup goes along way. Run a pwncnc boot and it’s piped into my shop dust collection system. 3 hp with a cyclone. Currently with a 35 gallon bin that fills twice a day. Eventually I’ll save some money for a rotary valve and a transfer blower to blow it straight out into my dump trailer.
I use a Stealth Sonic shopvac and an Oneida Dust Deputy. The five gallon bucket it was designed for filled up way too often though so I got a 40 gallon trashcan and machined a top for it. There is a weather strip for a window under the top to make a good air seal. The screw downs are 3D printed but you can do the same thing with some hooks, wingnuts, and washers.
I’ve eliminated most dust by using a filter bag that fits right inside the shop vac. From home Depot, VF3502 Rigid High Efficiency dry pick up dust bags. Fits 12-16 gal shop vac