Overhead Dust Collection

If anyone is looking for a solution to having your setup contained in a single unit, this is what I did.

Not the best looking setup but it works pretty decent.

2" PVC for overhead dust collection setup.

Additional blast gate for extra hose to clean up.

Rolls around and holds material, bits, dust collector, etc…all in one.





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Let us see a picture…

Edit:
Sorry, my laptop is slow…

Looks good

I like that idea, it keeps things tidy and negates a ceiling mount. Might need some tweaking if you want to put an enclosure on the machine.
I really like how you’ve used the machine base as storage for offcuts. I’m definitely stealing that idea.

An enclosure was an idea I had prior to ordering it. I have room inside of the PVC and it is also adjustable vertically. This is my third setup in 3 months since purchasing so it will likely continue to evolve.

Love your setup @dpcrawford50! Mine is not nearly as pretty - I went the ceiling mount option - but wanted to share this anti-static tinsel:

It’s worked really well, have not shocked the snot out of myself since I installed it. I have a bare ground wire at the ceiling (going to my water heater) that I was able to wrap around.

Another tip for anyone trying to connect your shop vac with some PVC - I used 2 inch PVC and heated up the end with my heat gun, then crammed in the end of my 2.25" shop vac hose, ran it under water to cool quickly. It works perfect, nice tight pressure fit that I can disconnect and use elsewhere. No reason to pay a bunch of $ for custom connectors!

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Your setup looks good. I used to have an SO3 XL and this is what I did. The boom could pivot if it had to but it never had to.

My setup used 1.5" electrical conduit. I used the Shapeoko to mill out the black blocks and then glued them onto the end of the conduits. The very base on the table top was screwed down but it could pivot and was not glued in. Gravity held it in place. The key was getting tight fitting connections from the black cubes which were painted oak. The conduit was painted silver. I wanted mine to look neat as well.

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Instead of a 90 degree elbow, do two 45 degree. It will have less turbulence in the airflow.

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Thanks! New owner here and I just knew there was a better option than my ladder and bungee cord!

I use my ceiling and bungee cord. :smiley: Some folks have come up with cool, hinged arms that work great too.

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I’ve collapsed a five gallon bucket with my system when I developed a clog in the hose. I’m curious how your square bin will work.

Its extremely sturdy. Its made for dog food ($40 at Chewys). The lids either open as a trap door (in case you suck something up you shouldn’t have) or the entire lid comes off. Both ways is just a handle that locks it in. There is a nice gasket all around the lid and basically air tight. Even under the heaviest of loads or clogs, I have only seen the sides move inward about 1/4" total. I can’t imagine what it would take to collapse a 5 gallon bucket. You must have a hell of a vacuum or dust collector.

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The Home Depot “Homer” buckets are being made thinnner.

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yeah they need to be doubled up these days :confused:

Wonder if you can just add some bracing to the buckets. Maybe a 1x1 across the middle in an X pattern?

Also wonder if they need to be air tight, or if a small pin hole might help with that?

BTW, the square bucket has been in use for about 1.5 years.

Here is my Shapeoko 3 XXL overhead dust collection. The only issue and it is rare is the support is screwed to the back of my table. So if I want to put a long piece on the spoilboard I have to unscrew the support post. That is very rare so for the most part it just stays where it is. Someone had made a bracket for their Z-Plus to guide the clear plastic tube for DC. I downloaded it and made one for my HDZ. Hidden behind the dropping hose is about 18" of clear tubing. The bracket keeps the tube supported and the bracket is attached to the top of the HDZ and moves up and down with the Z axis.

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And handy to be able to flip up a lid to fish out a part. I’ll be looking into one.

HI Dan.
Hew guy Jim, here…just finishing building a Shapeoko pro XXL and I was wondering about the dust collection tubing you used. I guess clear and flexible are the way to go. Any particular specs on the tubing itself?
Thanks for helping a newbie.

Peachtree sells a conductive dust collection hose as well as others. The conductive ones are about the same price a ones that do state they are conductive.

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Hi Jim,

I picked up “Clear Flexible Dust Collection Hose - 2-1/2” Diameter" hose from Rockler.

Search that and you’ll find it.

It has worked good and I was able to cut easily.

Dan

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