I’m really enjoying my Shapeoko but one issue I’m running into is around dust collection. When i first started using it, dust collection was great and easy but as I’ve been using it more, some of the bristles on sweepy have been bent inward causing dust and chips to get caught there and stopping a lot of the dust collection from being effective.
I’m wondering if anyone has any ideas about how to fix this. At this point I’m thinking about trying to cut off some of those inner bristles to open it up again but i feel like that’s just going to allow other ones to get bent in the same way causing the same problem again.
I run my Sweepy a little higher to prevent this as much. It’s a balance between the two, I’m looking to remove dust more than I am wood chips. I’m at my machine when running it and can vacuum up the chips if needed on a long operation. Seems to make sense to cut out some of the bristles at this point in your case. I have always looked at the Sweepy as a consumable item for the machine for my purposes.
Some folks have asked after the brushes used for the Sweepy w/ an eye towards replacement — pretty sure we get them from McMaster-Carr — that said, usually by the time mine get to the point of needing to be replaced the plastic is sufficiently scuffed up and cloudy that replacement is a workable option (says the guy who gets his for free).
