Sweepy - The Dustboot that sucks

Agreed, it makes me wonder if they tested this well after the production run as I ran into the design issue my first job.

It was tested, with many iterations — it’s unfortunate that the prototypes weren’t all kept — my understanding is @wmoy’s favourite was a version without any bristles

I’ve been considering a revisiting of that, and making a temporary shoe which would allow me to use a cache of old transparency films I rescued from the trash as dust skirts — obviously that will be this evening’s project (as opposed to cutting up aluminum extrusion to make parallels or making a run to Harbor Freight for a set).

Does anyone know where to get a hose that fits these? I have no less than 4 vacs and probably a dozen hose and adapter sizes, I can’t find anything that fits. A few came close to fitting over the outside, but the design of the Sweepy doesn’t allow that.

It was designed around a festool/Fein but the ID is 35-36mm and @SLCJedi has actually designed an adaptor for it if you don’y like using small diameter hoses (which we’d recommend)

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As @Luke noted, Festool hoses fit (inside), and folks have designed adapters.

This commercially available adapter works:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WAAFXA

and I think a universal one will work if one cuts away the unnecessary parts.

There was also a hose posted to the Unofficial Facebook group which was noted as working well.

The brush is easy to remove. Was not glued in place on my Sweepy, just a press fit. Replaced with some brush I had on hand for my homemade dust boot (in image back ground).

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To clarify, my favorite was whichever one was the right fit for what I was cutting. Going bristle-free is desirable when you’re using a shorter endmill, like our 102 1/8". It doesn’t stick far enough out of the collet and would cause the standard bristle length to compress excessively, especially as your cut depth approaches 1/2". Bristle-less does not provide the best containment, but with a modest vacuum it is enough to more than neutralize the router downdraft, preventing smaller airborne particles from escaping. Bigger chips will still be flung outward, but they will settle quickly.

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Since we don’t have or can afford Festool/Fein, I understand that the port fits ShopVac hoses that have a 2 1/2" connections at one end to a smaller one at the other end. I can’t see one that has 35mm but there are some that go to 1.25in.

Personally I’m not a fan of the new item based on the specs but I have not tried it. My issues are that it was designed for a vacuum system that has unique sizing and not overly popular in North America and it attached to spindle.

I guess that you can’t hit a homerun everytime.

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I used one of those universal hose adapters that have step-ridges (see below… not exact one maybe but similar) I cut off the first two levels, and sanded the third until I got a tight press fit sufficient enough to be air-tight. May add epoxy or something later, maybe not. This connects to the previous hose that was connected to my suck-it boot. I hope there will be future products that have metric and imperial parts to add potential issues/confusion for us to work-around. :roll_eyes:

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I confuse easily; does this mean you recommend small diameter hoses or you recommend that we don’t like small diameter hoses.

Well, I ordered the one from amazon, we’ll see how it works. I was just surprised how small it is, but the small hoses I have are too small. Crazy how many sizes of hoses there are, even within the same brands.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000AV78B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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Where get one obtain these bristles?

I have a smaller Ridgid vac on a table next to my Shapeoko XXL that was too small for the Sweepy hose opening (1.25" diameter). I 3D printed an adapter that seems to work OK - it just needs a bit of electrical tape around the outside to help seal it. A link to the STL file is below if you want to print one yourself.

Sweepy_Adapter_2.stl (1.2 MB)

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Where can I find the adaptor you referenced above? I ran into an issue with my hose/adapter setup because it needs to be offset to avoid hitting the router mount. I found this on thingiverse which appears to address the issue, but haven’t had the chance to try it out yet:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4148321

Perhaps it would be possible in the future to supply an adapter for both of the hose sizes so that one is not limited to a choice based solely on the router being used?

plenty of options on amazon: https://amzn.to/37l6ekJ

Also, have you googled “standing broom NASA” I think there is a viral hoax about what you’re going through.

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I got the 2" strip brush from Grainger (https://www.grainger.com/) some years ago for my homemade dust boot. The plastic bristle binding is a little too wide for the Sweepy, so I shaved it down to a press fit with a sharp utility knife. Took about 15 minutes to change out the original shorter brush. Sorry, I no longer remember just what brush I purchased.

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I made my own adapter for the suckit dust boot. It seems like you could mill your own adapter for about any setup you have. You could make one that fits on the outside if you have a larger hose if needed.

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Adding my hose adaptor 2.5 design to the mix. Let me know if anyone wants the STL.

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When will they start being sold separately? Is it possible to preorder?