Dust extraction

[willdunn]

Hi All,

Im looking into buying a dust extractor for use with my Record lathe, and im hoping you can offer some advice.

Is it possible to position the dust extractor hose so you can collect the majority of shavings and saw dust from the lathe? If so how do you keep the hose in position?

How loud are dust extractors? Are they quieter than a vacuum cleaner?

Can anyone reccomend a cheap-ish dust extractor for use with a lathe?

And has anyone got any pics of how they have a dust extractor setup with their lathe?

Thanks in advance!

Will

 

[Paul.J]

Hello Will and welcome
I have a 2hp extractor that is outside my ws in the shed part,which has two 4" hoses coming from it.One is coming through the wall into the ws which is by the headstock all the time and the other is positioned at the front of the lathe headstock or where i need it.
The chippings/shavings will soon fill your extractor/vac,but it is the fine dust you want to remove as best you can so position the hose where the dust is flying off the piece you are turning,usually at the back of the piece when your sanding.
They can be noisey

 

[CHJ]

Welcome to the forum Will, chip/dust extractors regardless of hose positioning will only catch a small percentage of the chippings from turning (unless you reposition them for every cut sequence) what they will do quite effectively if you have a large enough air volume capability, is remove the majority of the dust produced.

And here is the rub, most cheap Chip collectors have fairly coarse filters and just serve to redistribute the fine harmful dust.
Larger power units can still provide adequate air movement with a fine cartridge filter fitted but are at the more expensive end of the scale.

Myself and several other people compromise by placing the Chip extractor fitted with an coarse filter, to increase air flow, outside of the workshop.

This of course has the disadvantage that it dumps warm shop air in the winter, and relies on you having a location that will not be a hazard or a nuisance to others.

Noise can be very obtrusive if in a small workshop.

 

[cornucopia]

hello and welcome will
i use camvac machines, i have two machines situated outside the workshop for noise and heat reasons- piped in seperatley. i only want these machines to remove dust as some days i can prodouce several bags of shavings.

 

[TEP]

Mornin' Will.

Sounds like your just setting up your workshop, so unless money is no problem :wink: , my suggestion is that you concentrate on collecting/removing the fine air borne dust, and forget the wood chip for now. The mess of shavings you can clean up easily, the real problem is the fine dust air borne dust you will be breathing in, GET RID OF IT!

You can always buy another brush, but you can't get a new pair of lungs.

ps - Welcome to the forum.

 

[tekno.mage]

Hi Will,

I rencently bought a cheap(ish) Axminster WV100 Dust Extractor & an Axminster Bendi--Hoze to use with my lathe. I make no attempt whatever to collect shavings in it when they are being produced, but use it whenever I'm sanding on the lathe. I stand the extractor behind the lathe near the tailstock end and have the Bendi-Hoze mounted on the back of the lathe stand near the headstock end which lets me re-position it to catch the sanding dust in different positions.

The system seems to work very well - the extractor has massively more suction than the Henry vacuum cleaner (which I used to use for dust extraction) and careful positioning of the nozzle on the Bendi-Hoze results in the satisfaction of seeing a continual stream of dust vanishing down it whilst sanding (along with the sandpaper if I don't pay attention when hand-sanding). It works really well for power-sanding although doesn't remove the dust that builds up inside a bowl until the lathe stops.

I mounted the Bendi-Hoze in such a way that I can easily remove the extractor hose to use the extractor as a shop vacuum around the lathe as well. I tend to "gather-up" piles of shavings whilst I am working & put them in sacks (I hate standing in heaps of them) but the extractor is brilliant for quickly removing the residue from the floor & the lathe at the end of a session.

The WV100 extractor is large enough for my requirements and doesn't take up much room. It is easy to empty, and the paper filters are cheap & easy to change. It comes with an acoustic hood, but I wouldn't call it quiet in operation (although it is a bit quieter than a Henry vacuum cleaner). One word of warning if using it as a workshop vacuum cleaner - it very easily eats small tools!

The Axminster Bendi-Hoze is cheap and does the job, although I have seen much better versions of this idea, but at significantly higher cost. The Axminster one is a bit stiff to move and made of the sort opf plastic that would break easily if crushed or had something heavy dropped on it. I always swing mine out of the lathe "line of fire" when not actually sanding.

tekno.mage

 

[greybeard]

Hi Will

This is all based on my w/shop - ha ha - it's a 8x6 garden shed, with a huge amount of not necessarily woodworking 'stuff' in it.

I go with the flow on this - focus on the small stuff, take 5 now and then to clear the chips and shavings. An ordinary dustpan and brush does the job ok for me - or a large shovel if I've been turning green wood!

I wear a mask whatever I'm doing on the lathe if the lathe is turning. I switch on a Microclene permanently wedged beside the headstock whenever I do any sanding. It's not particularly quiet, but then it's not too noisy either - more importantly I can see the cloud of tiny bits heading it's way - perfect!

I also have a Record basic dust/chip collector, but I use it as a kind of vacuum cleaner - I found it just too noisy to be able to use it pro-actively.

Which leads me on to my - I think! - most important recommendation. That's to wear some kind of air filter/mask. For several reasons....
It'll help protect your lungs/throat from the dust.
It'll help protect your "surface orifices/openings" - that's eyes, nose, mouth (and possibly ears) - from the dust.
If it's a rigid mask type it'll also help protect your no doubt amazing good looks when a workpiece disntegrates at 2,500 rpm 15 inches away from your face (that's only got to happen once and suddenly the awful price - and they are an awful price - takes on an aura of a sensible investment)

Good luck!

 

[fraggleexport]

resurrecting and old but still relevant thread chaps.....

I have installed my SIP dust extractor which come with 100mm pipe but seems unwilling to bend any which way Id like it to, so must assume this is for fixed installation.....looking through this post the Axminster bendi pipe seems just what Im after.
http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-bendi-hoze

but being on a budget £40 seems a lot of cash for one little pipe. Am I being unrealistic? Is there anything else on the market (not neccesarily wood specific market) that would make a good alternative? Im only really after using it for the lathe

Thanks Kevin

 

[Jamie Copeland]

Hi Will

Welcome to the forum.

I've just bought a SIP 01924 dust extractor on eBay for £137.99 and I'm very pleased with it. I spent a long time searching the net for reviews on various makes and eventually came to the conclusion that this one would be suitable for my needs and is powerful enough at 1hp. You'll need to have a good quality dust bag on the thing otherwise the dust just flies out which is contour productive! I would say that it's not as loud as a vacuum cleaner in my opinion.

In my workshop I also use a Record Power AC400 air cleaner and when I'm working with wood I have a Trend air-shield face mask. Those three items have probably cost me about £500-600, but you only get one set of lungs so I figure I might as well pay to protect them.

Jamie

 

[finneyb]

+1 for not collecting chips.
For sanding you could try the IKEA sanding hood ikea-sanding-hood-t78762.html?hilit=
Brian