This is almost certainly too late for the OP, but for others who have a similar problem, reducing the size of round connectors is described elsewhere on the forum. Once the correct round size is reached, then you can get to rectangular by using a heatgun and a piece of wood made the same size as...
Several years ago I made a cyclone. It caught most of what came in, but the top to my bucket was a sheet of MDF. That stuff is unbelievably leaky. I gave it a few coats of paint which made a difference
Now as to your cyclone, the one I made was a design by Bill Pentz, http://www.billpentz.com...
I suppose facebook might help some, but I like many others I don't use facebook, twitter, or any other so called "social" websites. Forums are as near as I get.
There's probably not enough time now, perhaps change the lesson content? He could approach flooring companies for some off-cuts. They probably take bits of 3/4" oak home to burn on the fire.
Don;t waste valuable drawer space, put it in the bin.
Rather than blow dust, suck it. Rig up a bracket to hold a vacuum pipe near the blade, and use a HEPA filter. Wood dust is bad news, just watch someone die from wood dust induced emphysema.
Geoff, I have an old cast iron table with a slot, and there is a big-ish cutout to allow the table to tilt. This seems quite a large hole. Does the new table have a smaller slot? If you say the removable insert gives little benefit, I won't bother with it.
It is best to use suction to collect the dust if possible (and even better to have the exhaust routed outside). If you use a mask, you avoid breathing the dust directly from the saw, but there is plenty that floats and plenty that settles on your clothing which then gets thrown around when you...
Flourescent lights are available from 6" and upwards. If you use flourescent make sure they are high frequency or you will get strobe effects from the blade. A better light would be a LED strip. They are available to fit in the standard flourescent holders. They are more expensive, last longer...