Dust collection on planer Metabo HC260C and clones

[Arutha]

I have a planer/thicknesser that looks like the Metabo HC260C. I've seen many of these with different labels.

I'm thinking about the dust collection on this planer, and how it might be improved upon. I find the design a bit strange, and don't know if there's a reason to the design, or if it just happened to be easy to produce the dust collection attachment like this.

The dust extractor attachment is in two parts. One is permanently fixed to the planer (with the square opening). The other is placed on top of this when using the thicknesser (and this part is also used under the bed when using it in planer mode).

I'm attaching a few photos. Sorry for the un-focused photos - I used my mobile phone camera. Should have used my real camera instead.

A few points:

1. To begin with, it's just 100 mm (as is quite usual for consumer machines)
2. The 100 mm opening is virtually cut in half because there's a piece of plastic that covers almost half the opening.
3. The rectangular opening over the cutter gets more and more narrow before the dust needs to get past a corner before getting to
the round part where you connect the hose.

Is this just bad design? has anyone made any DIY improvements?

I'm thinking about cutting away the part that blocks half of the round section. But not sure if that would help much.

I'm also thinking of selling this planer and buying a better (more expensive) planer/thicknesser with proper dust extraction (and maybe a fence that is possible to set to 90 degrees, which this one is not - I've permanently fixed it to 89 degrees or so, which is as close as I can manage).

 

[RogerP]

I've had one for years, mine is a SIP but same thing, chip collection whilst not perfect is quite adequate. I have it connected to an Axi single bag extractor. Does the job.

 

[slemishwoodcrafts]

I have this one in elektra Beckum colours and have often thought about cutting out the plastic that blocks half the extraction port.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RogerP]

It's worth bearing in mind that these machines are really chip collectors - not dust collectors.

 

[slemishwoodcrafts]

Chip or dust collectors having half the extraction port blocked will surely have an adverse effect. Going to cut mine out tonight and see how I get on


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Arutha]

It's worth bearing in mind that these machines are really chip collectors - not dust collectors.

I guess that's correct. Though I notice that if I don't use the dust collector, I cough a lot after planing for a while. I don't cough if I use it. However, that probably just mean that I still breathe the smallest dust, but it's so small that it doesn't make me cough.

I wonder which planer/thicknessers have real dust collection, and not just chip collecton? The cast iron ones, like the Hammer A3-31?

 

[Arutha]

Chip or dust collectors having half the extraction port blocked will surely have an adverse effect. Going to cut mine out tonight and see how I get on


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Intersting. Please report your observations here. I have been thinking of doing the same thing myself.

 

[RogerP]

It's worth bearing in mind that these machines are really chip collectors - not dust collectors.

I guess that's correct. Though I notice that if I don't use the dust collector, I cough a lot after planing for a while. I don't cough if I use it. However, that probably just mean that I still breathe the smallest dust, but it's so small that it doesn't make me cough.

I wonder which planer/thicknessers have real dust collection, and not just chip collecton? The cast iron ones, like the Hammer A3-31?

Something like this Record Air Filter?

 

[Harbo]

I use mine with a Record DX5000 and have no problem with it, poor design or not.

Rod

 

[Steve Maskery]

Wait!
That half-blocking arrangement is, in fact, something that INCREASES efficiency. There is some scientific name for it. I forget what. It might be the Bernoulli effect or the Venturi effect, one of those or something like it.

However, I do agree with you that in general it is a poor and not very user-friendly design. We have the same at the Community Workshop. It's pants really, especially when in planing mode.

I'm not sure that there is very much you can do about it, TBH, and I have given this some considerable thought. I wanted to improve ours at the CW, but the only thing I could come up with was a couple of boxes and was told that they simply would not be used. People prefer to let it go everywhere and then sweep up. Sigh.

 

[MattRoberts]

It's Bernoulli's principle - the faster moving the fluid (in this case air) the lower the pressure.

I'm not sure that's necessarily a benefit though. HVLP chip extractors rely on moving high volumes of air, as opposed to using pressure. Would be interesting to see if removing it helps

 

[Arutha]

How does the dust collection work for others on this machine?

For me, it works ok in planing mode, but in thicknessing mode, there's loads of chips that don't get collected. You need to be careful to not get chips caught under the board being thicknessed.

It might, of course, be caused by my 1 hp dust collector (being too small). I'll report back when I have my new dust collector set up.

 

[Hemsby]

May be of some interest to you. For my Elektra Beckum I made a new chute for the top of the machine as the original suffered with blockages in thickness mode.

elektra-beckum-260-p-t-chip-chute-size-t99425.html

 

[Arutha]

May be of some interest to you. For my Elektra Beckum I made a new chute for the top of the machine as the original suffered with blockages in thickness mode.

elektra-beckum-260-p-t-chip-chute-size-t99425.html

Thanks! I assume you use the old chute when in planing mode?

I've actually been thinking of making something out of sheet metal. But I had been thinking of just making a replacement of the chute part that you use in both planing modes (and leaving the other, original, chute part). But I guess it would work better to replace both parts (like you did).

 

[Arutha]

Just posting some photos of the dust hood I made from sheet metal. I made it for a 160 mm hose. Works so much better than the original. It never clogs now.

In planing mode, I still use the old dust hood, which works ok.

Also attaching my fix for the fence. It's permanently set to 90 degrees. It was very difficult to get it set to 90 degrees before. Once you tightened the nut, the setting always moved. I fixed this with a lock nut. Then added some paper shims until it was perfectly 90 degrees everywhere.

 

[MattRoberts]

Is the hood screwed down to the table? Do you only use it for thicknessing then, and not surface planing?

 

[Hemsby]

Just posting some photos of the dust hood I made from sheet metal. I made it for a 160 mm hose. Works so much better than the original. It never clogs now.






In planing mode, I still use the old dust hood, which works ok.

Also attaching my fix for the fence. It's permanently set to 90 degrees. It was very difficult to get it set to 90 degrees before. Once you tightened the nut, the setting always moved. I fixed this with a lock nut. Then added some paper shims until it was perfectly 90 degrees everywhere.

Like the chip chute =D> =D>

 

[Arutha]

Is the hood screwed down to the table? Do you only use it for thicknessing then, and not surface planing?

No, it's attached the same way as the original hood, with four screws to the rotating aluminium bar. So I just remove the hose, flip the hood over, and mount the outfeed table and fence again. Then I use the original dust hood under the table for planing.

 

[Arutha]

I don't have any photos of the finished dust hood in the planing position on the computer, but I did have a few photos demonstrating this before it was finished.

Here you see how it's attached to the machine:

And here it's flipped over, preparing for planing mode:

Here's how it looks with the table attached:

 

[Arutha]

If someone else wants to make this, I have more photos of the build.

It would also be worthwhile to think about the inflow of air. Right now the dust collector sucks (160 mm / 2)^2 * pi = 20109 mm^2 of air out. But to get a good airflow, I would need to make sure that amount of air can get there in the first place. I've been thinking of making an air inlet of some kind. I think drilling a number of small holes might work without exposing the planer knives.

I've noticed that the noise level goes up when I start the dust collector. This is probably due to increased turbulence, which, I think, is caused by air being sucked past the rotating knives (from under the table). I think that the ideal would be that the airflow should just pass by, on top of the rotating knives. So, there should be an air inlet to the left. This way, air would be sucked in right over the knives. I think this would make dust collection even more effective.

That said, I'm quite happy with this modification. With the old dust hood, I had to stop working now and then because the hood had been clogged up with shavings. This never happens anymore. And the collection has been improved a lot.