The living hell of dust extraction diameters

UKworkshop.co.uk

Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

billw

The Tattooed One
Joined
26 Apr 2009
Messages
1,700
Reaction score
899
Location
Birmingham, UK
Trying to find any sort of standardisation in port, hose, and adaptor sizes in tools is about as likely as finding a someone with taste that like Budweiser. So, how do we approach this?

My vacuum nozzle is 32mm internal and 35mm external. Therefore for the sake of simplicity I want everything else to terminate in some sort of fitting that will plug straight into this. I guess the easiest way is for the vacuum to be the male connector, so I need everything else to have a 35mm (ish) internal diameter.

For all my machinery the numbers vary, the router has an internal of 35mm (woohoo!) but then again it's under the table and I want to Y-joint it with the above table extraction. The bandsaw has an OD of 61mm, useful. The planer says 58mm, the thicknesser either 102mm or 62mm. (The end of the fixture has two options). I forgot to measure the tracksaw.

The most obvious route so far seems to be to buy some heat shrink tubing (eg Charnwood HS76/38 Woodworking Dust Extractor Heatshrink Sleeving for 76mm to 38mm: Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools ) and then get whatever seems close-ish as an adaptor and seal it. This relies on getting a suitable adaptor that the vacuum can plug into.

Anyway, bottom line is this is a total farce and what have other people done?
 
Last edited:
There is a thread here from last week Dust ports- so many different non standard sizes : (

Someone with a 3D printer - there are loads of files for adaptors available.

My dust extraction is a run of 40mm waste pipe with home-made blast-gates, a small cyclone on a wooden bin - powered by a Henry - works fine other than for the planer/thicknesser. As the other thread above the adaptors were 3D printed by my brother - with hoses to each machine - and a hose that plugs in with a furniture nozzle for bench cleaning.
 
Yeah some of the issues with those are things like "larger end fits perfectly inside 100mm hose" - but what about a 100mm piece of metal that has somewhat less flexibility? And might also not be 100mm. This is the problem lol

In a world ruled by standards, how did this one escape?
 
It is crazy that there is no standardisation - and even when its standard it's not - 63mm two variants Internal and external 🤦‍♂️
I have no simple answer and buying a 3d printer to cure it seems excessive (although gadget/tool 🤔 ) so instead I've an ever growing collection of adapters 🤯

Padster
 
Heatshrink is good stuff, and holds connectors quite rigidly when properly moulded to shape. It is not all that cheap, though.

A cheaper solution that I have used alot for all sorts of extractor connections is to get the closest size pipe you can and then use a hot-air gun to mould it into place. It helps to have a layer of paper between the two so that when the outside piece shrinks as it cools, you end up with a good snug fit.

A bit of sanding on a disc sander also works in some cases.

Cheers
 
Standardise on one or two hoses - bigger for machines and smaller flexi for powertools.
Go bigger not smaller so the hoses don't restrict flow.
On the machines, make your adaptors 'step up' and leave them on the machine.
Push the hose over the outside, not into the dust port.
If you have no other way, you can freehand rout adaptor rings from say 18mm mdf and just laminate a couple to make a stubby tube.
My 2 cents in your situation...
3mm thick foam sheet sold at hobbycraft stores for kids to cut colourful pictures out of is quite handy to deal with small size differences. Just cut a strip and wrap around the fitting before pushing it together. Vacuum tends to hold it in place.
 
First of all I liked Budweiser when I drank beer but that was a long time ago 😀 I discovered the solution to this problem only a couple of years ago. I didn’t get the idea from anywhere else but stumbled upon it by accident; so perhaps not well known. The solution is automotive silicone straight reducers. I have bought lots to fit everything - domino, kapex, tracksaw, band saw - and everything else. I have found that an elbow version works superbly on the Kapex for dealing with the up/down motion. You just need to measure the External Diameter of the parts/ports you want to join and then buy the corresponding Internal Diameter (ID) silicone reducer. If you need an internal fit then you can figure that out by checking on the wall thickness of the reducer. The reducers are super easy to attach and move around and provide a perfect fit. They are readily available on EBay and you can get them in different colours which can be handy. Have not yet failed to find a suitable sized connector. Have attached a few pics. Cheers Chris
 

Attachments

  • 2CB878D0-6C20-4AB6-A168-82509876D834.jpeg
    2CB878D0-6C20-4AB6-A168-82509876D834.jpeg
    210.5 KB · Views: 60
  • F52981FE-6F83-4A6F-A182-8B62DEF040EF.jpeg
    F52981FE-6F83-4A6F-A182-8B62DEF040EF.jpeg
    191.3 KB · Views: 57
  • BE68F6C6-6DFF-454A-A1D0-F79F8482586B.jpeg
    BE68F6C6-6DFF-454A-A1D0-F79F8482586B.jpeg
    158.5 KB · Views: 56
  • 9369982F-CD27-4E33-B80C-2C15CE528DAD.jpeg
    9369982F-CD27-4E33-B80C-2C15CE528DAD.jpeg
    147.3 KB · Views: 56
Same price direct from Amazon's supplier, but they do have a two pack for £9.69
https://www.spares-2-go.com/product...ack-of-2-adaptors?_pos=7&_sid=b5d19be98&_ss=r
Don't be put off/fooled by them saying it is for Miele, they list the same item a dozen times as a fit for every major make of vacuum cleaner!
 
Another vote for the CenTec adapters.

I'm considering getting a second pack with a few more in so I can leave them permanently attached to some tools.

The hose attachment has a quick clip and then either the smaller or bigger head works with anything I have, track saw, router, bandsaw etc. You just pinch the ends and it connects.

My only gripe is my shop vac hose attachment isn't ideal, though I'm replacing that in the future so that will be resolved. In summary virtually everything I have and plan to get will work with either the small or larger head(s).

I think it was off Youtube I found these - but really impressed, the hose is decent quality too if you opt to get that as well.

https://centraltechnologysystems.co...ust-extraction/standard-quick-click-adaptors/
 
First of all I liked Budweiser when I drank beer but that was a long time ago 😀 I discovered the solution to this problem only a couple of years ago. I didn’t get the idea from anywhere else but stumbled upon it by accident; so perhaps not well known. The solution is automotive silicone straight reducers. I have bought lots to fit everything - domino, kapex, tracksaw, band saw - and everything else. I have found that an elbow version works superbly on the Kapex for dealing with the up/down motion. You just need to measure the External Diameter of the parts/ports you want to join and then buy the corresponding Internal Diameter (ID) silicone reducer. If you need an internal fit then you can figure that out by checking on the wall thickness of the reducer. The reducers are super easy to attach and move around and provide a perfect fit. They are readily available on EBay and you can get them in different colours which can be handy. Have not yet failed to find a suitable sized connector. Have attached a few pics. Cheers Chris
 
I use automotive silicone hoses on my HA1000 extractor. I've just been looking for replacement filter cartridges. All these 'China' extractors use the same filter, the last I bought were from Tool Station @ about £6 ea. but now nla., Record power want £33, others similar, BUT I found SIP ones at CPC for£10-73 ea. I bought two with free postage. I also bought 2 x 5-pack dust bags from Charnwood for £18 inc. vat & post. Someone on ebay is asking £6 /bag!! You gotta watch 'em! Hope this info is useful to you guys out there.
 
I have an old Bosch handheld electric plane (which I haven’t used for a decade). I went to use it recently for some rough stuff until I saw that the extractor port is rectangular,! That defeated me
 

Latest posts

Back
Top