Automatic Dust Collection

[@williambidel9258]

You are getting a lot better with your videos. I subscribed a while back when I first saw your miter saw video. A real innovative design. I thought here's someone that does a lot of design work that tells us all that you are to be watched. Out of all the original dust collection units I've watched being made, yours is by far the BEST! And how you do all that work in that small bedroom is way beyond comprehension.

[@JustinDepew]

William Bidel I very much appreciate your comments! Thanks William!

[@jeffbeck6501]

This is a pretty neat idea. In fact, this is a great idea. It saves a lot of work, noise, electricity, hassle, distraction, frustration, etc. Plus you can always over ride it by just turning off the vacuum. It is a really good idea. I have never seen that before. And being inspired by the belt sander build, I started looking into buying one, but I like his build better than the commercial ones I see in the low end range or 350 to 440 watts range. Of course none of them have the dust collection, and none of them look near as sturdy or safe as his does. The stability adds to safety. ...and to mental peace. There is nothing more disconcerting that a vibrating flimsy stand resonating the work piece.

[@HiltonRalphs]

Fantastic job Justin. Now all you have to do is work out a system that uses small motors to open and close the blast gates so you can shut them off closer to the vac.

[@tseckwr3783]

Great Job!! ... I am happy to see that you obviously do your best in your builds and keep your shop organized and clean. In an apartment, no less.

[@BigWingUK]

That's a great idea! You might though want to eliminate the need for a mechanical connection to the moving part - e.g. the belt sander switch and its long brass rod. You could do this by gluing a tiny rare earth magnet to the switch and then sensing it moving by means of a reed switch or reed relay placed nearby (as in burglar alarm door sensors, for example).

[@nickforster2496]

Was considering building a cyclone separator after seeing you build yours, and now after seeing this I think I definitely will build one!

[@nickischou2327]

Using a raspberry pi to do a simple task like controlling a vacuum cleaner is awesome! Nothing less! A transistor, a relay and a few components could do the same! But again its awesome!

[@maconbacon]

I thought about it, kinda overkill, could of done the same with a simple arduino for 3 bucks instead of 40, having a brain box is better because you can have more control such as holding the vacuum on for a few more secs after you turn the tool off

[@TheHyperplayer]

well actually the same could have been achived with 1 relay and putting the 2 switches in parallel as input for the relay.

[@JohnHeisz]

Interesting method!

[@JustinDepew]

Thanks John!

[@IrishChippy]

Hi Justin. Another lovely project. I would modify the code to have some units stay on for say 3-5 seconds in chop saw, so it will not turn off when you are moving a piece. Also the sander, as there is always dust (some near invisible) after sanding. There are plenty of GPIO's on the RSPi. I would also cut a few slots in the switch box for cooling the RsPi. I presume you used Python.

[@davidallen5562]

Nice stuff. Glad I found your channel. Dust collector is superb.

[@maxreynolds679]

Great idea! I like your hold down stick which you use with your saw at 3:59. Any chance of posting a picture of it on your web site or a how its made video? I'd love to make one. Many thanks!

[@JustinDepew]

Yes I plan on making a video on this. I just made it and am still trying it out. Thanks for watching!

[@ContentsOfTable]

I was going to suggest using analog circuits for this until you mentioned plans to expand using the pi. Some suggestions are that you could get into lighting, volume control, or tool use logging.

[@JustinDepew]

Peter Worden great ideas... What are you thinking with the volume control?

[@ContentsOfTable]

If you were playing music at the time you ran a tool the volume could be adjusted depending on the tool used so that the music could still be heard. Car manufacturers do something like this today with built-in radio volume control that compensates for the engine/road noise taking input from engine rpm, car speed, or ambient noise monitoring. You could also just do random tool starting music themes I guess if you wanted just some inspiration for fun. People do this for room entry theme music. It may get old, but I think it would be fun from time to time.

[@JustinDepew]

Peter Worden I think pausing the music would work best since I typically throw on ear muffs when I use any tool. Sometimes I miss a whole song because I spent 4 minutes sanding something!

[@kelseydepew]

Love it! You should get a laser engraver/cutter!

[@JoeGP]

you could also do it quite simply with microswitches capable of handling the power draw of the shop vac, nothing else needed, the only downside is no delay in turning it off, but i can live with that.

[@rm709]

Excellent job Justin! Wow! I subbed and can't be happier. Not sure how you don't have more subs! Keep it up 👍

[@JustinDepew]

Much appreciated!

[@K2teknik.]

Interesting with the Raspberry Pi, you could add a air quality monitor to the Pi, a PM1.0, or PM2.5, or PM10 Air Quality Detect/Sensor Module could do the trick, log the data it collect on the Pi, and have a web server on the Pi to present the data to your PC smartphone or whatever. I would had use current transformers to sense the electric current from the individual sockets and then let the Pi read these and then start the vacuum depending on the current, as a side effect you could register your electric current consumption too just because you can. By using these current transformers you will have the same setup at every machine, there is no need to invent a one-off solution to sense the start of a machine, and you will have to fight with programming a bit more, but it should be simple when you get the feel for it.

[@jenskalski6828]

Very cool system!

[@KSFWG]

Very cool, Justin!

[@invetech1]

You have given me some good ideas!

[@hernancoronel]

Hi, excellent project! Check out the arduino line of micro controllers that may be best suited for such a minimal application like this one. Then again if you are planning to expand the Pi might be the best thing. Regarding ideas you could setup a web server to configure different parameters like on/off time and maybe even tweak it on a per machine basis like 10 seconds for the chop saw but 5 for the other machine. Thank you for the great video!

[@Sprank900]

Nice work Justin. Anymore car projects in mind? How would you tackle an HUD for your Miata?

[@JustinDepew]

I hadn't considered a HUD. I would like to make a bikini top for the miata. I would also like to turbocharge it. Hopefully I can do those in the future sometime.

[@NoMoreFossil]

You can google air quality sensor. There are few companies specializing this sensor like a clean room hospital, space program, etc.

[@JimBeshears]

Nice job Justin!

[@JustinDepew]

Jim Beshears much appreciated Jim!

[@neilf4128]

thank you for your creativity and willingness to share. I very much appreciate it. bless you.

[@JustinDepew]

Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@HReality]

Lighting or guide lights ran by the pi?

[@SuperCruelworld]

Thanks for the ideas

[@lyles637]

Awesome project!

[@JustinDepew]

Lyle Stoneman thanks Lyle!

[@breeze787]

Nice! I've got an idea for your Raspberry Pi thinga ma jig. My suggestion is to have the Raspberry Pi turn off the music when you are going to make a cut to your bluetooth speaker being cast from your iPhone, computer or iPad.

[@NoMoreFossil]

Next thing to do, Design a sensor using your PI2 to monitor air quality of your shop and then ofcourse air quality filter for close compartment.

[@JustinDepew]

Delfin Q. Bangate I thought about this too... Do you know of any sensors that measure air quality?

[@JustinDepew]

Delfin Q. Bangate I thought about this too... Do you know of any sensors that measure air quality?

[@pwgodfrey1]

VERY NICE JOB ..U MAY READ COMMENTS .BUT YOU ARE CONTINUING TO LEARN AND DONE WELL BY YOURSELF!.. THANKS

[@JustinDepew]

Thanks Geo!

[@jameswalker3416]

u could use it for a spot light on the drill press

[@JustinDepew]

+James Walker great idea hadn't thought of that

[@BigWingUK]

Even better though would be to extend your dust collection to the drill press. I have cobbled together something which does that and it really does make using the drill press much more enjoyable.

[@hupajo]

Hi Justin - super job again :))

[@MrPatdeeee]

I have two problems with this system. 1. The switch prevents a safety feature which means you can not use the push in lock button when the saw is not in use. The second problem is: there is no need for any type of computer, etc. Simply use the micro switch to operate a "contactor" (inexpensive) and a small power supply such as a 12V wall adapter. It works thusly: When the switch is closed it operates the contactor; and it in turn turns on the DC.

[@melickon]

Is it possible to use switches and relays without RPi? Minus one second delay and and minus whole RPi.

[@JustinDepew]

Yes you could use relays. The main benefit of the RPi is the time delay. That way both machines don't turn on at exactly the same time to avoid tripping a breaker as well as keeping the dust collector on for one second after using the tool to clear the ducting.

[@lakebum6211]

Hi Justin. I'm a fairly new subscriber and I'm loving your videos. On one of your other videos you said you lived in an apartment and I was wondering if you get complaints about the noise. I know apartments are not usually insulated for noise reduction. I can only imagine what you will do when you get a house or a shop.

[@JustinDepew]

lake bum Hi Lake Bum, I do live in an apartment building but there are a couple of benefits to my situation. First it is a very old building and the walls are pretty thick and made out of plaster which is almost as hard as concrete! It's very hard to drill into. Also, the bedroom I have the shop in does not share a wall with the neighbors so that helps a lot in keeping the noise down. I also don't run the tools early in the morning or late at night. So far no complaints!

[@lakebum6211]

I see. Well, best to you and I'll be watching for new releases. I'm impressed with what you have accomplished out of your small shop. I'm in a 2 car garage and it seems I'm always fighting for space. I'm sure it couldn't have anything to do with the 36 years of accumulated stuff competing for space...

[@JustinDepew]

Thanks! The nice thing about the small room I'm in is I always have to purge anything that I don't absolutely need. Must keep the shop tidy or else the shop disappears behind the mess pretty quickly!

[@Cactusworkshopchannel]

well done!

[@JustinDepew]

Thanks man!

[@BustinBenny]

Couple questions; Raspberry Pie vs Arduino any reason for pie (except taste)? You work from your apartment? How do you keep from having your neighbors through you out/assassinate you? And do you expect to get your deposit back?

[@JustinDepew]

I only used the Rpi because I have used Arduino in the past and wanted to give the Rpi a shot. I love in an older building that has pretty thick plaster walls. It's not like a modern apartment building where you can hear everything. Additionally the room that the shop is in doesn't share a wall with the neighbors so that is the biggest benefit. I don't see why I won't get my deposit back. The room will be cleaner than when I moved in.

[@gthmcty111]

I freaking love your channel “engineer”!!!

[@DarrinSK]

how/where do you dispose of the sawdust?

[@JustinDepew]

+Darrin Knode it just goes on the trash... Would make great mulch!

[@dalius98]

Might want to read about event_detect function, as far as I'm aware, that's a more elegant and less power intensive way of doing it :)

[@JustinDepew]

dalius98 thanks I'll look into that.

[@AJDRAGON01]

Hi, I noticed that dust was getting past the separator plate and into the vacuum chamber.

[@JustinDepew]

+art Dragon no, the separator plate is siliconed to the polycarbonate on the top side of the plate so dust cannot get into the filter chamber. Dust is getting between the separator plate and polycarbonate because I didn't apply silicone on the bottom side of the plate, which wasn't necessary for performance. However I do wish I would have done that so it didn't look like it was leaking.

[@AJDRAGON01]

Hi, I see, I just mistook the silicon for saw dust.

[@noconz0727]

Hope you'll join the ILTMS FB group

[@koensmelt]

nicely done! why not use a cheap and smaller arduino (clone) this is a waist of the computing power of the rpi3 🙊

[@JustinDepew]

Koen Smelt I hope to use the Rpi to do other things in the shop as well.

[@koensmelt]

Justin Depew cool looking forward for more 👍

[@habiks]

Why not use a server to turn on the vacuum and a PC to turn it off connected via wifi and laser sensors? seriously, you know you can hook the buttons directly to relays, adding a capacitor if you want a delayed turn off.. What exactly is a function of raspberry?? Not to mention a professional way of doing it is detecting when a machine turns on (some shop vacs have it integrated).

[@JustinDepew]

The point of the raspberry is to expand on the "smart shop" and incorporate other things into it. This was the first one.

[@paulo.mesquita]

How about a simple arduino nano or micro... you can program it and its much cheaper. :)

[@noxious_nights]

Auto Suck lol