Dust collection issues on my Harvey Saw

[@donaldpyles2891]

Awaiting delivery on my new Harvey in the next couple of weeks. Very excited. Thanks for sharing.

[@Bryanthecellphoneguy]

When you are setting up your new saw, there is one thing to be careful about. The little metal flap that anchors the fence to the front rail when you lock the handle. It has very sharp edges and if you move the fence without making sure that it is out of the way it will put a deep scratch on your front rail. I did it and apparently so have many others.

[@MixingGBP]

Make sure to use the electronic owners manual, as the paper manual that came with my saw earlier this year was out of date and had incorrect assembly instructions. They update the electronic manual before the paper ones...at least in my case. My saw was also missing some parts which I had to call and then wait for. So do a thorough inventory check before you get deep into assembly.

[@MixingGBP]

@@Bryanthecellphoneguy Agreed. Fortunately I did not scratch my rail, although I could have easily as the first time I installed my fence. The flap was not in the correct position when I installed for the first time. This is also something one has to be aware of if they remove and reinstall the fence for some reason during their workflow.

[@99trampis]

@@Bryanthecellphoneguy Double thumbs up to what Bryan said. I scratched mine by not knowing this and now I have a nice straight line scratch in that nice black fence rail. Oh well, at least it didn't effect the functionality. Love the saw so far!

[@branchandfoundry560]

@@Bryanthecellphoneguy Seems like we all did this and bear the mark of shame on our front fence rail.

[@branchandfoundry560]

Question: Does dust build up inside your cabinet? I have the 4hp Harvey TS and no matter what I've tried, the cabinet fills up with dust. Seems like the chute below the blade catches very little of the dust. I use a 3hp double bag dust collector that works great with all other machines in my shop, which are all downstream of the table saw. Thank you!

[@christopherungaro8454]

Thanks! This is hood to know, I was wondering why it was so bad. Now I have to go check mine!

[@tonymckessar5734]

hi from Australia, I have a generic model of this Harvey, the way I solved the dust problem is..... A. firstly made a zero clearance insert from 1/4" perspex, dont use acrylic, (now have 4 of them) 1 remove that stupid orange flap and the whole 2" hose, the dump bin is the best place to put it. what a dang stupid thing. 2 on the opposite side to the motor I cut 2 x 4" holes inserted bell mouth openings, these join into 1 x 4" hose. 3 Above the saw blade I build an overhead blade guard cover that also has a 4" hose 4 Both the lower and upper hose join into a 6" hose and then travel 10' to a std 2HP dust extractor. 5 Today I spent 2 hours cutting 3/4" mdf, the same in a cheap grade plywood, not a spec of dust on the table after. The trick, and I find it strange so many Americans dont click onto this, is the 6" pipe. There is a whole world of dust collection Bill Prentz (sp?) is a world leader in this field.

[@Renrondog]

Absolutely right. I built a DIY cyclone on Bill's design with 1/16" Lexan. It's huge but I get NO dust at the filter.

[@imillsie426]

Do you have any pictures of this setup?

[@albertrodriguez2554]

About the moving throat plate why didn't you just screw it down like your supposed to?

[@stlwoodworking]

You can remove the knife when doing this and don't have to worry about the tape position

[@billmckinney7398]

Why not make your own zero clearance throat plates? It’s not difficult.

[@606woodworks4]

I have a grizzly cabinet saw. The way i solved the clogging was cut the bottom half off the chute and screwed on a 4in hvac boot onto it and its never clogged since. Zero clearance inserts restrict air flow and can choke dust collection.

[@christopherungaro8454]

There seems to be enough open areas to mitigate that, no? I mean there is the other holes on top of the throat plate, the diving knife area, and the opening by the front hand wheel, along with the vents near the motor.

[@606woodworks4]

@@christopherungaro8454 not really. The airflow is choked where it matters most- at the blade.

[@richpeggyfranks490]

@@christopherungaro8454 It seems to me, with a zero clearance insert (ZCI), that unless the blade is all the way up, there would be a gap at the front and rear of the blade, where it matters most. The blade will fling dust into the blade's chute and will be sucked away, using the air velocity inside the cabinet. I have never measured much air velocity around the blade anyway, due to all the openings you mentioned. My Grizzly saw throws much less dust with a ZCI than without it. I use a 1-1/2 HP Shop Fox bag type dust collector.

[@christopherungaro8454]

I added a zero clearance plate and it has improved 90%. My saw doesn’t have that orange flap. I spoke to Harvey and they said a production change, (though the hinge part is still there on the shroud). Next I’m going to add a tape closure to seal off the big hole where the blade tilt is. I’ll put in a split so the blade wheel / shaft can still traverse the opening though.

[@richpeggyfranks490]

@@christopherungaro8454 I have seen where some folks have fashioned a brush type door sweep to cover the tilt handle hole. It reduces the air flow without obstructing the tilt action. I had 2 thickness of duct tape with a slit for a long time. Couldn't really tell much difference. Good luck.

[@Renrondog]

There is an experiment with different designs of zero clearance plates with holes and slots for air suction to grab the dust from the blade. Dennis from Hookedonwood had the original design and the Englishman improved upon Dennis' work IMO. GT Woodshop has an excellent video on how he made his plate. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bWepdoadq7acas0

[@branchandfoundry560]

Thank you for the GT link! I'll check it out. I made Dennis' ZC insert, but I don't see any difference with/without grooves cut into it.

[@paulappelquist3491]

Won't the material being pushed into the blade catch on the front edge of the zero clearance tape?

[@jbcustomwoodworking4155]

I adjusted the leveling screws a bit to lower the leading edge of the throat plate to compensate for the thickness of the tape. It worked out ok.

[@robertclark6594]

Not for nothing but if you apply the tape to the bottom of your throat plate, wouldn't you get the same result without affecting the accuracy of your saw?

[@jbcustomwoodworking4155]

That is a good thought but the under side of the plate is not flat so it would take some fancy xacto knife work but it is doable.

[@MixingGBP]

Would sliding wood over the tape eventually lift the tape or make the work uneven on the table in some way?

[@mburke1211]

The tape is fairly thick, so you should adjust your throat plate height to accommodate the tape. I’ve had tape on my plate for a while now, and there is minimal wear on the tape. It works great. I put the tape over the riving knife as well, and carefully cut it so the knife had an opening to come through as the blade cut its path in the tape.

[@singlespeedcrossbike]

Riving knifes only are needed when ripping lumber. They aren’t of any use in cross cutting. They aren’t of any use when bucking up sheet goods. I have Harvey’s 4 HP saw and the sliding table, router table and their overhead dust extraction. I’ve owned three commercial sliders two of those had 10’ strokes. I like the Harvey slider but there are some minor issues but in general it’s more than adequate. I’ve had the same issue with small pieces happering dust collection but keeping it cleared before things get out of hand is not a big deal. Currently the biggest design issue I have is with the router and clearance with the Harvey’s overhead dust collection. If anyone is considering these two option together contact me and I’ll explain. I’ve owned a lot of European equipment and for the longest time the only decent machinery to come out of Asia was wide belt sanders. In the last few years engineering, fit and finish has really progressed with top of the line Asian companies and Harvey is one of the best. As a retired Cabinet manufacturer I very pleased with Harvey’s quality.

[@victoryak86]

Trash, I’ve got the Alpha series w overhead dust collector thing and the Harvey router table extension. Still getting my shape set up so haven’t done anything on it yet. I need to get a lift as well which I wanted to ask you which one you’ve got and how you like it. Also what router did u choose? 3 hp seems best.

[@singlespeedcrossbike]

@@victoryak86 I have a Bora 3.25 variable speed router and a Jessem Master lift. Seems to work well. I’ve had a commercial shapers and other router tables. I like this set up just fine.

[@MadLadsAnonymous]

@@singlespeedcrossbikeDo you also have a shaper? Or does that router do everything you need it to?

[@RayZde]

Appears the newer models do not have the dust shield in motor.

[@MixingGBP]

2:01. For some reason, my orange deflector plate wasn't rotated towards the blade on my Harvey. I suppose that would make a difference in dust collection!

[@jbcustomwoodworking4155]

It does. You need to move it open to change blades and then tilt it back for regular use.

[@tomowens2720]

I'd you really want to solve this problem make a zero clearance throat plate. Work pieces are going to hang up on the leading edge of that tape stuff a lot. Put your "custom" to work, make a couple of them.

[@kennethholmes9315]

Glad I didn’t get a Harvey. Have a good one

[@echo1er]

Seems like its a coomon issue with a lot of saw blades when researching the top builds. I saw another video where they showed top of the line dust collection system to rigid shop vac demo. That all results came out the same. What Table saw did you end up getting?

[@kennethholmes9315]

Ended up going back with Sawstop. I’ve worked on a handful of other saws. But have to admit the sawstop does really well.

[@richard3716]

now your table is not flat

[@jbcustomwoodworking4155]

To counteract that I just lowered the set screws on the throat plate by the thickness of the tape. It worked quite well. I may eventually spend the $122 for the factory zero clearance insert but for now this works.

[@sawyer1211]

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