How I re-engineered my Table Saw Dust Collection from Scratch using 3D Printing

[@TobaccoTooling]

“I’m gonna do the most woodworking thing possible and talk about dust collection” 😂 this is such an accurate statement

[@WJR1965]

Let’s not overlook the similarly over-discussed topic of table saw sleds…

[@01sigh]

that and sanding.

[@vplph]

Never forget the Domino chapter ;-)

[@rudolfpeters367]

Hallo Phil, Du hast genau die Probleme dieser Säge aufgezeigt und gelöst. Wir betreiben die Säge in unserer Seniorenholzhobbywerkstatt seit drei Jahren und auch schon einiges daran verbessert. Als erstes den Maschinenschalter nach vorne und auch eine Bürste in die Schlitze der Kurbel bzw. dem Festklemmer der Winkeleinstellung. Das größte Problem aber hast Du jetzt mit dem Kasten und der Veränderung gelöst. Es gab zwar bei anderen KZbin-Aktivisten Lösungsansätze, aber das was Du da erstellt hast ist großartig. Mir ist jetzt erst Klar geworden, wo das eigentliche Problem liegt. Gerne würden wir unser Holzmann Kreissäge so auch umrüsten.

[@rootvalue]

2:00 😂😂😂 compositing this photo was a good use of your time, it gave me a huge laugh

[@dieterjosef]

Yes, wanted to mention it, too.

[@acanadianwoodworker]

Table saws are really the 'final boss' of dust collection. Even after all the innovation and work of solving the bottom, you still have to solve the top. You really did an amazing job here

[@guitarchitectural]

I am envious of this setup and will need to try printing some of these bits! For what its worth, heres something i discovered when trying to do dust collection on a buffer - the fast spinning blade essentially creates its own eddy which prevents dust collection. The only solution is to allow more airflow - i suspect that your shroud on the bottom is actually too narrow . Screens or bristles can be a lot more effective at closing in areas because they allow airflow IN but prevent chips from escaping. In my case a large box was more effective at fine dust collection than afitting shroud. Something to consider of you ever find yourself wanting to get additional capture. But what you've made is phenomenal!

[@steveh8724]

I agree with this analysis, but this applies primarily to the large particles where you need more airflow to redirect particles with more momentum. For the fines, this was adequate.

[@stephmo371]

i've been wanting to print something like this for my table saw for so long. its so nice to see that i wasnt the only one having the dust spit issues with a table saw. love the build and the the issues/solutions shown. will def help me when i finally have time to make these prints.

[@trobinou47]

Of all the videos I've seen on the subject, your solution is by far the most effective. I say this because I myself spent a lot of time thinking about the problem without ever finding a real solution. Well done 👍

[@Nachdenksport]

Great work! I found myself constantly nodding in agreement to what you're concluding based on my own experiences and tests.

[@SomewhatAbnormal]

Great video, subscribed! This is the reason why 3D printing is such a revolution for people like us. It allows us to design, prototype and print things that most manufacturers cut to save on product cost. I find that 99% of tools I purchase can be improved in some way, so I love this video.

[@PhilVandelay]

Absolutely, making this from sheet metal would have been a nightmare, especially if you want to do rapid prototyping. I probably wouldn't have touched this problem were it not for the option of having my printer do the grunt work

[@dittilio]

One improvement I'd love to try on your set-up is a flappy bit or brush that sits between the curved front and the blade like a scoop. Visible at around 20:28 Making it a zero clearance style scoop means that the shroud won't have a big gap underneath it as it's lifted by the work material, so you'd also collect most of the chips not just fines. Amazing build! I'm definitely stealing this concept for my mitre saw aka the dust cannon.

[@chip8524]

That’s what I was thinking. A flap that would ride on top of the material and fall down to the table once the materials pass.

[@joedance14]

Very nice work! Well done! I will definitely have to watch this video again, probably a few times. At this point, two areas for possible further improvement jumped out at me: a few other commenters have suggested adding some kind of bristles at the front of the blade guard/dust hood; and a few have also mentioned the importance of adequate air flow. Really liked the way you broke the problem down - some pieces are stationary, while others move with the blade. Most folks would have missed that.

[@dylan-nguyen]

I just finished this last night. first of all thanks for including the original files!!! I was able to adjust it to fit my Ridgid saw perfectly. I removed the bottom two nuts and added another nut at the back after scanning my riving knife and making a quick sketch. I have a 2HP dust collector and there is now literally 0 dust when I cut. this works so well. the only issue I had was cutting the polycarb by hand using a jigsaw. I had a small corner chip off but it's hardly noticeable.

[@PhilVandelay]

Great to know it works for other saws as well!

[@rudispruell883]

I was hooked from the intro on! Smart and witty! I smiled the whole way through

[@Oysteims]

That's an enormous improvement, impressive stuff! Like you indirectly said in the video, there's a point of diminishing returns in terms of effort, time, money and resources put into a project. Specifically for the zero clearance inserts, that's literally the perfect solution in terms of "keep it simple stupid". There's always going to be people in the comments who never built anything in their life complaining lol

[@PhilVandelay]

Yeah I think especially with the dust hood on top you could keep experimenting with different designs endlessly, as I hinted at in the beginning the whole dust collection thing is a neverending rabbit hole

[@waynegaskell]

Thank you for this, i purchased your 3d design recently and have now implemented this. They key as you mentioned is the 'fine' dust that this captures and is the most important bit. my workshop is typically was coated in a fine layer of dust, this is now hardly noticeable, it has worked wonders :)

[@GlenKrog]

This is one of the funniest and most informative things I've ever watched! You made my day!!!!! 10/10!!!!

[@John-gm8ty]

also, this was simply amazing, brilliant and inspiring. I'm in awe at your tenacious design approach. and style of humour, it appeals to my aussie humour.

[@thomasbroker69]

Amazing work!! If & when I get a workshop I’ll buy the same model saw just because of this excellent design for dust.

[@lewchishelltaya5745]

I'm so proud of you. Great job. I wish I had a 3D printer all the time for so many random ideas like this.

[@AriasThirdOfHisName]

This was great mate, that was good problem solving and I loved the self aware commentary on what garage shops are all about 😁

[@Toomuchfun986]

I have to say you made my day, and here I thought I was OCD. Great video and even better description of the process of designing.

[@davidatkins6919]

terrific amount of problem solving along with the I will not give up attitude!

[@akinadom]

Chapeau. Very clever engineering and great solution to the issue. I just got the TS250 and am drowning in dust as well. I'd appreciate if you could share your design files for the dustbox. Thanks a ton.

[@toddharshbarger8616]

Very nice job and well presented! I love it and inspired to do similar with my shopsmith! I admire your use of magnets and your fearless pursuit of these innovations! Great job!

[@TheRich4187]

Love design videos! I could watch them all day. Especially when they're useful and effective. Nice work!

[@benbrubaker7896]

Very cool. Love you use and explanation of the design process throughout.

[@thimtools7538]

Hi Phil - great video 😊 - I have the same table saw (Holzmann TS250) - and I also tried to figure out the dust collection problem some time ago, but kind of postponed it until I got "the good idea". Thank you for sharing - now I think I will redesign my table saw inspired by you ...well done.

[@lint2023]

Looks quite effective and a happy relief for you. As you were talking us through it I was thinking that it is necessary to keep enough inlet open area to keep maximum velocity to entrain the particles with the air flow. I chuckled once when I joined a company and one of my challenges was to solve a problem with a machine that had 250 cfm flow through a ... closed box! Not too challenging for me to solve. Same principle here.

[@Drokkstar_]

Beautiful and inspiring work! Great job.

[@user-roadwander]

Great presentation. Your explanation was articulate and informative.

[@RickRolling-tc7vb]

Nice work Phil, good engineering and an excellent illustration of problem solving. Shame there wasn't some welding this time, you do that well and it's fun to watch. Thanks for the explanation, really clear and concise.

[@machienist]

can you use the exhaust side of the vacuum to blow chips into the suction side?

[@PhilVandelay]

Another interesting idea! This comment section is turning into a dust collection think tank

[@drpipe]

Attention to detail ... Nice clear concise and on point Execution

[@bkdiyprojects6641]

Incredible Analysis, Design and Execution

[@akquicksilver]

Excellent design and execution sir!

[@leviolson]

Just found your channel after watching Scott Yu-Jan and then stumbling on your gridfinity efforts with your measuring devices and sockets etc... But then I landed on this video, and holy crap, its sooo funny and made me laugh so much with the random jabs at woodworkers and dust collection obsession they all have. Subbed.

[@Tsitris46]

Phil-awesome as always. Been watching for a while and your channel is amazing.

[@jamieclarke321]

Holes to the right of the blade in the zero clearance insert will allow more airflow, possible improving dust collection above and around the blade

[@nowherewoodcraft]

Do you mean to the left of the blade? The right side of the insert would be covered by the wood. See "Hooked on Wood" to see how Dennis engineered the HOW Zero Clearance insert. He's a lot like Phil here--a born engineer.

[@sam-bn5hl]

Very nice dude! I'm going to try and build this as well!! Thanks for the idea, because that fine dust is driving me crazy!!

[@criggie]

What timing! I bought my first saw table today, and yeah this is necessary.

[@thorshuatus]

Awesome work man and time to figure out all the other crappy table saw dust collection!

[@abbumahdi]

Incredible, I really liked the way you designed and customized it.

[@michael.schuler]

Brilliant design; incredibly well detailed video. Thank you!

[@chrisomahony7166]

Beautifully designed solutions, nice work!

[@GoncaloCruzMaker]

Wonderful video. Love the design thinking and your humour. Especially I felt I’m not alone/crazy!!! 😅 have subscribed your channel. Keep up the good work. Cheers

[@marci0309]

Man, this is a great video :D i have the same tablesaw, and wondered why i had a huge amount of sawdust under it.. I will try and recreate something like this. Lovely to know the sides are removable

[@SawdustJourney]

awesome results, great design!

[@unogazzy84]

I actually love those videos where wood workers make an over the top and/or robust dust collectors. My favorite is the one that Marius Hornberger made.

[@PhilVandelay]

Marius is definitely on another level in this game!

[@virtualburton]

I love your work Phil, nicely done.

[@ralfklosener6981]

Hi Phil, GREAT JOB👍 I use the same saw (Holzmann TS 250) and this is exactly what I've always been looking for. I don't use a 3D printer, is it possible to order a complete set which were shown here in the video? Cheers!!

[@raulc398]

Put bristles at the end of the shroud.

[@PhilVandelay]

I thought about that but unless the bristles are signficantly longer than your workpiece thickness you'd still end up with a gap at the end while also losing suction

[@schulzcbs]

@@PhilVandelay Would those 70mm bristle CNC vacuum strips work for you?

[@PhilVandelay]

Possibly, it's just that I've never seen anyone use this approach for a table saw and I figured there's probably a reason. Might be worth a try, but for now I don't want to spend any more time on this

[@TheCreat]

@@PhilVandelayI was gonna suggest something similar, but not bristles: just add a short 3d printed (straight) piece to the front edge of the cover which is essentially extending the curved part, but can pivot. Once the piece of wood passes underneath, it drops to the table saw surface and essentially provides a ramp into the curved hood for the stuff that get's thrown out under the cover from the blade at the end. Watching the clips, the escaping particles are only a problem once the saw blade is starting to cut the back edge of the piece of wood, and by then this "ramp" would have dropped and likely catch a large portion of those.

[@tanyeewei]

How about sealing the bottom with another sheet of polycarbonate and using the saw to cut its own slot? That might seal it even better

[@iDoPew]

A flexible brush at the dusthood end might be able to deaccelerate the bigger particles to increase the chance of them being sucked in eventually.

[@beaker2000]

Really nice design.

[@dickverboom4379]

There is a channel Hooked on Wood were you can find his experiment with an insert that has air slots to improve the airflow into the suction hose. His logic is that airflow out has to have a way of air getting in otherwise you just get a kind of vacuum. Airflow is what moves your dust.

[@PhilVandelay]

Interesting, I'll have a look at that

[@commonsense5105]

Nice video Phil! Some thoughts about your design. I know you said you don't have the justification of a dust collection system for the few tools you have in your shop. Shop vacs have very few cfm (cubic feet [or meters] per minute) but have higher velocity air movement than most dust collection systems, the reason your design needed to be so tight around the dust problem. More cfm would allow a looser design and accomplish effective collection. Of course your upgrade to a larger vacuum helped with this issue. Also small hoses and connectors also create restriction to cfm flow, so the larger the better. Even your wire reinforced hose tends to create more vacuum drop in the system, reducing the vacuum's ability to do the job, so the shorter those lengths the better. And for the design of the dust collection on the top of the saw, your blade guard that you designed is curved in the front to help redirect the dust toward the back where the port is located on the guard/schroud for the dust collection. That guard is attempting to change the direction of the dust particles from the way they come off the blade during a cut almost 180 degrees. However, larger particles have more momentum and can't be overcome by the available vaccum/cfm used from your vacuum because of the momentum due to the size/weight of the wood particles not collected. And of course, the denser the wood cut, the greater this problem will be. To capture the dust currently escaping, it can be done in one of two ways, increase the cfm to overcome that momentum, which might be difficult to do while attempting to keep the blade guard from getting too big, and/or possibly try and change the direction of your dust collection port so it catches the sawdust in the same way it's generated off the blade, instead of making it change directions, then to be collected at the port on the guard/shield you created. Hopefully this makes sense. I didn't read through all comments so hopefully I'm not repeating what someone else might have already suggested. Again, nice job, appreciate the content you've produced.

[@phlexy]

For the hood, you could attach a small flap at and angle with a spring so when you push the material it rides on top of it and once you reach the end of the cut it can drop down and hopefully reduce that burst of particles.

[@heinrichhemker8123]

Excellent video in all aspects! Simply superb! Thank you!

[@dondavis769]

I would really like to be able to purchase the complete items-I’m old and don’t care to learn about designing 3d printing programs and I simply don’t have a 3d printer either-thanks for sharing this with us scrubs-you’re a very talented person sir!

[@LT-gj3rm]

Nicely done. I bought the file yesterday but I need to do some change to attached to the 2.5" dust collection hose.

[@tomfull6637]

Money aside air volume per minute is the no 1 functionality breaker as dust collectors concern! Kind regards/A

[@mattsalive7614]

Excellent work! One suggestion: A front pivot or double pivot top shroud would be even more effective, as it would close the side gaps between the hood and wood

[@michaelrobinson9643]

Clever use of the slot and washer to sustain planar alignment!

[@santoni58]

Wow! We got some geniuses out there!!!

[@JulianMakes]

Hi Phil, while I’m watching you I’d like to ask a question please :) im looking for a good value table saw (I’m in Europe), what model is yours? And would you recommend it? Thanks loads!

[@PhilVandelay]

It's the TS250 from Holzmann, yeah I'd definitely recommend it, as I said it has some quirks but for the money it's a very solid saw, besides the stuff I mentioned everything else is great on this, powerful and accurate.

[@JulianMakes]

@@PhilVandelay thank you Phil. Great job on the dust collection result.

[@temyraverdana6421]

Amazing work, well done!

[@iTeerRex]

Great mods, Super graphics 👍. And guys always wear a good dust mask, especially if it’s not sold wood. The glues are bad stuff. In making things remember eye, ear, lung, and skin protection. Yes skin, even if it doesn’t harm the skin, it can be absorbed.

[@Moinois]

Well done! One thing that might improve the dust collection of the heavier chips would be to attach a drop-down guard at the bottom of the rounded front in the shape of a hollow wedge, so that the sides is covered while the blades throw line is covered. Not sure If I make any sense, but just make a hinge on the bottom of the part you glued in that drops down the wedge as the wood passes by.

[@PhilVandelay]

Yeah I've actually seen hoods like that but the main problem seems to be that it wants to shoot out straight to the front as you exit the cut, not so much the sides. I also thought about having something drop down in front to close that gap but couldn't really think of a good solution that works with varying blade settings. I think you could keep working on this endlessly and probably improve it a lot more but I wanted to be done with it 😅

[@ApolloWoodwork]

@@PhilVandelay would brushes around the hood help?

[@NedMitchell-b9p]

Excellent design and explanation!

[@GunsOfAnthem]

Interesting! One addition that could be made is a slim suction slot behind the blade that could suck up more particles escaping from the back without hurting the table too much. Also, working on making the tolerances as small as possible without having stuff get stuck could improve the amount of static pressure, right? I feel like automating and improving the cleanliness of a shop not only helps avoid health issues but also makes you spend more time on the fun stuff in the long run.

[@GunsOfAnthem]

Also. Designing an accordian style hingesystem might help with having less rigid parts and more parts that could adapt for the tilting.

[@LewHarriman]

Impressive results!

[@RCake]

Quite spectacular, thank you so much for sharing your great project 🤩🤩

[@williamwampler7742]

You may want to try a small brush strip at the leading edge of the dust hood over the blade. It might slow the larger particles down long enough to be caught up in the suction.

[@kleckerklotz9620]

Very nice design, Phil. I like the magnets most. Makes everthing nicely maintainable. Something I would have done differently would be to think of flexible parts or even textile parts so that the dust box can move freely while everthing stays enclosed in any position. Maybe some kind of broom or vacuum cleaner hairs which close the gap when the saw is upright and bend against the dust box when the saw is tilted - or a leather or linen enclosure... Anyway, well done.

[@regibson23]

The simplest and most effective dust collection I've seen is just removing the box and sealing off the bottom and putting the suction hose at the bottom. Then get some magnetic sheets and put them across the gap at the front so the blade can still tilt.

[@cmmartti]

Like an actual cabinet saw.

[@Mike_Rogge]

That is how most of the higher end saws I have seen work

[@metric7278]

Yes, I just don't get it. why pay all the effort to seal up the tricky blade not the whole bottom box

[@SimonsWerkstatt]

I have this exact saw and would be very happy to get the dust box files from you 😊

[@OhHeyTrevorFlowers]

That's a solid result. I wonder whether a wide-mouth intake fit level along the outfeed side of the table would catch those few remaining large chips. The cut wood would pass over it so it might remove chips stuck to the newly cut surfaces, too.

[@MsBrugos]

Hi, do you sell the model for the dust collection under the table? I have the same exactly table saw

[@Sebastian-kc7id]

Same here!

Same question here! Highly interested if you would sell this.

[@aaronalquiza9680]

im thinking of adding some brush bristles around the dust hood that's over the blade, like the brush around a CNC router. and also some upside down bristles in front of the saw fence rail.

[@danilogujtman6140]

Amazing work dude.Awsome.

[@jaguar36]

tae a look at the sawstop guard, its similar but has a channel to the front to concentrate the suction, plus additional dropdown shields on the side.

[@michael.schuler]

Would it improve the hood even further to add a flexible rubber flap to the bottom of the front curved part where material enters that would drop back to the machine table after the workpiece had passed by it?

[@kotqrka]

What an awesome job. You can try to use a flexible (TPU?) lip on the front of the top cover, then it might be able to close the gap while the board moves.

[@docghines]

I wonder if you can put some kind of flap that would attach to the front to direct some of that dust at the end of the cut back up into the blade guard.

[@VAXHeadroom]

I don't have the same saw, but there are some great ideas here for the old Craftsman I do have. Thanks!

[@IanThompson-ln3bo]

What an awesome piece of work, congratulations. I'm sure I have the same saw, with the same problems but mine is badged and painted differntly. Either that, or it's incredibly similar. After hours spent with the side panels off trying to clear sawdust out of the way your video was like looking inside my own. Even with a big, 100mm dust extractor on a 2m hose it's rubbish. Is there any way you could post the CAD and other info for the dust cage and zero clearance throat somewhere like Github or similar? If the dimensions are anything like similar to mine I'll go out and buy a 3D printer just to fix it!

[@fritziii2137]

Your commentary is hilarious. Great job.

[@steveh8724]

This was a great example of analysis followed by iterative design refinement, thanks very much for sharing. I only wish you were a sliding miters user. Dust collection on those needs your kind of analysis and design!

[@JimRimS4S]

Loved the whole damn thing. I got my first 3d printer about 3 months ago. I'm more of a woodworker who is metal curious. Generaly do not like plastic for its

[@hakansjostrom7597]

I have about the same problem. But I intend to keep the saw blade and everything that moves around it separate from the box that collects the saw chips. The sawdust box is fixed and is large enough to allow the saw blade to move up and down and tilt. It must of course be tight and have a connection for a chip suction hose

[@saschma3543]

Well.... I solved this problem by getting the biggest skyscraper dust collection system i could find which fits in my garage. But well done mate. You are officially crazy 😂

[@robertsternlieb5532]

Nice design work. Very well done. Really good video too. I wonder how much the zero clearance insert would improve the standard dust collection. lots of great ideas.

[@PhilVandelay]

Yeah I thought about that too, maybe it could have worked with the old box. Then again I'm not sure it would have worked out clearance wise

[@avigetsbored]

what about making some flexible bellows ?

[@wafflebeaver]

This is some unreal engineering. Corporations fail at engineering dust collection like this but a guy in a small shop can figure this out. What a world we live in…

[@michaelrobinson9643]

A foam rubber strip could work to improve a seal on the riving knife if you wish to add it. I've seen router benches use a sealed box under the router to create suction at the bit. Do some circular saws mimic this design or are all like yours with the encasement of the blade that must be examined when buying to avoid shoddy function?

[@PhilVandelay]

There is one approach to solving this that involves ditching the dust box alltogether and making the entire saw base the dust box, so sealing all edges and building a funnel into the bottom so that anything that falls inside gets captured. The problem is that you always need the slots in front for the handwheels so some dust tends to come out there and it's also work intensive to implement but might be similar to what you mean. I haven't looked at many table saws so not sure what the really expensive ones use

[@LeoWal01]

Very nicely done!!

[@djvitornunes]

It's a good upgrade, I made it in my way on mine machine's, it's not easy but it's possible, thank you.

[@branchandfoundry560]

Considering laminar flow, would it make sense to locate the front magnetic wedge piece inside the blade box instead of outside it? Thank you sharing this build video.

[@PhilVandelay]

But then the box wouldn't be able to tilt anymore

[@branchandfoundry560]

@@PhilVandelay Details, details 🤦‍♂

[@jamesont6472]

I appreciate the introduction, at least for me the entire point of dust collection is the tiny particles as I'm not able to inhale mulch. Well, have fun in the shop I reckon! Pro tip: don't put your fingie where you wouldn't put your dingy.

[@davohbg1996]

Hello Phil Thank you for this excellent documentation, better tutorial. Just repeating the positve remarks below: excellent analysis. design and craftmansship! Do you think a kind of brush would help to capture the "final" dust particles? Some CNC maschines for wood using sometimes brushes to reduce the "flying dust particles". I wish you a happy easter Kind Regards - Andreas

[@Toadman03]

what if you screwed on a rubber or silicone strip flap that would go inside the bottom of your top cover. when you push the wood in to be cut it would slide on top of the piece of wood and when the wood passed through the front of it, it would fall to the table keeping the larger pieces inside the dust hood and not flying out the front