# Dustproofing my contraor saw



## gthec (Oct 9, 2012)

Hi Folks,

Been out the woodworking loop for a bit but trying to restart some projects sitting in my "in-progress" basement woodshop. 

One of the chief issues has been the dust from my saw. It's a Ridgid R4510 contractor saw. I currently hook the dust port to a shop vac with a Dust Deputy in line but plenty of dust is missed and drops to the floor and some dust exits out the top blade throat plate (not zero clearance yet). I should mention also that the port is part of a cowl that envelopes the blade so it doesn't extract from the box as much as the blade. So, to dustproof the saw, I'm considering building sort of a box (connected to the shop vac) that the saw sits upon so the dust falls into the box. 

My question is, do I connect the extraction hose to just the saw's dust port and clean out the box every once in a while or do I add a port to the box and connect the shop-vac with some sort of Y adapter? And if I do that, does that reduce the overall suction. Finally, would it work better to plug the port on the saw and connect the vacuum just the box? 

Yes, I know I should get a real extractor but my shop is tiny and my projects are small. My plan is to move the shop-vac/Dust Deputy from machine to machine as needed.

I have attached a quick sketchup file to show what I'm thinking for the box (with vent).

Thanks for you help everyone!

Regards

Greg


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## gthec (Oct 9, 2012)

*oops, mispelled "contractor saw"*

oops, mispelled "contractor saw"


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## Mort (Jan 4, 2014)

I've kinda half-a$$ed one like you're talking about. The heavy stuff collects on the bottom but the fine dust still goes all over the place. You have to seal up all the openings below the table or it won't do much good.

Mine is an older Craftsman where there was no thought to dust collection, so it may be easier for yours.


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## tvman44 (Dec 8, 2011)

You will also need some collection over the blade. :surprise2:


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*here's what I've discovered....*

If you don't suck the dust right off the spinning blade, like with a radial arm saw blade guard, it will just settle into the base or fall to the floor. Gravity has a greater effect than a low volume, low velocity air stream. Some of the newer saws have a blade covered housing under the table with a port at the rear for a shop vac sized hose. This will work the best. A shop vac on a blade cover/guard over the top of the blade will also collect a good deal of the dust that's spun off by the fast spinning blade. I found this to be very effective on my sawzilla table saw.

A large base or a open cabinet below may just as well have no dust port and serve as a bin or dust bucket than any dust collection source. Remove a liner or empty the bin and that's about as good as you will get.

If however, you have a powerful high volume dust collector with a decent air velocity you will be more successful with a cabinet or base under the saw.

A good view of the underside of a Bosch with a blade enclosure for good dust collection:









from this very old blog:

http://mypts10.blogspot.com/


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

Your plan trumps mine. I built a drawer in the stand on my contractor saw. It catches about 70% of the free-fall. I think I inhale the rest. 
I pull out the drawer and dump the dust. Before the drawer the floor caught it.


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## gthec (Oct 9, 2012)

Thanks all for your help on this. If my box/stand is well sealed as well as sealing the saw itself, does it make sense to bypass the saw's dust port (which connects to the blade shroud, like in woodnthings photo), and attach only to the dustport on the box/stand? OR, do I attach the hose to both the saw's dust port and the box/stand's port? If I connect to both ports, does that negate suction? Finally, if I recall correctly, even with a dust deputy "in-line", a fair amount of sawdust ended up spilling out from the bottom of the saw. It would'nt be a problem to clean the box out once in a while but I might want to move the port on the box higher (?). If anyone knows or has seen proven solutions for my "issues", feel free to post a link!


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

woodnthings said:


> *If you don't suck the dust right off the spinning blade, like with a radial arm saw blade guard, it will just settle into the base or fall to the floor. Gravity has a greater effect than a low volume, low velocity air stream.* Some of the newer saws have a blade covered housing under the table with a port at the rear for a shop vac sized hose. This will work the best. A shop vac on a blade cover/guard over the top of the blade will also collect a good deal of the dust that's spun off by the fast spinning blade. I found this to be very effective on my sawzilla table saw.
> 
> *A large base or a open cabinet below may just as well have no dust port and serve as a bin or dust bucket than any dust collection source.* Remove a liner or empty the bin and that's about as good as you will get.
> 
> ...



You didn't understand this? The airborne dust that escapes the blade shroud will NOT get sucked up at the bottom of the bin .... for the most part. Yes, some will fall near the dust port, but a whole lot will just settle around the bottom of the bin. Once it gets airborne it's too late and wishful thinking that it will get sucked up up at the bottom. You've got to collect it right at the point it is generated, like right at the router bit or right off the radial arm saw blade cover, or over the blade on a table saw. Most older contractor saws do not have the blade shroud I pictured, but if yours does,you are in luck!

The more you restrict the opening on a blade cover/guard, the greater the air speed and suction will be. Put your fingers loosely over the shop vac hose and see how much that increases the suction between your fingers.


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## gthec (Oct 9, 2012)

Ok woodnthings, thanks. Somehow, I didn't read your post correctly. So, I think I’ll just connect to the dust port on the saw (which has a shroud on the blade). I’ll add a trap door to the box to make it easy to clean out. Thanks again everyone. I’ll post the result when it’s built.


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