# Help designing a custom dust port for Powermatic 100 planer



## Not that guy (Nov 25, 2019)

Greetings,

Quick background info of my current situation:

- I have an older Powermatic 100 (12") planer
- Previous owner threw away the integrated cover and chip breaker. :wallbash:
- I made a new one (steel plates) and need to attach some type of dust collection. The cover currently hinges behind the out feed roller just like the original.
- I will be getting the Harbor Freight DC, with popular upgrades (Wynn filter, SDD, etc.) and rolling to my machines with a short 5" diameter flex hose.
- I still need to attach the chip breaker itself and a shaped wood block or similar to guide the airflow/dust extraction.
- Given the non-curvature of my crudely fashioned chip breaker and the limited square footage of the garage, I think the best option is to extract the dust from the top, rather than going out the back (thereby adding more horizontal real estate to the planer).
- I will be purchasing an HVAC register boot to mount to a hole that I will (preferably) cut in the top of a steel plate cover.
- The only boots I can find that have a 12 inch wide rectangle are a 4"x12" to 5" round, and a 2.25"x12" to a 4" round (to be used in conjunction with a 5" to 4" reducer).
- No, I don't want to go with a 6 inch round hose.
- No, I don't want to fork out the cash (and man pride) to have someone else fabricate a custom hood.
- The width of my steel plate is 13.5" so I would add (2) 0.75" wide steel angle iron strips (front to back) to reinforce the "weak point" on the left and right side of the rectangular hole I would cut out in the top plate/cover.
- To quote the infamous Dr. Emmett Brown "Please excuse the crudity of this model. I didn't have time to build it to scale or to paint it."

With all of that stated, which set up would you fine people recommend for the best dust extraction?


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## difalkner (Nov 27, 2011)

Welcome to the forum! Add your location in your profile so it shows in the side panel. Add your first name to your signature line so we'll know what to call you.

That's a nice old piece of iron. How much force does the planer exert on throwing the chips upward? The reason I ask is that we have the Wynn filter on the HF dust collector and if the filter needs cleaning it may not have the force to pull chips upward. Dust, yes, but heavier chips, maybe not so much. You'll certainly get some and anything is better than just throwing the chips into the air and shop. 

But I could be wrong, I just did a quick scan of what you wrote and drew. Others will chime in soon...

David


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## Not that guy (Nov 25, 2019)

Hmmm. Great question David. It's been so long since I ran the planer without the cover, I couldn't remember.....so I found out....


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## Not that guy (Nov 25, 2019)

Pics are sideways..... great.🙄


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## difalkner (Nov 27, 2011)

Looks like it pitches them pretty good, Jay. Then my best guess is that your design should be efficient enough for your setup. I'm fairly certain others will chime in soon, though.

David


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## Not that guy (Nov 25, 2019)

Thanks David. I too, am pretty sure that collecting the dust and chips out the top is the best way to go.

Does anyone have any recommendations for which boot register to use.... 

12" x 2.25" (27 sq. in.) to a 4" round to a 5" round

or

12" x 4" (48 sq. in.) to a 5" round

Again, I will be using the ever popular 2 hp Harbor Freight dust collector with a Wynn filter, SDD, etc.

The end of the boot register will connect to a 5" diameter flex hose (19.63 sq. in.).

Thank you.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Go big on a planer....*

The 12" X 4" would be my choice and that way you stay with 5" hose all the way.


I used a dust hood from my Grizzly sander on this project:


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