# Miter Saw Dust Collection



## LearnByDoing

Been trying to take dust collect in my small shop more seriously. I use a shop vac right now, may move to a dedicated dust collector in the future. But right now my worst offender seems to be my miter saw. It's a bosch 10" single bevel slider that I've had for 13 years. It's a great saw but the dust collection is awful. It has a dust port located on the back of the blade guard with a bag that can be mounted. I remove the bag and plug on the hose for my shop vac. The vac and saw are plugged into an ivac switch so the vac comes on when the saw is used. But it still seems to spray dust everywhere.

I added a fabric "scoop" to the back side of the blade guard to capture some of the spray as seen on a youtube video. That seems to help but it doesn't solve the problem.

Two question...
1. what Miter saws are known to have good effective dust collection?
2. anything you think I could do to improve mine?


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## GeorgeC

Like you I hate the dust from a miter saw. It really throws dust all over.

I partially (I say partially because I do not believe there is any total solution) solved the problem by a " home brew" hood. It is crude, not pretty in any aspect, made of materials on hand, but it is effective. In my world pretty is not required, just operational.

George


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## TMA Woodworks

I did about the same thing as George. The things I learned is that you need to have the saw deep enough to capture any bounce back from the chips but not so deep as to hamper the use of the tool. Also on my plan the bottom of the hood is about a foot below the bottom of the saw. I cantilevered the back of the saw over the open box so all of the chips would fall in. The base of the box slopes to one side with the dust collector pipe hooked to the lower end. Does it work?? Kinda.... I usually have about 2" of chips in the base of the hood but that's okay because it's not all over the saw and the wall and everyplace else

Bob


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## ORBlackFZ1

LearnByDoing said:


> Two question...
> 1. what Miter saws are known to have good effective dust collection?
> 2. anything you think I could do to improve mine?


Good questions!

1. When I researched miter saws in 2012, they all seemed to be deficient in dust collection. I purchased a Milwaukee 6955-20 because I liked most of the features. Dust collection wasn't one that I liked. A few of the reviews implied that it had "improved" dust collection over the competitors, but it doesn't.

2. I have been thinking about how I could improve the dust collection on my miter saw. I am currently designing a grid underneath the back of the saw that would be hooked up to my DC. It would be something like a downdraft table top, only on a smaller scale. I would then also add a couple of deflection panels that would stop the dust from flying out the back and hopefully fall into the grid. 

It is really strange to me, that there are no miter saws that have a dust collection hookup on the table. There is a nice slot where the blade comes into at the bottom of the cut and this would seem like a natural place to collect saw dust, right after the blade has spun through the board. All of the saw manufacturers, try to collect the saw dust after the blade has come up through the back of the cut. Maybe, someone here can explain why that is.......is there some physics behind the collection point at the back or is it "just the way its always been done"....


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## tvman44

Best bet probably would be something like George did. I built something similar for my radial arm saw and connected it via a 4" line to my dust collector and it does help but I made the box too small and will be building a new box for it. :thumbsup:


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## Gene Howe

I use a large storage tub on it's side. I cut a hole in what is now the bottom and, using a toilet flange for a connector, attached my 4" DC hose. It works, but not completely.


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## woodnthings

*the best one I've seen here*

Best one I've seen: http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f24/compound-miter-saw-13332/
Made by Greg L:


Attached Thumbnails


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## 44260

GeorgeC, can you explain or post a picture of how the dust collection hose hooks up to the box?


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## big treble

While I cannot take claim for this, I saw this set up in a youtube video, and it looked pretty cool. The guy claimed in this video he is a fanatic when it comes to dust control, and is building a air filtration system.

As clean as his shop looks in his videos, I'm guessing it would work as good as it looks. This would keep the suction a lot closer to the cut than most I have seen, in turn keeping the CFM's higher and catching the spray of dust before it blows all over.

Not sure if you can tell from this snapshot. But it appears to be a notched DC hose located behind the fence.


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## ORBlackFZ1

big treble said:


> While I cannot take claim for this, I saw this set up in a youtube video, and it looked pretty cool. The guy claimed in this video he is a fanatic when it comes to dust control, and is building a air filtration system.
> 
> As clean as his shop looks in his videos, I'm guessing it would work as good as it looks. This would keep the suction a lot closer to the cut than most I have seen, in turn keeping the CFM's higher and catching the spray of dust before it blows all over.
> 
> Not sure if you can tell from this snapshot. But it appears to be a notched DC hose located behind the fence.


That looks interesting. Can you post more information on the youtube video? Title? author? I would like to look at the video.

Thanks,
Eric


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## GeorgeC

dirty-curty said:


> GeorgeC, can you explain or post a picture of how the dust collection hose hooks up to the box?


No hose. Box is too big for hose to be effective. I just periodically vacuum the box. If you want to hook up hose then just buy the connection from one of the many wood working supply houses.

George

PS Sorry it took me so long to reply. I often do not look at old threads.


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## big treble

This is another of his videos with a better view






And pic


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## big treble

And if you see any of his videos, their are no piles of dust around the miter saw, indicating it is inefficient.


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## ORBlackFZ1

big treble said:


> And if you see any of his videos, their are no piles of dust around the miter saw, indicating it is inefficient.



You mean "efficient", right?

Eric


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## big treble

ORBlackFZ1 said:


> You mean "efficient", right?
> 
> Eric


Yes, sorry


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## jacko9

I watched that video and got more interested in his flower bowl and forgot about the wood dust ;-)

jack


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## dbhost

I'm glad I came back and looked at this one. This looks like it will work better...


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## Haus

Wow....some nice set ups here.

I took a quick and dirty poor man's route for my miter saw.

First picture is without anything to stop dust from shooting to the left/right of the blade.










So I spent 5 minutes and cut some cardboard.










You can see a notch here where it holds itself in place.










This saw makes vertical sliding cuts 99% of the time, that's why it works for me. If I need to make a bevel/miter cut the cardboard slides out easily.

With the vacuum running this makes clean up much easier.

The only negative is that you have to spend $30 on printer paper first. :shifty:


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## ducbsa

I am making a masonite box behind my saw and have one of these in the bottom to meet up with the ductwork that approaches from the side.


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## Woodshop Therapy

*Manage Air Flow for Best Dust Collection*

The key to getting the best dust collection setup for your miter saw is to manage the airflow from the dust collector. This is a setup I've used for years and it works well because the sliding doors allow for adjustments when metering or bevelling. Here's a video that explains the setup so you can see how well it works and get an idea of how you can make one too.

I'm particular about dust collection because I know wood dust causes health problems if it isn't managed. I know two retired woodworkers with permanent health issues from dust.


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## ORBlackFZ1

*Rectangular box vs trapezoidal box vs circular cone?*

Woodshop Therapy:

Welcome to the Woodworkingtalk.com forum. Please remember to introduce yourself in the "Introductions" forum.

Thanks for posting the informative video. 

The adjustable doors is a great addition to the "collect dust at the source" philosophy, but I have to wonder about the rectangular box behind the doors. It looked like there was a lot of saw dust build up behind your doors.

Did you find that a rectangular box creates a better air flow than a trapezoid box or a circular cone? 

Thanks,
Eric


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## ducbsa

The sliding doors look good. My not-as-effective hood has a sloped floor that helps avoid build up in the corners.

The photo disappeared from my preceding post #19, so here is a replacement:


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## Woodshop Therapy

Hi Eric,

I don't think there is a way to avoid dust build up in a dust collection system for a miter saw. When the dust hits the back wall it changes direction and therefore falls out of the airstream. It might be possible to build a dust collection system that follows the back of the saw at all times, but I don't have the engineering skills for that solution. The key for me is that the dust is pulled away from the saw operator to avoid the danger of the sawdust.

Thanks for the welcome message. I'll go to the intro section and write something up.

Cheers,
Scott


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