Eric
I want one! That is a great design.
How about the concept of modifying your existing files and cutting a set of negatives out of something like phenolic resin and then vacu-forming the pieces? Cabinet shops use big vacu form machines to put the finish on doors and such so it should be easy to make a few of these.
The files are all ready to print, you'd just need to find someone with a 3D printer and enough time to print them all out. This is a LONG print due to the size.
Thanks for sharing the files! I think I will contact the local Vocational school. My neighbor says they have a 3D printer. Maybe a decent donation would get one made.
Anything I should know about type and quantity of material?
I'm ashamed to say I've been running my ShopBot without a dust boot for a long time now. It's in it's own room, so the dust is contained that way, though not the best way. I just wear a dust mask, and leave the room when I can and watch it on the monitor. A problem I was having was long strings when cutting with the grain would plug up the tube. The 2.5" x6' tube I had running off the machine rather than 4" at the boot was a design flaw on my part.
I'm in the process of making some upgrades to the machine. Getting rid of the factory PVC bow (PRT96) that holds the wiring, replacing it with a wire chain, adding a 4th axis and finally tackling the dust collection issue. I have a JET dust collector that has worked well, if I can just get the ShopBot end working better. My plan has been to design a boot out of some 1/2 clear acrylic that's been on the shelf for years, but I'm open to anything that will work at this point.
I like the cyclonic idea Brady is talking about. How would you get the cyclonic effect moving? Maybe attach the vacuum tube off to one side of the boot like a turbo housing, something like this?
I built this dust shoe to try and get my dust collection working better. I always knew I had a weak dust collector. Well, long story short I ended up going from a 2.5 HP crappy old dust collector to this 5HP Oneida:
When I had this shoe on my old system it worked pretty well. On the new system which is hugely more powerful then my old setup, I was still getting sawdust left behind in my cuts. Less, but still far more than other similar systems that I've seen setup. I knew my dust shoe was the culprit...
I started to realize that with this new dust collector that my current 3D printed design was a bit restrictive. So I set about designing something that was a little more open. I was a bit hesitant at first.. We all know that the crevice tool on a vacuum works really well, and that was my theory with the old dust shoe. This new one I designed with a 6" x 6" suction area. Much larger than the old one.
I thought this was going to be too big, but it ended up working great. The bristles are flexible strip brush from McMaster. I embedded rare earth magnets so I can pull the bristles off. This allows full access for the wrenches during a bit change. I took great care to get the whole assembly as tight to the spindle as possible. Not easy when you have to exit the hose out of the rear because of an air drill.
The end result is that I don't know what sawdust is anymore. Between this monster dust collector and this new shoe, nothing gets left behind. It's pretty fantastic.
I did learn that a shoe can and probably should be tuned to the dust collector you've got. This new design may have been worse on my old system, but is great here. The shoe that worked great on my old system actually restricted my new one.
Eric
Ironically I just had your original design made by the local high school. I just picked up yesterday and am wondering if you could tell me which brush you purchased from Mcmaster? I also have an Oneida 5hp cyclone. How good or bad did this shoe work with this collector? Hopefully it is at least as good as the shopbot shoe. Thanks for all your work and sharing.
Honestly, this one didn't work as well with the Oneida. It's too restrictive. If you restrict the air opening in a vacuum you're forcing the same amount air to move through a smaller opening. The only way for that to happen is for the air to move faster. Think of the crevice tool in a vacuum. This dust shoe with my old (weak) dust collector were paired pretty well. It restricted the air just enough that it increased it's velocity and made it pick up more chips. With the new Oneida, it was far too restrictive.
This new design you see above is nearly wide open. This would never have worked on my old shoe but works great with the Oneida.
For now I am going to finish this one and see how it works. But is your new version printed? And are you going to either share or sell them? Everything about this Shopbot has been great, except the dust collection problem with airdrills. Honestly, if I had known the stock boot would not work w/air drills I may have ordered a different arrangement. My drills are Stock Shopbot . I would like to see them supply one that works. Hopefully it is on their list of things to improve! Thanks Again for all your help.