Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: Dust collection with an indexer

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Lenox High School, Lenox MA
    Posts
    964

    Default Dust collection with an indexer

    I'm considering purchasing an indexer. I'm wondering how indexer users handle dust collection. It seems to me that the standard type of dust shoe used for flat work may not handle lathe type work very well.

    Thanks in advance,

    Phil

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Marquette, MI
    Posts
    3,388

    Default

    The only known working indexer dust collector (see below)

    Attached Images Attached Images
    Gary Campbell
    GCnC Control
    GCnC411(at)gmail(dot)com
    Servo Controller Upgrades
    http://www.youtube.com/user/Islaww1


    "We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them"
    Albert Einstein


  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Pasadena, CA
    Posts
    986

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Gary Campbell View Post
    The only known working indexer dust collector (see below)

    Well, I agree a broom is necessary but a collector can still prevent the majority of the chips and almost all fine dust particles from escaping. See the following video between 1:00 and 2:14 (where the collector is down and operative) and you can recognize a lot of the chips being sucked upward.

    That said, this dust collector is a shroud around the spindle with the skirt at constant z-height. It may not work that well with the usual up/down moving brushes and offset suction hose.


  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    iBILD Solutions - Southern NJ
    Posts
    7,986

    Default

    The reality is that you're going to do best with a shopvac wand while you're standing there watching it. Roughing and 2D cuts are obviously going to throw a higher volume of chips. 3D incremental carving is going to basically let the chips fall. You can make a trough of sorts that will catch what falls, but rooster-tailing of chips is hard to grab without intelligence. (If following the trail with a shopvac is an indication of intelligence...)

    Unless you're doing ONE design in production, it's really hard to nail down something that is going to be effective.

    As a job shop, there are many times where I can't run dust collection at all because the parts are too thick or it's 3D etc and not possible. Today I ran 1.75" thick poplar cut outs and I was the dust collector following it around with the shopvac + broom.

    Statistically, you'll probably fart around with rotary a few times before putting it on the shelf...and sporadically after that. So, don't go nuts worrying too much about it...

    -B
    High Definition 3D Laser Scanning Services - Advanced ShopBot CNC Training and Consultation - Vectric Custom Video Training IBILD.com

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Lenox High School, Lenox MA
    Posts
    964

    Default

    Thanks to Gary, Burkhardt and Brady. I appreciate the replies. Brady's comment about farting around for a while and having wind up on a shelf is not unexpected.

    Phil

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Marquette, MI
    Posts
    3,388

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by phil_o View Post
    Brady's comment about farting around for a while and having wind up on a shelf is not unexpected. Phil
    According to an old guru; Obewan Kabrady, that where 90% of them are. I have seen no evidence in the last 10 years to dispute that. Very few users are able to wrap (pun intended) their heads around rotary work. Except for one. A bit of a hippy type with a headband. Word to the wise: JB,0 hurts like hell when your bandana gets caught in the chuck! Blackened both his eyes.

    See if you can that picture out of your head!
    Gary Campbell
    GCnC Control
    GCnC411(at)gmail(dot)com
    Servo Controller Upgrades
    http://www.youtube.com/user/Islaww1


    "We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them"
    Albert Einstein


  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Pasadena, CA
    Posts
    986

    Default

    Good point about the shelf. I don't have the indexer on a shelf but it is sitting in the corner of my machine table (except if I need the whole damn thing) and I use it maybe twice a year when I just want to try our a new design idea or a piece of new software. I guess it is especially hard to justify in a production environment. The machining times can sometimes be agonizingly long. But then, most 3-d work takes a long time for clean results.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Newberry, MI
    Posts
    566

    Default

    Gary,

    I don't wear no stinkin' headband!

    Mike

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Posts
    2,383

    Default

    you could put a trough under it with a dc connection

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Posts
    7,832

    Default

    The best dust collector that usually collects 99 to 100% of all my dust regardless of whether i'm cutting flat work or round indexer work is pictured here....
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Words of Wisdom:
    “Words that sink into your ears are whispered…… not yelled”
    “The biggest trouble maker you’ll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every morn’n”
    “The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth”
    -----------
    Just remember...when it's time for the hearse to pull up..there's no luggage rack on top!
    -----------
    The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it...Thomas Jefferson

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •