A to Z dust gate switch & new Dust Boots

[david_beede]

Made some new Dust Boots for my PRS standard and finally worked out how to switch from the Primary Router to the Aux. Router. I was inspired by Gary Campell, but went the Rube Goldberg meets Archimedes approach with a lever a ramp and a spring.

The boots aren't much to look at but seem to work well so far. Gary C. said "remember the crevice tool" - so I made a narrow "flu" from Baltic birch that accelerates the VAC flow right around the bit. Time will tell if big chunks prove a problem. I made an 1/8" groove 1/4" deep for the brush, which is from Harbor Freight [$1.99] and a longer one from a dollar store broom. [$1.85] Just put some white glue in the slot and cut the bristles and stuck them in.

The 1/4" plexiglass bass is attached using the brackets from the old ShopBot boot. Magnets are from Harbor Frieght. [$1.99] I also used 1/8" alignment pins for positioning and to resist shear force.

Used a thin wall 4" pvc end cap for hose attachment, hot melt glued it in the hole, then used a flush trim router to take out the end.

The A to Z switch might look a little goofy, but it seems to work so far. Two blast gates with their gates connected. A spring holds them in one position, when I "park" the AUX router [near the top of it's travel] a ramp on the AUX carriage pushes a lever that closes the Primary Z gate and opens the AUX gate.

Both Gary C. and Ed Lang were helpful with some files they created to raise their Z's to certain heights. This is an important piece of the puzzle as every time I change a bit or re zero my AUX router the distance to the optimum "park height" changes. I mostly tweaked Gary's as he had a nice section for writing the max height variable to a text file, otherwise I lose the variable value when I close the ShopBot software.

I have a prox switch on order which I'll use ultimately, but I tested the concept by clamping my Z zero plate above the AUX Z carriage so output 1 would close when it hit it.

Time will tell how it holds up. I do wish I had mounted it more rigidly as flex in the lever mount can prevent the ramp from moving the lever all the way over. I sprayed TFE on the Rockler blast gates, pins, and ramp face to make them slide more freely which helps.

Here's a photo with the parts labeled and a link to a short video on both the boots and the switch.
http://vimeo.com/37782382


And a couple of the dust boots...



I kept the holes in the plex only slightly larger than the collets so the air from the router fan get's deflected. This keeps that blast of air from fighting with the VAC flow.

[dana_swift]

Its so cool what can be rigged up with a little ingenuity.

David, that is just plain cool! I have made quite a few little "gizmos" for my bot and shop. Once you have CNC the world changes.

Last weekend I added a Max Z prox switch to my bot. I set up C4 to move Z until it finds the prox. Already that is a huge improvement. At the end of every cut file it now automatically goes to max Z and gets out of the way. In addition, when I zeroed on the top of my material I can use C4 to find out just how much Z height I actually have with any given setup. Handy info when making file changes or switching to thicker material.

Thanks for sharing the dual dust foot!

D

[chiloquinruss]

"Rube Goldberg meets Archimedes" I love it! I think we should have shirts made, I love the 'gadgets' we all seem to be able to come up with. Great design. Russ

[david_beede]

Thanks Russ and Dana... Dana, I heard someone say you're doing some interesting things with guitar necks? Is that right?

[roney c]

David, just added your post to the home page on my iPhone for fast access. Although I just recently made my version of the Kent dust boot, which works pretty well 85% ? chip pick-up, it's because the brushes come out over the edges of my table when cutting close to the edge that chips blow out (the 15 percenters), I believe I'll try your small dia brush setup. Thanks for posting pics. Btw does anyone know how to post pics on the forum directly from an iPhone?

[david_beede]

Hey Roney- So far the small diameter crevasse tool flu is working for me, but I don't generate many large fragments which might prove a problem. I'm I-phone clueless... my simple cell phone is already smarter than I am which pisses me off.