Dust Foot revisit...

[harryball]

OK guys, I've been running Kent's dust foot a few weeks now and I must say it's pretty dagum good. The mounting, ease of access to the bit and collection is great. I had a little trouble with too much airflow with the 3HP cyclone, I opened a 2" hose that I keep next to the bot and the collection efficiency increased since the brushes remained down.

I'd say for most flat cutting I'm getting easily 90% minimum for anything I've done so far. For flat work (cabinets etc...) I get 95% or so, only a few chips laying around. When I clean the table fully covered with chips letting the brushes drag the surface I get about a palm full of chips left on the table mostly around the edges and the end where the foot overhangs the end of the table. For surfacing, 98% collection.

Most of the left over chips has to do with the foot overhanging the table or material in some cases loosing the seal. I can't do much about that or blame the foot for it.


All in all, pretty dang good.

/RB

[harryball]

I'm sure many of you have seen this before and know about the foot, but for those that don't here is his video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8ehFKTjZN4

/RB

[gc3]

[QUOTE=harryball;98610]OK guys, I've been running Kent's dust foot a few weeks now and I must say it's pretty dagum good. The mounting, ease of access to the bit and collection is great. I had a little trouble with too much airflow with the 3HP cyclone, I opened a 2" hose that I keep next to the bot and the collection efficiency increased since the brushes remained down.

I'd say for most flat cutting I'm getting easily 90% minimum for anything I've done so far. For flat work (cabinets etc...) I get 95% or so, only a few chips laying around. When I clean the table fully covered with chips letting the brushes drag the surface I get about a palm full of chips left on the table mostly around the edges and the end where the foot overhangs the end of the table. For surfacing, 98% collection.

Most of the left over chips has to do with the foot overhanging the table or material in some cases loosing the seal. I can't do much about that or blame the foot for it.


All in all, pretty dang good.




Agree. I have 2 different bristle sizes. Well worth the cost.

[knight_toolworks]

I wanted one of his but it would not work on my prt alpa with a spindle. so I had to make one. I used the same idea's but I found one long brush was a pain it was better having at least two. sometimes a long brush is too much for cleaning the table and sometimes a short one is too short.
but are you having a problem with the brushes getting sucked up?

[gc3]

I wanted one of his but it would not work on my prt alpa with a spindle. so I had to make one. I used the same idea's but I found one long brush was a pain it was better having at least two. sometimes a long brush is too much for cleaning the table and sometimes a short one is too short.
but are you having a problem with the brushes getting sucked up?

As far as brushes getting chewed by a bit no... Between the 2 bristle lengths and adjusting the base on the router that is not a problem. These panels left close to zero dust on the table.

[knight_toolworks]

when I made mine the longer brushes would cause depth problems with short bits. so two lengths was a good way to go. I have 3" and 2"

[harryball]

Why would it not work on a PRT with a spindle? That's what I'm running. I secured it and have the hose out in front of the spindle and not underneath it.

I've not had trouble getting the brushes chewed up. As for sucking them up, with the full 3HP cyclone pulling on a 4" hose, yeah it sucks them up but not into the hose just pulled inside. When I open an additional 2" hose port it does fine. Kent's dustfoot has a line of shorter bristles inside the longer ones that stabilize the brushes without making them so stiff they snag or damage work pieces.

"one long brush was a pain it was better having at least two. sometimes a long brush is too much for cleaning the table and sometimes a short one is too short."

I have 2 spacers. With foot base secured at the highest position and only the brushes installed it works well with my shorter 5/32" bits. I try to set the brushes to be even with the bottom of the bit. For my normal 1/4 and 3/8 cutting bits I find that one spacer does well. If I cut with a long bit (like my 3/8" rougher) I use both spacers. I learned in an attempt to make my own foot that having more cavity under the foot actually improves the collection. i.e. don't have a 1" high x foot size area under the brushes. So moving the base up high and using the longer bristles with spacers if needed seems to do a very good job.

I'm in no way associated with Kent... never met him. But I did need a dustfoot, I broke the original... or rather wore it out. I made about 3 myself and never really got it right. When I saw his design... it looked "righter" and for what he is charging it is well worth it IMHO.

/RB

[knight_toolworks]

Why would it not work on a PRT with a spindle? That's what I'm running. I secured it and have the hose out in front of the spindle and not underneath it.


/RB

I thought you had a prs alpha?
if you have the spindle on th3e back of the y housing then you have some room. but with the spindle in the middle slot the dust boot would hit the front rail. I had to keep it really short. plus there is not room for a 4" hose between the rail and the spindle.
this was a big battle plus clearnign the spring bracket in back and also if you raise the z up most fo the way the angle bracket in the corner hit the boot even with the corner knocked off it was a problem.
I wish I could have just bought one it would have saved money and time.

http://s154.photobucket.com/albums/s266/knighttoolworks/cnc%20jigs%20and%20parts/

[harryball]

I have a PRT Alpha, I'll get a PRS one day... or whatever the next generation is. Personal Robotic Tool/System/Helper/Virtual_Employee.

:)

/RB

[kubotaman]

So does anyone have Kent's address to find out about what is available as far as his "foot" is concerned??

[knight_toolworks]

I have a PRT Alpha, I'll get a PRS one day... or whatever the next generation is. Personal Robotic Tool/System/Helper/Virtual_Employee.

:)

/RB
you have your z all the way back. that gives you lots of room up front. I debated moving mine but it would be a hassle and I like having the extra reach on front verses in back.

[jd9737]

Has any one tried this on a PRS standard?

Bill

[jd9737]

Forgot to mention I have a 4hp spindle.

Bill

[gc3]

So does anyone have Kent's address to find out about what is available as far as his "foot" is concerned??

KENTCNC@gmail.com

[lexluthier]

Yesterday I managed to destroy the original dust foot on my PRT Alpha when it ran into a clamp. I want to make a new one using a strip brush.
Can anyone recommend where to buy the brush and which type is better, horse hair or nylon? I looked in MSC catalog and all the brushes are straight with the brush held together with either galvanized metal or stainless steel channels. Can they be bent to the shapes I am seeing in the designs here and how are you holding them in place.
Part numbers would be useful.

Thanks

[knight_toolworks]

mcmaster is better for brushes. you can buy by the foot. so far I have not been happy with the mcmaster non horsehair brushes. they are either too soft or too stiff and tend to stay bent after use. the horsehair brushes work pretty well. they tend to fluff out and trap dust better. but they are not cheap. but they don't really bend the backing is way too stiff. you can cut groves in the plastic and glue them in. but I have been using the aluminum track to hold them in place.
I have a local brush place that can make them with a 50.00 minimum but so far I have not needed new brushes so I have not tried them.
if you look at my earlier post you can see how I did mine. I used the cnc to mark where to cut the aluminum track and where to drill with a pen. just put in strip bush in the mcmaster page.

[jerry_stanek]

I use brushes from Sealeze you can request samples from them. I use the flexible ones and screw it to my shoe. There are

[knight_toolworks]

I use brushes from Sealeze you can request samples from them. I use the flexible ones and screw it to my shoe. There are
their min order put me off. but now I will go local when the time comes.

[wmcghee]

I bought mine from Grainger. Here is a link that shows it in their catalog
https://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg/viewCatalogPDF.shtml?browserCompatable=true&adobeCompatable=true&toolbar=true&CatPage=1843
I got the H-shaped flexible PVC 1,2 and 3" lengths.

[knight_toolworks]

I bought mine from Grainger. Here is a link that shows it in their catalog
https://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg/viewCatalogPDF.shtml?browserCompatable=true&adobeCompatable=true&toolbar=true&CatPage=1843
I got the H-shaped flexible PVC 1,2 and 3" lengths.

I saw that at mcmaster but the price is really high. I was not sure how it would hold up with my experience with the cheaper stuff.

[wayne_walker]

Steve,

I have some brush strips and alu. holders available.

Contact me thru my profile and I can send you some images and specifiations.


Wayne

[knight_toolworks]

I don't need any I am full (G)

[adrianm]

I got my dust shoe from Kent today and it's fantastic. Needed a bit of hose re-routing for my PRS but took less than ten minutes to get it on.

Dust pickup is much better with the 4" hose so close to the bit and changing bits, zeroing etc is so much easier.

[cabindoors]

Where do you get Kent's dust boot?

[bleeth]

Go to the search menu.

Put in "Kent Dust"

Open your eyes.

Research, look, read, learn.

[adrianm]

Where do you get Kent's dust boot?

www.kentcnc.net

[harryball]

I've been using mine for more than a month now.

I wouldn't bother with more than 2 of the extenders, I find with both installed it works just fine but I wonder if a 3rd would not add too much weight to stay bonded.

It has not popped off or shifted or otherwise caused problems. It works great.

/RB

[myxpykalix]

I have a PRT Alpha and i don't think this particular design (with the pipe goes straight up) would work for me with a porter cable router. I'm confused about how it attaches to the Z carriage/router?

Does anyone use a PRT with the design? It seems to me i would need the angled intake valve with something like this?

interestingly I saw another youtube video of a dustboot that incorporated some LED lights which is a good idea.

[adrianm]

I have a PRT Alpha and i don't think this particular design (with the pipe goes straight up) would work for me with a porter cable router. I'm confused about how it attaches to the Z carriage/router?

Does anyone use a PRT with the design? It seems to me i would need the angled intake valve with something like this?

interestingly I saw another youtube video of a dustboot that incorporated some LED lights which is a good idea.

There are two holes. One for the dust hose and the other fits around the bottom of the spindle/router. The latter hole has a slit with a pinch bolt that grips around the router.

One of the pictures on Kent's site shows a PC router (on a Joes CNC) so you can get an idea of how much clearance there is.

[dmidkiff]

Jack,
I have had Kent's shoe for about a month and it works great. I have an older PRT with PC router. It attaches like Adrian says. I had to move my router back as far as it would go to have clearance for the 4" hose. I am satisfied with the performance.

[Brady Watson]

The dust foot being offered looks nice - and looks like Kent put some time & effort into it's development. Kudos to him for the time & effort he put into the R&D.

I'm curious as to why you guys haven't created an open source dust foot project that benefits the community at large. We all own CNCs and CAD/CAM perfectly suited for cutting out these parts.

What's in the way of cutting your own??? :rolleyes:

-B

[ken_rychlik]

Not everyone buys one.

Notice the bent wrench. Mine doesn't come apart to change bits, but the top wrench slips between the foot and Router. The bottom "custom" wrench is bent for the purpose. A 3 inch pvc adapter fits 4 inch DC hose very well.

I just grabbed some 1 inch brush strip from the big orange store, but I need to find some 2 inch.

[Brady Watson]

If I was redoing mine, I'd have it so the nose of the foot came off - either with rare earth magnets or 2 short sections of t-rail and some thumb screws.

-B

[jerry_stanek]

The way I mounted mine on my PRS I used a piece of 3/8 X 1 inch aluminum and machined a groove in it and bent the end that holds the foot. I drilled and tapped the side of my z and use thumb screws to hold it. I can set it to the material and it stays constant it does not move up and down when the z does.

[Brady Watson]

Jerry,
That's how the original PRT was setup. This made it so you could use dust collection on deep v-carving or 3D.

The newer dust foot that goes up & down with the Z is really an added layer of safety. It keeps the bit covered while in operation.

-B

[wmcghee]

I also have a PRT alpha and didn't have enough room for dust collection hose. I removed my Z from the center holes in the carriage and rotated Z 180 degrees and mounted it in the front holes. Also had to move the cable. This put the router basically in the same place it was in but I have plenty of room now for a dust hose. Bit changes may be a little more difficult but not enough to matter.

[knight_toolworks]

I worked around my prt with the z mounted in the middle. life would have been easier to move it back trying to get everything in was a pain. everything was in the way the shoe could not be very long or it ran into the front rail. the spring holder in back got in the way. and so on.
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s266/knighttoolworks/cnc%20jigs%20and%20parts/P1010332.jpg
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s266/knighttoolworks/cnc%20jigs%20and%20parts/P1010333.jpg
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s266/knighttoolworks/cnc%20jigs%20and%20parts/P1010334.jpg
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s266/knighttoolworks/cnc%20jigs%20and%20parts/P1010301.jpg

[jerry_stanek]

I have a PR with a setup something like that and liked how easy it worked. My PRS had the shoe that went up and down with the Z and it was a problem when it came to cutting thick material. you had to set it to high so the first passes the chips would not get sucked up if or if you set it for the first few passes then it would drag and hook on the final passes. This works very well for me because it always is set to the top of my cuts.