Buddy Dust Collection

[erik_f]

I have found the dust collection a bit of a pain to manage. I am working on something right now to try and get up and out of the way via the e-chain. Anyone else used the e-chain to manage their dust collection hose? Any great ideas out there?

[acb]

I tied up the hose section of the dust foot right behind the carriage... just used a couple of black tie-wraps in a chain attached at the upper end of the e-chain. Then I suspended the hose back to my d/c from a joist with a bit of chain.

Left enough slack in the chain to absorb the x-axis travel with a minimum of flexing the hose. And I can break into the d/c connection easily to run an extension hose to my less frequently used tools.

[erik_f]

I was thinking of doing the same thing...but my garage has 10 foot ceilings...but I guess if I used your chain idea I could hang it as low as I like. My first set up worked fine until I finished my vacuum hold down...and now the plumbing from that gets hung up on the dust collection. If its not one thing its another!

[erik_f]

ended up just hanging the hose over the rafter for now. Not really the ideal set up...but will work for now. Had just enough hose to get it done.

[bearwoods@earthlink.net]

Hi Erik
I am really a new Buddy 48 person as I still not up and runningyet. But I have ran into this type of problem before and will most likely do it with my Buddy. I run 4" PVC on the cieling to a spot directly above the machine then using dryer hose connect it to my Buddy. Dryer is cheap and lighter weight than my dust collect hose and a whole lot mort flexible. The plastic dryer hose has a wire in it for grounding. I run a thin braided wire through the PVC and connect then together and then to ground. Yes I have already set this up for my Buddy Although I'm not running yet. Good Luck.

[Brady Watson]

Here's what I've done...Machine is FILTHY from very large run of parts. I've been using the Buddy as a secondary operation tool, where parts get grooved, drilled and other operations, allowing me to keep my setup on my big tool. It's a beautiful thing having multiple robots making you money at the same time! Even though I have a good DC setup, I don't always use it, as certain setups with clamps or low cycle times, make the DC foot self-defeating...or it simply gets in the way.

Here's my setup consisting of a Rigid brand vacuum hose, a 2 to 3" adapter for the foot, a 2 to 4" adapter for the DC to plug into. For a small tool such as the BT series, a 2" hose is more than adequate & it is self-managing, as it bends with the same contour as the energy chain.

The setup allows the Buddy to be completely portable, and is ideal for anybody with high or low ceilings, a powerstick and/or vacuum system like I made on my BT.


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-B

[erik_f]

Nice work as usual sir. I was thinking along the same lines but just making the 4" DC run the whole way back. My workable shop area is pretty small, so keeping this in order keeps swearing to a minimum. I will try and take some pics when I get it squared away.

[Brady Watson]

Thanks Erik.

Not all ideas work out, but you usually learn something in the process...Here's an articulated arm that I made. It worked well as far as the arcticulation went...but a bit too bulky & complicated for dust collection. PVC elbows sandwich HDPE bearings with a sort of labyrinth seal to keep the air pressure, but allow for movement.


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[dana_swift]

Brady, my hat is off to you for experimentation!

Rube Goldberg would have been proud! But if it works that is the test of the "pudding".

D

[acb]

Here's my chain-up arrangement. (The square item down front is a wifi antenna.)


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[erik_f]

Brady,
The arm might not have worked for DC...but what about vac hold down? Anyway I like the pvc but I could see where it would be a little clunky in the shop. We have been getting ready for a big event at our store (day gig) and needed to make some things on the bot, so some of my set up just had to be "good enough". I'm not really thrilled with the vac hold down and DC right now...but it worked for what I needed to get done. I hate having things "cobbled up"! Looks great guys thanks for posting.

[Brady Watson]

Erik,
This thread shows how I've handled vacuum hold down on the BT series of tools: http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/messages/27/27659.html?1210047649

At the moment I have removed the vac setup since I had to do a series of secondary operations involving toggle clamps & hardwood. I made an MDF spoilboard consisting of two 3/4" layers. The 1st layer is drilled & countersunk for 3/16" tee-nuts that correspond to the 1/4-20 tapped holes in the AL base plate. 3/16" screws with fender washers secure this 1st sheet to the AL table. Then a 2nd layer of MDF was glued to the 1st, making a traditional spoilboard for the BT48. What's nice is that, it can be completely removed in a matter of minutes & replaced with my vacuum setup. Going forward, it may just be easier to add some v-roller bearings to a 'pallet', much like a powerstick, and slide each config onto the tool as needed.

-B

[erik_f]

Here are a couple pics of the hold down set up. I used Brady's 1x3" aluminum idea with my own twist. Maybe we should start an open source buddy vac hold down tread?


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[martmar]

Erik,

I think that would be a great idea to start an open source buddy vac hold down tread. I am a brand new BT48 owner(well it was shipped today). I am going to be needing a vacuum system setup as well. I already have a fein vac and wanted to use it. I was wondering what was your final thoughts on your setup. Do you think it performs better then Brady's setup or not. I am really nervous about getting a brand new buddy and then cutting 2 holes into the table. I was thinking about creating a 1" level between the AL table adding and the grid to channel the two aluminum tudes through it. I am not worried about Z travel because material is 1/8" thick.

Any thoughts

Marty

[acb]

Yes, somehow this thread seems to have morphed from dust collection to vacuum hold-down...

[mwpfeifer]

Well let's get this thread back to dust collection!

I had planned to post on this topic earlier but being a newbie to this forum and having a few problems with my registration the system wouldn't let me. Courtesy of some special assistance from Nancy at ShopBot I am now "on-line" so to speak.

I have only had my BT48 for a couple weeks but it became obvious very quickly that I needed to hookup my shop vac. I tried stuffing the hose into the short piece that comes with the Bot but didn't work too well. Not wanting to spend time wandering thru the "Depot" gathering adapter parts I instead removed the ShopBot hose and modified the crevice tool that came with my shopvac mounted in to the dust skirt and used spray foam to seal around it. It works pretty good considering I an only using a small part of my table at the current time. Plan to look into something a bit more powerful after I have a few more months experience with the Buddy. Have included a couple photos of my "cheap" mod.


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[jharmon]

This was my solution after playing around with a few different configurations - a big PE foam doughnut held tight up against the stepper holding the DC hose. This works out great for me and the boss will never notice that missing strap off her camera bag!


Jim


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[erik_f]

Nice work guys!