garbob
12-08-2000, 08:45 PM
After using Shopbot's and 2 other vacuum dust collector heads I made, I really wasn't happy with the performance, especially near the edges of the sheet when cutting the top of a vacuum table or surfacing mdf or even plywood. After many hours mulling this over the past few months, I finally got it. What's the big thing about using brushes, half the time the material just goes right through them. Anyway, I just fastened a round disposable container to the bottom of my P.C. 3 1/4 hp router with screws and washers and adjusted the 1/4" round nose bit for cutting grooves in my vacuum table top. I doubt if there is 1 teaspoon of "dust" from cutting about 1,000 feet of 1/8" deep grooves. This set-up isn't practical as you must remove the thing to change bits. I will be fastening a metal plate to the bottom of the router and using rare earth magnets to hold the various sizes of containers for different bits and different puposes. The only weird thing is that if the bowl grabs the table you must have a way of moderating the vacuum or you'll cook you shopvac thingee. This is way to neat. The other good byproduct is that the HUGE air stream escaping the router from the bottom is not part of the collection system as it is sprayed out the sides by the bowl!