Dust collection question

[Denny Nebgen]

I am moving from a Nova galaxy DVR lathe to a Robust American Beauty and the way I had my dust collector port next to the Nova will be less than ideal for the Robust AB. I will need a bit more flexibility to move the port along the bed with the AB than with the Nova.
Currently I have a computer monitor stand bolted to the wall and it works well with the Nova but the AB the swing just isn't going top allow for enough movement.

Do any of you have some ideas (perhaps with Photos) of how you handle your dust collector at the lathe.

I'm looking for ideas.

Thank you

 

[Dave Landers]

I have a stand from woodcraft that came with a dust hood. Thought it would do the job, but I didn't like the thing as-purchased. So I attached a length of 3" PVC pipe w/coupler to the stand (it has a short section of pipe attached to the top of the stand). I also turned a bell mouth for it, which works so much better than the hood (or the bare end of the pipe, which I also liked better than the hood). The PVC keeps the stand at a respectable distance and lets me get the bell mouth where I need it.
The outside diameter of a 3" PVC coupler is the right size for 4" dust hose.
I glued a couple magnets to the back of the DC's remote and glued a strip of metal to the top of the PVC (both harvested from an old name tag), so the remote is usually right there when I move the pipe.

Of course, this exact setup won't work if you have wall rather than floor behind your lathe - but maybe there's an idea or two in here for you.

(Older photo from my previous garage temporary-shop setup)

 

[Russ Braun]

I have a stand from woodcraft that came with a dust hood. Thought it would do the job, but I didn't like the thing as-purchased. So I attached a length of 3" PVC pipe w/coupler to the stand (it has a short section of pipe attached to the top of the stand). I also turned a bell mouth for it, which works so much better than the hood (or the bare end of the pipe, which I also liked better than the hood). The PVC keeps the stand at a respectable distance and lets me get the bell mouth where I need it.
The outside diameter of a 3" PVC coupler is the right size for 4" dust hose.
I glued a couple magnets to the back of the DC's remote and glued a strip of metal to the top of the PVC (both harvested from an old name tag), so the remote is usually right there when I move the pipe.

Of course, this exact setup won't work if you have wall rather than floor behind your lathe - but maybe there's an idea or two in here for you.
View attachment 58150
(Older photo from my previous garage temporary-shop setup)

Dave, you’ve reduced your 4” hose to 3”? How has this upgraded the collection aspect? More suction velocity? I am not a “hood” fan and just use the 4” hose for collection. I use Ken Rizza’s mounting system on my AB. I find it stiff (a necessity) and sometimes in the way of my banjo…..it works well otherwise. I look at your floor mounted version and get a case of “it’s always greener on the other side of the hill” syndrome, lol!! Yours does look intriguing!

 

[Dave Landers]

Dave, you’ve reduced your 4” hose to 3”? How has this upgraded the collection aspect? More suction velocity?

You're right about the reduced size. Hadn't thought about it at all. Until now, dang it.
Anyway, it seems to work for me. But now I might have to see if I can find a bit of 4" pipe....

 

[Lou Jacobs]

I also turned a bell mouth for it, which works so much better than the hood (or the bare end of the pipe, which I also liked better than the hood).

Dave, I have the Big Gulp (is that what it’s called?) from CSUSA and have always been frustrated to note that while it catches a lot of the dust when I sand, I notice that some goes right past it. I’m intrigued by the idea of a bell end instead and will turn one and see how it works. I wonder if anyone can explain the physics/aerodynamics of this and why it seems a better solution even with a smaller opening area?

 

[JeffSmith]

Mine is pretty simple - a piece of the semi-rigid hose held up with an assortment of scrap wood held together with carriage bolts and spare knobs all held up by an old IV stand someone left in my studio a couple of decades ago.
I changed out the rectangular hood for a bell mouth intake found online cheap. I don’t know the physics involved, but it works much better and has a wider area around it that it pulls from.

 

[robo hippy]

Is your lathe against a wall or in the open? If you are in the open, then you need a stand like the post above. If you are against a wall, then there are many options. I need to 'new and improve' my drum that I use for sanding, literally a 55 gallon food grade drum with some plexiglass on the end so the bowl is about 75% enclosed. I think I would opt for a French cleat system, 45 degree bevel on board screwed to the wall, and the hood mounted on a mating 45 degree bevel that you could slide back and forth depending on where you want it. The more enclosed the piece is, the more dust you collect. Maybe check out my video I did. The bad thing about that hood is that I have to take it off to turn, but it does get ALL of the sanding dust. Sheet stock of the white plastic is available in sheets up to 5 by 10, so possibly a club project. The 1/4 inch thick is kind of difficult to bend, but they have many thicknesses. Even a cardboard box can be made to work.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sanding+hood+for+lathes+robo+hippy

robo hippy

 

[Dave Landers]

Dave, I have the Big Gulp (is that what it’s called?) from CSUSA and have always been frustrated to note that while it catches a lot of the dust when I sand, I notice that some goes right past it. I’m intrigued by the idea of a bell end instead and will turn one and see how it works. I wonder if anyone can explain the physics/aerodynamics of this and why it seems a better solution even with a smaller opening area?

This isn't a physics-based answer, and certainly not based on any knowledge of aerodynamics... but to my view, those big gulp things aren't really larger openings, but more a sort of box around the end of the pipe. I think the idea is that if you can get the dust to fall in the 'box' then it ought to eventually end up in the pipe. But they don't really do anything about air flow that I've experienced. The bell mouth (wikipedia link) does let air flow in more efficiently - I think since it's a gradual curve into the pipe rather than an abrupt pipe-end. So the air can curve into the pipe rather than taking a hard left turn (or something like that).

I saw a few others making bell mouths, thought I'd try it cause it's round, and I do round. Also figured if it's good enough for F1 engine intakes, it might be ok to try.

Before I had the bell mouth, I just used the bare end of the pipe - and even that worked better than the big gulpy thing for me. Mainly because I could get the suction (end of the pipe) closer to the actual sanding. The bell mouth just improves on that - I watch most of the dust flowing into the DC pipe, even when I'm sanding on one side of a bowl and the pipe is on the other.

I think @robo hippy 's thing works because it's a much bigger 'box' that actually does surround the workpiece and there's basically no place else for the dust to go. So a different solution that works for him and probably others.

 

[Dave Landers]

We're kinda getting away from Denny's question about mounting his dust collector, however... I just sanded this piece (from the bottom tenon up to that pencil line) from 120 up to 400. You can see the dust on the banjo that the DC didn't catch. The rest went in the tube.

 

[Lou Jacobs]

We're kinda getting away from Denny's question about mounting his dust collector, however...

Sorry about the thread drift. I’ll give the bell end a try.