When I original divided out my basement after years and years of planning (I think allot) I finally had the opportunity to make a workshop space… a room to be able to actually make real all these things floating around in my mind. In doing so, I initially designed and bought all the needed pieces to install a dust collection system to benefit both my own health and those in my home outside of the shop walls. Since, the duct work, fittings, hoses…all of it, has sat in a box while I worked away on this or that, cutting and making and sanding things, foolishly dragging around a portable shop vac from tool to tool to try and keep as much sawdust as I could out of my lungs. It did not work that well.
So, I am finally convinced that actually installing this system has to be the better way and have set out to do just that. Not really a ‘project’ in the sense of creating something fun or interesting, but probably of more importance as this will be a correct step to properly setting up my permanent tools in order to work more efficiently and certainly more safely. So... some of those original parts have been returned to the store and others purchased to really make it what I want and to make woodworking/ creating more a joy than a hassle.
This might not interest you as much as my other projects, but none the less is an important step for the fun to follow. As I progress, I will post a photo here or there of the progress until it is done... I promise.
4/15/14 ***UPDATE*** My new fittings finally arrived and I went to town last night getting them in place AND... it works! With the remote control, I can turn it on from any where in the shop and each tool now has its own feed and blast gate to suck up the dust making it convenient and easily used. I also added a couple of layers to the work bench, the base of particleboard, then a 1/2 sheet of luann plywood and a top layer of tempered hardboard. I will finish the edging with mahogany and set in some wood and bench vises. Good progress so far.
4/17/14 Installed the feeds for the dust collector to pump it all outside. Upside, it works really well and there is no dust inside, but as it is attached to the house, when I fire it up, the upstairs dishes rattle in the cabinets...which surely will not fly in the long run, so I will need to find another, quieter solution. Perhaps attaching it to the block wall with a rubber type spacer insulating it from the house would be better.
