Chop saw hood

[Samo]

OK, we are needing a chop saw hood on the Kapex.  It is used W/The Festool UG Stand and Wings.  [wink]

It's a miter saw, I know, but the crazy client.  I think the Kapex has very good dust collection for what it is and a table saw or crosscutting saw of any type is a messy beast.  The Kapex is on the interior of this project because it is a high-end project with many built-in elements that are after plaster.  The Dewalts, Makitas and our other Kapex are in the site Garage Shop now.

We have always been very customer oriented and IMHO very good to work with.  The current project involves a client on the site that is always around and working with the Designer.  She can be very nice and I don't fault her for her complaint, but it's a Jobsite and not a design studio.

Sorry for the rant!  Money is not an issue but the guys just want to finish without any more drama. We are looking for a hood solution and have used the first generation of the Fast Cap saw hood.  I have Emailed Fast Cap about what they offer.  I like the company and the Customer Service they have, but don't want a cheap product.

My first thought was a plywood saw hood and a separate CT running all the time?  The only issue is that we like to produce and not have stuff slow us down unnecessarily.

Looking for comments from guys that have been in our shoes.

Cheers, Sam

 

 

[bkharman]

Have you looked into the FastCap one?
http://m.northerntool.com/products/shop~tools~product_200358663_200358663?hotline=false&cm_mmc=Google-pla&utm_source=Google_PLA&utm_medium=Power%20Tools%20%26gt%3B%20Saws%20%2B%20Accessories%20%26gt%3B%20Saw%20Stands%20%2B%20Accessories&utm_campaign=FastCap&utm_content=338440&gclid=CIiW9e3U-tICFVM8gQodcUgEQQ

Cheers. Bryan.

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[BMAC]

I've got the FastCap Chop Saw Hood in my shop and it works great. I have a huge 85 lb Hitachi 12" mitre saw and there's tons of room for the saw to swivel both directions no problem. It certainly helps with dust containment and it sets up quickly, it's doesn't weigh much and it folds flat for transport. I highly recommend it.

 

[Samo]

Thanks guys,

I will see how the second generation saw hood may work out for us?  It's a little more money but my main problem with it is that it takes the hold down locations on the Kapex.  Not a big deal but we use them for the clamps and also for our accessory LED lamp.

 

[rizzoa13]

A plywood hood with an air sweeper or mold remediation fan ducted to the outside would definately do what you need.

 

[kevinculle]

I had the Fastcap hood on my Hitachi 10" before I upgraded to a Kapex with UG and it was more of a dust retainer than collector as most of the dust ended up laying on the bottom & in the corners of the hood.  It also takes up a lot of space behind the saw so you will lose the ability to place the saw tight to a wall.  I was using it with a 1100CFM Jet DC but the large geometry of the Fastcap hood results in low flow velocity and fails to keep particles entrained in the airflow.  Of course the Kapex will already have picked up most of the dust so maybe your experience will be better.

 

[Samo]

A plywood hood with an air sweeper or mold remediation fan ducted to the outside would definitely do what you need.

This is where we are leaning and the client is wanting this ASAP.  The guys are not happy with the slowdown.  I had to put on the brakes in a few areas of work inside the residence.

 

[HarveyWildes]

I've got a plywood hood attached to a dust collector via a 4" hose.  It's on a Bosch miter saw in my shop.  It probably gets 99% of the dust when I remember to turn on the dust collector and open the blast gate.

 

[Michael Kellough]

The velocity of the debris coming off the saw is overwhelming to any dust collection system. A simple scoop/hood made of hard materials acts as reflector bouncing much of the debris back into the saw's wind stream where it gets redistributed out beyond the hood/dust collection system.

Given the wide range of motion of today's chop saws designing an effective hood is a real challenge. 
The best design would be a narrow aperture that accommodates the particular saw's form through it's range of motion. A good design would combine the small aperture with a larger decompression (I just mean a void that allows the debris to slow rather than bounce) box behind the aperture (ideally made of filter cloth rather than hard material). The large soft sided box would be attached to the dust collection system.

 

[RKA]

There are two types of dust, the heavier stuff that generally falls within 5 feet of the saw and the light stuff that goes airborne and travels.  I would assume they take issue with the second at a minimum.  The question is do you have room for something that can move a LOT of air?  Either you dump the air outside or you scrub the air inside with air filters that can get down to a fairly small particulate level.  But if you've got a large open space to deal with, I'm not sure the air filters will be enough.  A closed off room less than ~700 sq ft should be okay. 

For the heavier stuff that falls near the saw, is it sufficient to clean up at the end of the day (or twice a day)?  I think you just have to set up a reasonable expectation of when the floor will be swept of debris, even if it's multiple times a day.  The saw hood might organize the mess closer to the saw, but I'm guessing if it's come this far, they will still want it clean.

 

[toadjeep]

I have the 1st gen fastcap hood and it's good but not great. It's big and bulky. 

It's like trying to box off a table saw then put dust collection over it to capture from the blade.

Do you have room for making a sort of spray booth for cutting and maybe a fan/ filter with negative pressure??

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[Samo]

Thank you, Guys!  I very much appreciate everyone's feedback and I know that I'm chasing my tail.

We have done a few mock ups in HD cardboard and are trying our best to not waste the Clients time or ours.  We are scheduled out for fall 2018!  Thank God.

The Client has opened our dust barrier system (Zipwall is what we have) with her fingernails and is not very concerned about it.
I have offered her our nicest 3M disposable respirator dust masks, sealed in a personally labeled Ziplock storage bag. 
JUST FOR HER.  [dead horse]

Anyway, I should not complain and am lucky to have a job.  One of our new hires is a video geek and we should hopefully start sharing stuff that is not from my iphone?

My business partner does the Billing and Admin.  So I'm sure he is also Miserable on this one.  [eek]