Miter Station Dust Collection

[kmalone]

I have been brainstorming ways to make the dust collection at the miter station more efficient (and less maintenance).

The current set up has the Kapex deck the same height as the infeed/outfeed. The primary dust collection comes from underneath from a network of 6" piping. The last couple of feet under the saw are 6" flex duct attached to the underside of the countertop the Kapex sits on. Around the Kapex is a "shroud" that prevents dust from escaping above and to the sides of the saw. There is a small shop vac connected to the Kapex dust port to collect at the cut which is activated by an automatic switch.

A couple of recent changes to the saw are the addition of the Colliflower Cube and the Colliflower ZCI, both of which I have really enjoyed using. The Cube works well to support the workpiece behind the blade, but does interfere a bit with the airflow.

Changing the collection bag in the shop vac is a pain. It lives in a small cabinet next to the saw. Due to this space restriction, the shop vac itself is small and fills up fairly frequently.

My thought is to somehow connect a small hose off of the 6" while maintaining the 6" up to the saw. There is, of course, no off the shelf 6" connector with a 2 or 2.5" wye, at least that I can find online. Has anyone tried something similar or have any thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[ChuckM]

If your plan is to stick to using a shop vac (or dust extractor) with the Kapex, the best way to reduce (actually avoid) replacing the bag is to find a way to use the vac with a Dust Deputy. I can literally use my Kapex with a DD and a shop vac for a full year or two (if I want to) without ever changing any bag.

I have two Dust Deputy/auto switch setups in my shop, one for the Kapex and one for the drill press/stationary belt sander.

 

[Packard]

I tried to setup dust collection for my Dewalt chop saw and none of the tries were entirely successful.  I now have a vacuum hose near the station and as soon as I am done I vacuum up the dust. 

I'm using the chop saw less and less lately.  The table saw makes much cleaner cuts and seems to be just as accurate.  I am making fixed angle pieces for my radial arm saw to handle longer pieces--just 22½, 30, 45, 60 and 90 degree pieces.  I am not shifting the saw, just the work pieces.