My Kapex Work Station (Part 2)

[Dave Ronyak]

I could not get any of my many hoses to fit the nozzle of the Kreg jig dust shroud, so I made an adapter from a section of PVC electrical conduit purchased from HD or Lowe's.  I don't remember which, but I started with a 90 degree bend section.

I had to enlarge the ID of the conduit slightly which I did using a drill fitted with a ~one inch diameter drum sander.  The tool end fitting of Festool's 27mm AS hose (supplied with Festool's vacuum machines) fits tightly into the conduit section.  The slight curve of the adapter helps relieve the strain on the Kreg shroud that would otherwise occur due to the hose being held straight out horizontally from the Kreg jig.

Dave R.

 

[woodshopdemos]

Rey,
  I love all that you have done. I am just at the end of doing something similar and photographing it with Elena in 2 hrs but I gotta say, you have gone way further than I have. Thank y ou for all your good ideas and posting the pics.

 

[mwhafner]

I could not get any of my many hoses to fit the nozzle of the Kreg jig dust shroud, so I made an adapter from a section of PVC electrical conduit purchased from HD or Lowe's.  I don't remember which, but I started with a 90 degree bend section.

I had to enlarge the ID of the conduit slightly which I did using a drill fitted with a ~one inch diameter drum sander.  The tool end fitting of Festool's 27mm AS hose (supplied with Festool's vacuum machines) fits tightly into the conduit section.  The slight curve of the adapter helps relieve the strain on the Kreg shroud that would otherwise occur due to the hose being held straight out horizontally from the Kreg jig.

Dave R.

Dave, you just triggered my memory.  I did have to put a sleeve between the hose and the adapter.  I had a piece of optical duct that was about the same color as the Kreg, so it looks like it was made for it.

 

[mwildt]

I could not get any of my many hoses to fit the nozzle of the Kreg jig dust shroud, so I made an adapter from a section of PVC electrical conduit purchased from HD or Lowe's.  I don't remember which, but I started with a 90 degree bend section.

I had to enlarge the ID of the conduit slightly which I did using a drill fitted with a ~one inch diameter drum sander.  The tool end fitting of Festool's 27mm AS hose (supplied with Festool's vacuum machines) fits tightly into the conduit section.  The slight curve of the adapter helps relieve the strain on the Kreg shroud that would otherwise occur due to the hose being held straight out horizontally from the Kreg jig.

Dave R.

Super thanks for the idea. I tried to find adapters, but I didn't think of the electrical conduit. I'll have to try that.

My jig is the same Kreg tool as Dave is using.

Thanks again.
Michael

 

[Dave Ronyak]

You can easily remove the tool end fitting from you Festool 27mm hose using a screwdriver to push in the locking tabs on its retainer collar.  Then take it with you when you go to buy the conduit 90 degree bend so you will get the right size.

Dave R.

 

[johnsonri]

Very nice setup. I too have the pocket hole jig, but I haven't found a good solution on how to connect the hose to the pocket jig. Any chance you could explain what you found working best ?

Michael,
Somehow missed your question here. I have found that the dust collection step-down reducers work very well for me on quite a few tool dust ports. I have thrown a few pics of a reducer for the festool hose and the Kreg jig:

[attachthumb=1]    [attachthumb=2]

[attachthumb=3]    [attachthumb=4]

[attachthumb=5]    [attachthumb=6]

Whenever I use this configuration, I use the Festool clamps as holders for both the hose and the corded drill. When I do pocket holes, my Festool drill shares duty with my old old old Black and Decker corded drill. The corded drill makes it so the vac can be triggered.

It would be marvelous if someone could come up with an idea to trigger the vac with the cordless drill. That solution would probably defy physics though ;-)

The dust collection reducers can be found at any of the major stores...Rockler, WC, etc. I got mine from Peachtree (http://www.ptreeusa.com/dustfittings_adaptors.htm) for about $7.00. 

Dave, I like your idea of using the conduit as well.

John, thanks for the compliments. I have thoroughly checked out your redesigned shop....just fabulous!!! Seems that you can do almost every type of operation in your small shop now.

 

[alanz]

Rey,

Interesting question about starting the vacuum with a cordless drill.
However, from all I've read, the pocket hole jig manufacturers recommend using a corded drill to bore the holes.

I've used both cordless and corded for pocket holes, and for this application prefer corded. 
I use a corded drill to create the holes (and control the vacuum), and leave the square bit in the cordless to drive the screws.

 

[mwildt]

Hi Rey,

Thanks for the nice pictures. Nice setup.

Michael

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Rey,  you wrote:
"It would be marvelous if someone could come up with an idea to trigger the vac with the cordless drill. That solution would probably defy physics though ;-)"

Technically, the answer is rather simple, but I do not know of any tool manufacturer incorporating this feature.  One solution would be to include a little RF (radio frequency) transmitter in the drill or other battery powered tool and the complementary RF receiver in the vacuum machine.  But is there enough demand to warrant addition of this feature, which would also require some manual switch on either the vacuum machine or the battery powered drill to prevent unintended switching of the vacuum machine.

I prefer using a corded drill with my Kreg pocket hole jig.  Kreg recommends spinning their special drill bits at a higher RPM that many battery powered drills produce.

It appears that you used the Fein stepped adapter to connect your Kreg jig to your 27mm Festool hose.  Please confirm.

Thanks for your suggestions on use of the Festool clamps as hose and tool holders!

Dave R.

 

[johnsonri]

Dave and Alan,

Yep, I use the corded drill most often for pockets. But, my Festool drill has never has a problem when called upon for this operation. It just doesn't trigger the vac, so the Festool drill only see limited action here.

Dave, interesting thought of using RF. I guess though, that the tool manufacturers would have to agree on frequency, etc. If they all were to agree on something, I'd take agreement on dust port diameters. 

As for which stepped adapter I used, it was just a general adapter, not a Fein. Rockler has them. Mine is from Peach Tree Woodworking...$6 or 7 bucks. They've come in handy for quite a few applications.
http://www.ptreeusa.com/dustfittings_adaptors.htm

Btw, I noticed from my last set of pics that my #13 wrench is missing. Anyone got a spare #13? 

 

[sw1211]

Btw, I noticed from my last set of pics that my #13 wrench is missing. Anyone got a spare #13? 

As organized as your shop looks, I can't believe you'd ever mis-place anything.    Thanks for all the pictures and explanations.

 

[NMacK]

Hi Rey

I have followed all the posts of your workstation and kapex enhancements;  brilliant!

Could you post some pictures of the workstation base and details of the construction, material used, castor size, dimensions, etc.

Also, how about some pics on the rest of the workshop?
Thanks
NMacK

 

[johnsonri]

Hi NMack

Thanks for the comments. It is a real pleasure working with the Kapex and other Festool tools. They have revolutionized the way that I work.

I am away from my shop this week. I will take some pics this weekend or so...

Rey

 

[suds]

Great setup.  Have you come up with any new ideas/changes?  I'm just starting setting up mine.

 

[conduitguy]

I just found this thread. Great job on the shop setup!

I saw the posts regarding using cordless drills and vacuums. I agree that rf would be they way to go, but since it's a bit too technical to impliment I would suggest that a footswitch might be an acceptable comprimise. It could be a pain for mobile use, but for this shop setup it might be okay. I have one I put together for another application that has worked well for me.

 

[Deke]

Wow. That is all I can say. There are so many ideas here, so many neat tricks that can be applied to any miter saw station or anything else. As they said in the Sopranos, "I am in awe of you." Seriously, that set up is so cool, I'm not sure I could ever come out of the shop. I might just stare at it all night.

 

[johnsonri]

Hi there Deke,

Thanks for your comments. The Kapex station is still going strong. I've made a few minor adjustments, but the whole thing works superbly, especially in my small shop.

Rey

 

[mntbighker]

It would be marvelous if someone could come up with an idea to trigger the vac with the cordless drill. That solution would probably defy physics though ;-)

Awesome setup, and it's obvious the Festool drills need bluetooth to trigger the vacuum  ;D  Screw physics  8)

 

[Tezzer]

Great variety of uses. Great idea 

 

[johnsonri]

Thanks Tezzer and mntbighker. I did end up with a solution (work-around) for the cordless drill to trigger the vacuum situation. Since it was primarily an issue when using pocket hole jig, my solution was...

>> reach for the Domino instead of the pocket hole jig.

Works for me  ;D

Rey