Crazyraceguy
Member
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2015
- Messages
- 4,887
I had the idea of making my own magnetic couplers for the dust collector hose, after it fell off of the miter saw, one too many times.
I switched the hose back and forth countless times, without using a clamp. The friction alone, on the tapered fittings has been enough to keep it on, until a few weeks ago. It would stay on the jointer just fine, because of the angle, but not so well on the miter saw. Its fitting is vertical, and the hose stays on great, until the dust collector is turned off. It used to stay on, but the hose has apparently stretched some over time, and it falls off.
A couple of weeks ago, I decided to draw out my own version of the commercially available connectors.
The only real dimension I had was the diameter of the fittings, measured by calipers. I just went with what seemed to fit well proportionally. My original thinking was 3/4" MDF, but I really don't know why, since 1/4" works fine. I initially tested it on 1/4" since I had some handy. Afterward I thought, why change it? At that point, it was about connecting it to the hose. I had an old plastic Y that would work, but didn't really want to ruin it. I ended up ordering a very basic one from Amazon.
That's where the "lucky" part comes in. I made the pieces long before getting the fitting and you could not have asked for better. It came with 4 mounting holes that perfectly lined up with the holes in the flanges. I keep some 1/4" flathead bolts in stock, and a slight chamfer of the 10mm holes made them fit flush.
I switched the hose back and forth countless times, without using a clamp. The friction alone, on the tapered fittings has been enough to keep it on, until a few weeks ago. It would stay on the jointer just fine, because of the angle, but not so well on the miter saw. Its fitting is vertical, and the hose stays on great, until the dust collector is turned off. It used to stay on, but the hose has apparently stretched some over time, and it falls off.
A couple of weeks ago, I decided to draw out my own version of the commercially available connectors.
The only real dimension I had was the diameter of the fittings, measured by calipers. I just went with what seemed to fit well proportionally. My original thinking was 3/4" MDF, but I really don't know why, since 1/4" works fine. I initially tested it on 1/4" since I had some handy. Afterward I thought, why change it? At that point, it was about connecting it to the hose. I had an old plastic Y that would work, but didn't really want to ruin it. I ended up ordering a very basic one from Amazon.
That's where the "lucky" part comes in. I made the pieces long before getting the fitting and you could not have asked for better. It came with 4 mounting holes that perfectly lined up with the holes in the flanges. I keep some 1/4" flathead bolts in stock, and a slight chamfer of the 10mm holes made them fit flush.
