Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Tom Noller DIY Scroll Saw Dust System.

Tom is a carver who uses the scroll saw mostly to do cut outs for wood carvings. Because he regularly cuts thick material he produces a lot of dust. You can see in the pictures below that he built a dust collection system for his Delta scroll saw. The technique could easily be modified for most other saws. Tom used 1 inch PVC pipe. You can buy 45 degree and 90 degree elbow joints which is how he designed the system to point where it was needed.

I like the fact that it is an over/under system. Tom says it does a pretty good job getting most of the dust. You can't expect to get it all with any system.
Notice the T fitting for connection to a shop vac. Tom's vac hose fit snugly into the T but you might need an adapter to make yours fit if you want to try this system. You can also see the metal pipe clamps he used to hold the system in place.

He intentionally left the piping unglued so he can disassemble when necessary.
The over pick up has a bolt through it so not to suck in any large pieces. You really don't want anything too large getting into your shop vac. In this picture the pipe looks like its in the way of the cutting but that might just be the picture. I didn't get a chance to ask tom if this is easy to move out of the way.
I have tried to DIY dust collection systems over the years but I always come back to the same problem. I can't stand the noise of a shop vac while I cut for long periods. I have never found a safe way to dampen the noise so I have always just put up with the dust. If that is not a problem for you then this looks like it might be a reasonably effective DIY system. It's cheap, easy and Tom says it works.

Thanks for sharing Tom.