The most evil project I've ever undertaken
Howard Rosenberg
The very worst project I’ve ever undertaken is drawing to a close: modifying my dust collector.
It started its life as a Delta 1 1/2HP two-bag DC. This was the year I thought I’d make a Thien separator.
Not a good idea.
It turned into a series of disasters I’ve been working on since July.
Four different attempts that included some of these standouts –
- 3/8” thick bendy plywood that wouldn’t form a clean circle without a flat spot where the two edges were to meet and was brittle, splintery and scared the fertilizer out of me when I tried cutting it on the TS
- routing the top and bottom four different times and finally breaking down and just buying a Super Dust Deputy
But some of the positives were –
- learned how to position the edge of a router bit’s cutter on a line with good accuracy
- chimney flashing - a very versatile product easily cut with a utility knife for custom widths
- the Milescraft circle jig – overall strangely fiddly, not very sturdy product that is basically effective
- the “shop-in-a-shop” dust control system using 8x10 tarps hung off the joists
But several weeks ago, I though I’m finally getting to the finish line.
Alas, no.
A new challenge – the “out-of-sight-out-of-mind” dust shroud under my contractor came apart at the seams.
I figured rather than possibly overwhelm the SDD and send more dust to the filter using a 6-to-5 inch reducer to the SDD’s inlet I’d just break down and buy 5-inch hose which meant also buying a 5-inch HVAC duct boot to make a new dust shroud.
Here are a few pics –
Pic 01 – the exterior is made of corrugated sign board – it’s bolted together using 6-32 bolts, washers and nylon-lined nuts so it doesn’t vibrate loose – everything’s angled to fit in the CS’s bottom and slope to the new 5” HVAC duct boot
Pic 02 - the corners are reinforced with the material drywallers use on corners – the paper extends beyond the metal corners
Pic 03 – the gussets I added to the drywall corners after my first test install and tore the paper and didn’t want to depend on duct tape to keep everything together
Pic 04 – the shroud’s interior – I’d hung on to the signs from a General Motors Christmas promotion
More to come after I stop pulling my hair out….