Router Table Dust Collection

[Arguseyed]

I'm wrapping up my mobile table saw / router cabinet (pics coming soon)and have a question regarding dust collection. I've only got a Jet 650 dust collector that I move from machine to machine and don't think it'll be strong enough to split between the router cabinet and router fence (that I've yet to build). Sound about right? I hate the thought of having to plug in the shop vac to the router fence cause that's going to get noisy.

Stay cool today,

Jeremy

[DavidF]

Originally Posted by Arguseyed

I'm wrapping up my mobile table saw / router cabinet (pics coming soon)and have a question regarding dust collection. I've only got a Jet 650 dust collector that I move from machine to machine and don't think it'll be strong enough to split between the router cabinet and router fence (that I've yet to build). Sound about right? I hate the thought of having to plug in the shop vac to the router fence cause that's going to get noisy.

Stay cool today,

Jeremy

I also have the jet 650 and No, it doesn't handle a split very well. I move it from machine to machine and use the shop vac for the router fence. You do have to watch using the DC on anything with a smaller opening and using reducers from the 4". You really need a lot of air flow to make the DC work correctly and reducing the 4" to 2" doen't help the flow rate. The higher air speeds of a shop vac actually perform better on my router fence.

[DaveO]

I have my Jet 650 connected to my NYW clone RT with a "Y" that splits it to a 2" hose off the fence and a 4" off the cabinet. I get excellent collection. Maybe I just suck more

Dave

[Allan Campbell]

Jeremy, I beleive I have seen a setup where a 2 1/2" hose was run from the fence to the enclosure surrounding the router and a 4" hose was run from the enclosure to the dust collector. That would eliminate the wye fitting and supply some dust collection to the fence. You need to allow for some airflow into the router enclosure anyway to get enough flow to allow the dust to be carried away and this system suposedly uses that air inlet to clear dust from the fence.

[Dusty Sawyer]

I have a HFT 850, not much bigger. My table is set up with a downdraft that works pretty good. If I were to angle the floor of it toward the intake it would work better.

I use what amounts to a homemade precision fence I built. It currently has a 2" hose mounted verticaly into the top center of the fence. I dio get some chip buildup in the hose that does not get sucked away. A friend has a similiar setup and built his so that the hose is connected horizontally to the end of the fence making it easier for the chips to move along. The hose then goes directly into the downdraft chamber, making it possible to only use one 4" vac hose on the table. Because we both are using a replaceable HDF face of the fence, the tolerance around the bit is fairly tight, which makes the air move through it fast.

I've been meaning to post the design of the fence on the web.

David

[Arguseyed]

Thanks guys! I'll try all of the suggestions and see which one works the best for me.

David, I'd love to see that fence design if you ever get a few minutes to post some pics. I'm currently trying to design one that'll attach to my table saw fence.

[junquecol]

I would keep my RT fence seperate from my tablesaw fence. This way, if you need to rip an additional piece, you don't lose RT fence setting.