Supplemental Wood Dust & Chip Collection

My table saw has dust collection capability by way of a four inch bottom port and an over-arm collector. I use the bottom port religiously, but the over-arm collector only gets used with wider boards, or when hold-downs are used, because it interferes with using a push block.

My band saw had just a single, four inch port on just under the table. It does a good job of grabbing whatever comes through the blade throat, but very little when there is a gap between the wood and the table top.

Other equipment, like my drum-disk sander collects at the bottom or end of the belt, so sanding high on the sander tosses a lot of dust in the air. Of course, hand sanders can kick a lot of dust out too, even with good a good vacuum system.

To solve the problem, I adapted a display stand, a tripod, to support another hose and direct it at areas where most the dust is not collected by the other port or a vacuum.

Step 1:

The hose support is about as simple as it gets. As seen in the photo, I cut a piece of [scrap] plywood down to, approximately eight inches (8") square. The square could be smaller, but be sure to leave enough material to sink the mounting screws into.

Next, I measured the outer diameter of the collection hose, then cut out a circle into the plywood about one fourth inch (1/4") smaller diameter than the hose. The smaller diameter still allows me to press the flexible hose in easily, but holds it in place. I moved the circle down enough to allow me to leave the sides long, as shown, to better hold the hose in place.

Once cut out, I merely drilled two holes in the top of the aluminum rod, about five inches apart and with the top hole about an inch (1") from the top of the rod. I wanted the screws to go into the plywood at least an inch (1") back from its edge to reduce the chance of splitting.

Once the holes were drilled, I used two wood screws about one and a half inches (1-1/2") long to secure the plywood to the tripod. The screws should not be so long they poke into the circle cut out and, eventually, the hose, but should be long enough to go through the tube and about three quarters inch (3/4") into the plywood.

Before installing the screws, I pre-drilled the holes. This was a simple matter of using a bit a little smaller than the screws (about the sized of the shank of the screws, if the threads were removed), holding the plywood on the tripod, where it would be mounted, then just drilling the top hole.

After the first hole was drilled, I installed the first screw. Then I drilled the second and, of course, installed the second screw to finalize the project.

If need be, a light bungee cord could be used to hold the hose, but I haven't found that necessary yet.