Dust Collection #5: Conclusion

So at this point you may be thinking, 3 out of the 4 of your blast gates seem to be really high and not very easy to get to. But I did a little bit of thinking, in the wee hours of the morning while most people are wasting their time sleeping and came up with an idea that works well for me. I originally wanted to do a really cool automated system like I saw at I like to make stuff (http://www.iliketomakestuff.com/automated-blast-gates/) but then I remembered I was poor and that was out of the question. So the next idea I came up with was to use springs and cables to manually control the blast gates from the ground. So when I want to open each blast gate all I have to do is pull a piece of paracord and tie it off to hold it open, when I am ready to close it I untie it and the spring (Ace Hardware #540539) snaps it back into the closed position.

So, did I create the best dust collection system in the world, no. Did I make mistakes and things could have been done better, yes I’m sure there are better ways to do all of this. Does the system I came up with work out well for what I needed it to do absolutely. So I’m sure small pieces and parts may evolve and change as my needs and wants grow but for right now I am pleased with how everything turned out.