DIY Fittings
I recently received my new dust collector (Harvey Gyro G700) and was a bit anxious to get it going but a long way from determining where the final resting place would be in my shop. Thus I decided to use flex pipe (for now) and possibly move the unit as needed. As I suspected moving the G700 around in my shop was not a good option because it was a royal pain. My shop is about 16Ă—55, thus I relocated the G700 about the middle of the 55' run and use the flex pipe. I quickly realized that I did not have enough fittings to assemble the pipe and make some connections. Also the fittings on some of the tools were different sizes.
First I modified the DC on my bandsaw (see https://www.lumberjocks.com/topics/309954) and was VERY pleased with the results. This was my first attempt to make my custom fittings.
At this time I still had not connected the G700 to anything so I enclosed my DW746 tablesaw and connected the G700 to it. Because the saw was now enclosed the dust collection was MUCH better but still needed more work.
Before
After, I did quite a bit of work sealing the cabinet which cannot be seen in the following image.
I frequently use my Hammer A3-31 planner and it produces a LOT of shavings, thus it moved to the top of my list.
First I measured the diameter of the port. Drat!!! It is 4.7+", this is a weird side. I guess it is a common size in Europe.
I'll have to make a custom fitting. The first set was to plane a 2Ă—6, cut four 8" sections, glue and clamp them together. Thank goodness I was not in a hurry (OK so I was). I was near the end of the day and letting the glue fully cure was a good reason to call it a day.
After the glue set, I inserted the blank in my lathe and turned the jig. The die of the jig on the right is 4.7+ inches. The jig on the left is the jig I made for the bandsaw.
I cut a 6" section from a 10' piece of sewer pipe, rotating and heating the pipe until it was flexible. Then I pushed it onto the end of the jig. I used a heat gun set on high to heat the pipe. It is necessary to wear some leather gloves (the pipe does get hot). I quickly realized that it is best to secure the jig so I clamped it in my vice. I also discovered that it is best to leave the pipe on the jig until it cools, otherwise it will constrict to a smaller size. I don't know if all PVC reacts this way, but be aware.
After it cooled it was time for a test fit, OH JOY it fit perfectly.
Back to the lathe to make a jig to reduce the size of the other end. This proved to be more difficult than making the end for the expansion. The inter/outer dia of the inside circle is determined by the inter/outer dia of the pipe being reduced and the thickness of the pipe wall. Initially, I used my regular parting tool, I discovered that it was too thick and this created two issues for me (1) the thickness of the circle was too thick (2) at some point the tool bounded and the jig went flying. I cut off about 1 1/2" and started over with my thin parting tool. This time I went VERY slow into the wood and stopped when I had reached a depth of 1 1/2". NOTE if you are reducing PVC pipe you will have to create a different jig for each different pipe. For example, if you use the green 4" pipe it will be different than 4" white PVC pipe.
OK time to constantly rotate the pipe as you heat the pipe. When it becomes flexible, push it into the jig.
Leave it in the jig until it cools and then do a test fit.
I should have reduced the pipe a bit more and I may make another jig but the current fitting does work.
I discovered that I need a hose clamp on the larger end (I waiting on my order to arrive).
Because I have several different hose sizes for my various tools I will be making several more jigs as I move forward.
NOTE It will be necessary to "tune" your connections when you use different sizes of pipes connected to the main run otherwise you will find dust collecting in your hoses/pipes. One of the ways I will work around this is to install one line connected to a shopvac/home central vac or similar and the larger tools will be connected to my main DC.
I've also given thought to selling the G700 and just using multiple smaller DC units on the larger tools. This will take more thought before I go this route. Another consideration is the fact that I don't have too many more summers to do woodworking.
I recently received my new dust collector (Harvey Gyro G700) and was a bit anxious to get it going but a long way from determining where the final resting place would be in my shop. Thus I decided to use flex pipe (for now) and possibly move the unit as needed. As I suspected moving the G700 around in my shop was not a good option because it was a royal pain. My shop is about 16Ă—55, thus I relocated the G700 about the middle of the 55' run and use the flex pipe. I quickly realized that I did not have enough fittings to assemble the pipe and make some connections. Also the fittings on some of the tools were different sizes.
First I modified the DC on my bandsaw (see https://www.lumberjocks.com/topics/309954) and was VERY pleased with the results. This was my first attempt to make my custom fittings.
At this time I still had not connected the G700 to anything so I enclosed my DW746 tablesaw and connected the G700 to it. Because the saw was now enclosed the dust collection was MUCH better but still needed more work.
Before
After, I did quite a bit of work sealing the cabinet which cannot be seen in the following image.
I frequently use my Hammer A3-31 planner and it produces a LOT of shavings, thus it moved to the top of my list.
First I measured the diameter of the port. Drat!!! It is 4.7+", this is a weird side. I guess it is a common size in Europe.
I'll have to make a custom fitting. The first set was to plane a 2Ă—6, cut four 8" sections, glue and clamp them together. Thank goodness I was not in a hurry (OK so I was). I was near the end of the day and letting the glue fully cure was a good reason to call it a day.
After the glue set, I inserted the blank in my lathe and turned the jig. The die of the jig on the right is 4.7+ inches. The jig on the left is the jig I made for the bandsaw.
I cut a 6" section from a 10' piece of sewer pipe, rotating and heating the pipe until it was flexible. Then I pushed it onto the end of the jig. I used a heat gun set on high to heat the pipe. It is necessary to wear some leather gloves (the pipe does get hot). I quickly realized that it is best to secure the jig so I clamped it in my vice. I also discovered that it is best to leave the pipe on the jig until it cools, otherwise it will constrict to a smaller size. I don't know if all PVC reacts this way, but be aware.
After it cooled it was time for a test fit, OH JOY it fit perfectly.
Back to the lathe to make a jig to reduce the size of the other end. This proved to be more difficult than making the end for the expansion. The inter/outer dia of the inside circle is determined by the inter/outer dia of the pipe being reduced and the thickness of the pipe wall. Initially, I used my regular parting tool, I discovered that it was too thick and this created two issues for me (1) the thickness of the circle was too thick (2) at some point the tool bounded and the jig went flying. I cut off about 1 1/2" and started over with my thin parting tool. This time I went VERY slow into the wood and stopped when I had reached a depth of 1 1/2". NOTE if you are reducing PVC pipe you will have to create a different jig for each different pipe. For example, if you use the green 4" pipe it will be different than 4" white PVC pipe.
OK time to constantly rotate the pipe as you heat the pipe. When it becomes flexible, push it into the jig.
Leave it in the jig until it cools and then do a test fit.
I should have reduced the pipe a bit more and I may make another jig but the current fitting does work.
I discovered that I need a hose clamp on the larger end (I waiting on my order to arrive).
Because I have several different hose sizes for my various tools I will be making several more jigs as I move forward.
NOTE It will be necessary to "tune" your connections when you use different sizes of pipes connected to the main run otherwise you will find dust collecting in your hoses/pipes. One of the ways I will work around this is to install one line connected to a shopvac/home central vac or similar and the larger tools will be connected to my main DC.
I've also given thought to selling the G700 and just using multiple smaller DC units on the larger tools. This will take more thought before I go this route. Another consideration is the fact that I don't have too many more summers to do woodworking.