General Woodworking

[Sawdustr]

Hello Ted and All,

I have been ripping some Mahogany to make up some stair rail blanks and even with a Titanium thin kerf blade I still have to wear my leather apron with a bandanna around my neck and my easy breath respirator as Mahogany dust is so fine it chokes me down in a heart beat. To eliminate so much dust being thrown forward toward me I raise the blade so it is cutting on the down stroke rather than the up stroke and it does seem to help however it still throws a lot of dust.

I do like the dust collector in the picture on the contractors saw and I do believe I will be calling my furnace friend to make me one up like it and run the pipe to my Jet 1100 DC.

[Gary Hanscom]

I use a ZCI all the time now and do not have an overhead dust collector. But I do have a blade guard that sort of collects dust or at least prevents it from shooting back towards me. And after the wood passes through the blade, it seems that the DC under the was pulls the majority of the dust back down through the blade slot. If I don't use the blade guard, sawdust shoots back in quantity. So even without an overhead DC connection, the blade guard does a pretty good job.

Gary

[Fred Hargis]

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Sawdustr wrote: I do like the dust collector in the picture on the contractors saw and I do believe I will be calling my furnace friend to make me one up like it and run the pipe to my Jet 1100 DC.

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Ralph, consider this if it will fit your saw...It's likely to save you some money.

[handyman john]

Alright now I am a bit confused. Table saws cut on the DOWN stroke, that is, the front edge of the blade cuts DOWN through the product, thus making a ZCI work to reduce tear-out.

A ZCI does not affect the way a saw blade releases dust into the lower cabinet or in the case of a contractor saw, the floor. The only things that affect THAT action are gravity, centrifugal force, and turbulence (air movement) inside the cabinet. 

An overhead dust collector grabs the dust that "came through" because the blade didn't release everything. And like everyone else said, a DC system will go a long way toward reducing dust. If you need to create better air flow inside the cabinet there is a REASON to add a port to direct air AT the lower edge of the blade or deflect air UP toward the blade (turbulence) to assist in releasing dust while the blade is moving.

As to the ZCI "creating" more dust outside, I don't see HOW - if someone can explain it I'd love to be enlightened. Logic tells me that doesn't happen.