Hi, I built a 65" x 24" CNC, and it runs great! However, I made a serious miscalculation... I grossly underestimated the amount of dust produced
Even with a shop vac held 1" from the bit the entire time, cutting MDF, my whole work area is covered with fine dust in just a few seconds. While trying to vacuum it up, I sucked 2 keys off of the laptop After digging through my shop vac I found and repaired the keys. Sigh.
I tried to make my own dust shoe but it did not work... the wet/dry vac was just not strong enough to pick up the dust unless it was 1/2" from the table which is not possible. I also built an exhaust deflector to send the router exhaust to the sides instead of down on the tool. This did not help much.
I've seen some affordable dust collectors in the range of $150 which are 900 cfm, with a 4" hose. Has anyone used one of these, and is it enough flow to suck the dust from the table a few inches away? Also, I would like to cut fiberglass sheet, and I am concerned that there will be particles smaller than 35 micron and that a dust collector would not catch these but make them airborne instead. I could place the dust collector outside when running, but I don't like the idea of throwing fiberglass dust out into the yard either.
I really need advice because at the moment my CNC is unusable without some way to contain the dust.
Thanks!
Tom