There are plenty out there. What we’re looking for is soft rubber. These are all bristle brushes or nylon brushes.
Dan Brown purchased complete Dust shoe with very soft skirt on it. That’s what we need. It won’t affect Z movement.
Here is the picture. Nice design, good soft skirt, but it’s not up/down adjustable for the different bit sizes.
That skirt is actually my own addition as a stop-gap on the KentCNC shoe, Alan. 
The stock one was bristles that were too stiff, and were shoving my Z-axis up and down. They are sending me a new lower shoe that has finer bristles on it, which should be here monday.
has anyone considered mounting the vac hose of of the back of the x-axis. ie… lightweight shoe with skirt on the front like usual, but the vac hose with a wide nozzle piped and mounted to the underside of the gantry cart. wouldn’t that help some with the rotational flex… cause the weight of the hose itself will not be held so far forward… along with the weight of the dewalt 611?
Only downside I could see to that, really, would be that it takes away Z-axis under the gantry, which is the low spot already…
Unless it’s a fixed height dust shoe that stays just above the work peice while the spindle moves up and down threw it. Those designs are really low profile, and do not interfere with the z axis travel. Personally I feel there are too many issue with the vacuum being attached to the spindle, weight distribution, bristle stiffness, bristle height in relation to material height. The fixed dust shoe is the direction I am headed, seams to address all those issues.
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You think horsehair would still be too stiff? Hmmmm what about an ultra soft foam? Like a wax applicator or similar material? Those foam brushes are pretty soft too, but often have a plastic piece in them. I’ve got a silicone basting brush that would be perfect, if it weren’t a silicone basting brush
That works, actually I didn’t read carefully, your last post was horse hair, didn’t see. Might be that is the another good idea. Anything soft. The real problem is when Z axis lowering down, bristle brush is straight angle and have enough holding power to push spindle up until bends. Thanks.
I know a lot of the craft stores have a very soft foam that people in the Cosplay scene use to make outfits… I wonder if that would work?
for the reveres mount… they sell a nozzle at Lowes (in the vac area) that is about 3in wide x 1.5in opening… make a half skirt around that that wraps up to the z-axis extrution. Then make a much lighter half skirt for the front that wraps and meets the back skirt… that can move up and down with the z-axis. Hell, you could even make one of those air deverters… to push the dust back towards the nozzle.
2mm fab foam is a bit too flexible I think for such a tall curtain. Maybe try the thicker plastic as used in the doorway curtains in factories. Only a mm or so thick, stiff but flexible and see through.
Cheers
Ian
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You might try latex sheeting, MJTrends: Latex sheeting: Transparent it will most definitely not affect the Z axis
My Vacuum suction swallow that like Tasmanian Devil.
Just in case someone is looking - This really worked out well for me: I use this kit from Rocker for my dust shoe. The hose is WAY more flexible than the traditional shop vac stuff and stretches forever. My hose goes to my ceiling and this has worked perfectly. Plus the rubber ends are easy to press fit into the dust shoe.
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Vinyl door strip is exactly the stuff I used. Works great. I 3d printed a holder for it.
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Sounds promising, I ordered 7 ft strip. Will be Monday Ship. Thanks.
Update on Skirt.
I ordered Vinyl Door Strip as JohnPattillo’s idea. Let see how this perform. It is look a little softer, if it pushes spindle upward again, I will cut skirt pieces thinner or narrower I can say.
One thing sure, I can see the bit easier.
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I am using 2 inch clear shelf liner in mine. It was a bit to flimsy and would get sucked into the vacuum so I added some 1 inch long brush material on the inside. That prevents the clear plastic from sucking in and allows a very flexible skirt
I haven’t built mine yet and I agree sucking the skirt up does no good, but I think when I finally get to it I’ll try some heavy translucent latex with weight attached at the bottom. You could even theoretically use a thin acrylic or teflon piece the same shape as the upper, which would keep the bottom where it’s supposed to be, on the surface more or less.
Allen - that is exactly like mine! You can try cutting slots in the skirt (not all the way to the bottom). That keeps it from getting sucked up. However, I was cutting thick material using a bit with little stickout and the machine ate a hunk of my skirt. BUT - is still works really well, even with about 2" missing from one section.
I like it because I can see what is happening. The stuff is so cheap, you can just keep making new ones… but I haven’t needed to yet.
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Actually, My dust shoe is up and down adjustable by the bit size. The base holding bottom piece with magnet, is attached to Dewalt mount with bracket have fly screw for adjustment.
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Update. It’s not as soft I was expecting. But better than Bristle brush I guess. I didn’t see any up force on this skirt.
Here is the video link. (Sorry for the shaky hand and my finger showing on top of lens.)