I am trying to set up some dust collection in my shop. Does anybody have any pictures or fittings that they used to go from a 4" thin wall pvc to x carve pro dust hose?
I know this is not a picture, but may save you some trouble. I tried going from 4" to 1.75", but the suction was terrible. I found a $40 shop vac and a 5 gal separator under the XC table worked far better than my big dust collection system being strained down to that small of an opening. My 2 cents, your mileage may vary.
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Ya that’s probably a good idea. I have a shop vac and the table will be big enough to fit a shop vac under it so that may be what I do. I have a wall mound dust collector that will be almost directly over the x carve pro so thats why I figured it would be better than a shop vac but I am learning that nothing is standard in dust collection so I have no idea how to get it down to the correct size.
If you have a 3D printer, or know someone who has one, I highly recommend this customizable adapter which works really well. You can customize it right online, which is convenient, though I have OpenSCAD on my computer.
I’ve printed one for almost every tool in my shop. The smaller stuff I print to work with a 2.5" hose (I use a 4"-to-dual-2.5" adapter I designed, but you can find similar ones online). The larger stuff I just directly connect to my 4" line.
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I was able to convert mine to a 4” with no problems. I will post a picture tonight when I get home and provide a link to the part I bought from rockler.
That would be great. Thanks.
Here’s some photos
You have to remove the top bracket for the original dust collection.
Also you need to use the offset adapter from rockler, if not you need to add spacers to the back of the dust shoe. The only problem with that it does not make the spindle in the center.
Link below
https://www.rockler.com/hose-adaptor
How does that affect the motors for the axis? Are you doing anything strange due to the extra weight and limited length? Or did you use an extended house to give you some movement?
Great question, I am not seeing anything funky but my dust collection comes from the top down so there’s no more additional weight or strain on it. I ditched the arm that was being used for the original set up.
@BradleyBoysen are you happy with the performance of that set up? My dust collection also comes from up top. I was worried that reducing the diameter of the hose that drastically would kill the CFM. Was thinking about trying to find a way to make something like this to replace the existing shoe. https://www.rockler.com/dust-shoe-for-axiom-pro-cnc
Yes and no, I wish I did not have to reduce down but it’s not that bad. I really think I am going to design and new dust shoe and print it to keep the 4" dust hose. I feel that is where most of the problem is with this setup, they really funnel the air down at the bottom of the dust shoe. I would love to run some tests with it to see how much suction loss there is. I know I have a little coming from a 6" main duct to a 4" hose.
I am in the same boat. Let me know what you come up with. I don’t have a 3D printer but I was thinking I could make it with the Xcarve. I could mill out a copy of the adaptor plate that locks into the slide but modify the curve to hug a rigid 4" pipe instead of the 2" pipe its connected to. Then mill a shoe that looks similar to the one I linked to above that accepts the 4" pipe. Glue it up and it should replace the existing shoe entirely.
Something like this would be easy to craft that hooks to the dust bracket. I bought an additional liner rail bracket for just this purpose, lol. Just need to stop being lazy to design something.
FYI all go and buy this thing. Some of the best money I have spent for this machine yet.
For anyone else trying to find this on the P2P website, it’s available here, just select 59mm XCarve Pro Spindle as the size.
I haven’t ordered it yet, because I could technically print it myself, but I have to weigh the time and effort vs overall cost.
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Did you have to remove the plastic housing around the spindle for it to fit properly?
The front cover of the spindle is not plastic. It metal and fairly heavy. I removed mine for the dust shoe and to remove the unnecessary weight from the z-axis. When I took mine off, it was packed full of wood chips from running the machine.
I have seen some wood chips hiding down in there. I guess over time, it turns into insulation :). Just don’t toss a spark in there.
Thanks for the info, seriously considering the upgrade. Mine has had some clogging when I do deeper cuts, the thin wall funnel can’t keep up and fills up quickly.
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I have yet to get a clog with the new dust shoe. Took the original dust shoe off the side and might set it up with a diode laser. (as if I need another laser. Already have 3 of them.)