Marc Shlaes here! Here is a photo and description of the dust collection setup that JR and I fashioned for his machine.

This was Version one of the dust foot. Unfortunately, I don't seem to have a photo of Version 2. The changes were subtle but significant. I will describe them below.

This photo shows the foot, the tube and the upper clamp holding the tube. The upper clamp is attached to an angle iron bolted to the back of the z-slide. Both the foot and the clamp were cut from expanded PVC.

Changes between Version 1 and Version 2:

JR correctly believed that the force of the fan in the router was kicking dust out the sides of the foot. Therefore, we added some bushings that spaced the foot down 3/8ths of an inch and made the front hole just large enough for the router collet and thereby sealing off most of the router's air. The change was dramatic. The efficiency probably doubled. Good call J.R. We took the router's temperature with an IR thermometer after the change to ensure that the router was getting enough air. No problem. The other significant change was the type of vinyl used in the apron. We switched from a thinner stiffer plastic to a thicker softer vinyl. We cut the apron from a piece of vinyl that is used to make those overlapping walk-thru curtains for large freezers. We simply stopped by a refrigeration contractor to obtain one vertical replacement panel. This material was perfect. The Version 1 plastic was securely attached using double stick tape. This did not work with the Version 2 vinyl. It didn't stick. Therefore, we evenly spaced some screws and problem solved. (BTW: Expanded PVC holds screws really well.) I wished I had taken some pictures after Version 2 was put into service. There really was NO dust. Even when the apron went off the edge of the wood, only tiny, tiny amounts of dust escaped. You can see in the Version 1 phote attached that it didn't work as well.

Would anyone want the dxf's for the foot and the clamp?

Team Effort

Way to go guys. That is what I consider this forum. Excellent design and plans and lots of useful information. You guys are going to make it easy to build mine.

Cool dc foot. Are you running pvc for the rest of the piping or metal? JR can we expect a video or two anytime soon :)

We ran 18 feet of flexible tubing to the hard pipe, which in J.R.'s shop is PVC. The flexible tubing came from Woodworker's Supply. It is the most flexible tubing I have ever seen. I bought some because it is literally twice as flexible as the tubing in my shop. Great stuff! J.R. quickly fashioned some temporary cars out of shower curtain hangers as you can see. The permanent cars will come over time.

Also attached is a picture of the 4 zone combination vacuum plenum / spoilboard we cut. It is now flipped over and anchored. Just for fun we attached his shop vac to one of the zones and we couldn't believe how well it worked. There are more things yet to do to increase it's efficiency such as sealing the edges. If it works this well now it should really work well when it is done!

Aren't you guys just busy beavers! Nice work. I have step up a 5 zone table very similar to yours. Great minds think alike. I would love the dxfs for the foot. I have ample PVC sheet in stock to make that dc foot.
Thanks for all the great photos. They are invaluable.

Marc and J.R.,

OUTSTANDING !!!! The best designs come from multiple minds.

I also, would like the dxf's files of the DC foot.

My wife has been wanting me to take her somewhere.

J.R., can we come and visit your MM and shop. She's a woodworker and crafts person at heart and would actually think that's pretty cool.

That looks great guys. Congratulations. I'm still trying to fit a 6" foot into my car. I made some progress today but I won't be ready to post pictures for at least a week or two minimum.

Ahhh come on Doug, be brave, post a progress picture! :D

...waiting for prox switches and relays to arrive.......always waiting on the UPS truck.

Doug,

The four inch sucked plenty well and it might be a little simpler. Also, J.R. reminded me that the new vinyl seems to have an anti-static coating. That makes sense. You wouldn't want to get zapped every time you walk thru. You can tell that dust stuck to the V1 apron but none stuck to V2.

If you get yours from a refrigeration contractor, chances are it will be the same.

Tomorrow, I'll get some text (explanation) on the dxf and and post it.

Oh, by the way, Woodworkers Supply sells two grades of 4in. flexible tubing. As you might guess, the really flexible stuff is the most expensive.

I can sense the euphoria! :)

The rest of the dust foot discussion moved to an existing thread here.

J.R.,

Both my wife and I can cook. :) Let me get my MM operational and cutting so I can talk CNC intelligently and we are on our way to camp J.R. Oh yea, let baseball get underway also so we can catch as many ball parks as possible along the way.

Thanks for info on your DC system. Just trying to get a "feel" for the velocities and forces associated with the volume of air that is moved.

I almost hate to ask this guestion. Do the racks need to be lightly oiled?? :eek: :eek: :eek: DUCK FOOL

Hate to tell you this, but oil ain't good enough - lightly greased is the thing. It improves cut quality, lengthens pinion life and puts snazzy patterns on your shirt! :D

Jr

Check out the link below

http://www.bwc.com/products/dual-vee.html

Wheel Covers

Wheel covers provide lubrication to the Vee interface between the track and the v bearing guide wheel to help keep your DualVee system running at its best. The guide wheel is protected from direct contact with particulate or spray. Wheel covers come in a variety of sizes and heights to accommodate various bushings and integral guide wheels.

Lubricators

Lubricators, like wheel covers, provide lubrication to the Vee interface between the track and the v bearing guide wheel to help keep your DualVee system running at its best. Lubricators come in a variety of sizes and heights to accommodate various bushings, journals, and integral guide wheels.

Gerald,
What type of grease would you recommend? Lithium, Moly, Bearing? Is there any pro or con from one to another?

Heath.

Would a dry film lubricant such as Dow 321 be appropriate? I am using this on all of my woodworking equipment with great success; saw dust, chips, etc. do not stick to it. I generally remove all grease and oil on new machinery and replace it with with Dow 321.
Cheers,
Bernhard

The best grease in this case is the cleanest one. You guys apparently have access to some motorcycle chain greases that are dryish and don't collect dirt. Every 6 months, when we dab a bit of grease on, we say "wow, what a difference, we really should do this every week!" :)

Design by J.R. and Marc:
Just a few pics of the 4th gen dust foot. Now that it works it will be re-cut and the black insert and the rest of the foot will be cut as one. It has a limited amount of float, about 1", it also has about 2.5" of adjustment ( so the bottom of the skirt can be flush with the bottom of the cutter). It takes 5 seconds to remove it (bit change) and 15 seconds to put it back in place and adj the height.

Special notes
1. The router brackets are laser cut from 1/2" steel. (US $14 for all 4 pcs)
2. The foot is held in place with hitch pins through the adjustment holes (8).
3. The last pic is an attachment (4, 1 in each corner) under the table used to align a 3/8" drill bit to drill a hole all the way through the spoil board, then a wooden dowel is driven down to hold everything together(not glued).

J.R.

Very nice. You guys have done a nice job.

JR,
Great looking dust foot. You guys are really moving along.:) One question though, the attachment under the table, in the corners, what exactly is that for? I know I am going to feel dumb for asking this.

Heath

Heath my machine has a 3/4" board bolted to the cross channels, then a 1/2" plenum glued to that, then the 3/4" spoil board just sitting there. This thing allows a hole to be drilled all the way through, then a wooden dowel is driven in to hold the spoil board in place.

JR, I suppose you intend to drill from the bottom after the hole location has been obscured by a new spoilboard stuck on top?

Gerald that is correct it will be the guide, it's not meant to hold the spoil board down only in position. The wooden dowel comes all the way to the top so as you resurface the table the dowels just get cut too :D. It was made by machining a 3/8" hole in a 3/4" rod probably 2" long then turning a shoulder on 1 end to fit into the hole of a flat washer, welded around the inside of the washer, drilled a few mounting holes, threw on some Ford blue paint and it was a done deal.;)

This is a few pictures of the latest additions.
The inside computer is working great (brainstorm of Marc and I). I have also mounted the monitor on the door of my control box using a regular wall-mount for a TV (Wal-Mart.com $38), keyboard and mouse will follow beneath.

JR, you sure know how to cheer a bloke up - thanks! :)

JR

That setup looks great. I like the size of your Monitor. Nice and big.

Great Job!

Awesome work JR, the monitor is cool. Do you suspect you will get any electronic resonance putting the computer (I think thats what you did) inside the controller together. I've heard of people putting everything inside one tower sort of like the older shopbots do; always wondered if those bits and areas of unshielded cable to hook up to each pin terminal was enough to communicate. Is the monitor touch screen like greolts :D?

Thanks guys.
Brian I have been running it this way for over 2 weeks with no problems at all, debounce in mach3 is set to 500. I have a new touch screen monitor but decided not to use it, this setup will work better for me.

JR,

The monitor you are showing looks like it is a touch screen. Your system must be easy to work with. I hope that when I build mine it will be as nice as yours.

Thanks for the inspiration.

JR
That sure is a nice looking machine. You must be proud of it. I would be, if it were mine. I hope mine looks as good as yours. I have been sidetracked from the MeckMate. My wife has me remodeling a bathroom. However, I did just pick up my laser cut pieces from the shop that was doing the bending.

Paul:)

Paul

How did the laser cutting and bending turn out?
Are you happy with the results?

Keyboard and mouse now have a permanent home ;):cool:

Truly an inspiration J.R.

Now back to work for me. :)

JR....Your a perfectionist. I like it that way. Great work.
I can barely see my machine through the dust and debris field at the moment. I hope to clean the shop and move the machine in 2 weeks so I can have a permanent set up. Right now my computer and control box are on a saw horse table in the corner!

Hi J.R.,
Great looking job you did on your mechmate. I have a couple of questions for you. Did you vent or put any fans on the control box that you have the computer in? I know computers like to stay cool. I would like to do something like that to keep mine out of the dust but I would not like to have problems with the heat. On the other hand a fan would probably just draw alot of dust into the box, so I was wondering what everyone is doing about that. Also I was wondering what the pvc pipes under your table are for, do you have a vacume set up to hold your materials down?

Ed the heat is a concern. The heat sink for the geckos has reached 130F. A fan will be nessesary, I will use a cheap auto air filter to keep the dust out, my compressor has used the same system for 25 years with great success. The pipe under the table will be for the vacuum hold down system. thanks

JR,
Your machine is looking awesome. Do you have any more pics of the stuff you have been cutting? What are you cutting mostly?

Heath.

Heath I haven't cut much, some personalised hearts, several wall plaques, a few logos, the dust foot, that's about it. I need cut files of anything that will sell on the open market. Marc is drawing up some things like dressing screens, and fireplace screens and we will cut them from 3/4" mdf.
I like the idea of having a space we could upload and download "use at your own risk cut files". Think of the different items it would have from all over the world:cool:.

JR,

Go to Epilog laser site and they have files that will work with your machine.

http://www.epiloglaser.com/sample_club.htm

JR,

you might like this one www.myDXF.blogspot.com

RGDS
Irfan