[troyd1976]

Just curious for those of you running a TS with a dust collection shroud around the blade how effective it is.
ive adapted open based contractors saws to dc, had saws with the ports in the bottom, but in theory a blade shroud sounds the best, and perhaps a great excuse to upgrade saws. lol

 

[woodnthings]

it is the best method

I have early direct drive Craftsman saws with an open base, a Powermatic with a semi shrouded blade to which I added more sheet metal, and a Bosch Job site saw with a completely shrouded blade.
The Bosch allows a shop vac to be connect to the port on the rear of the saw and it works great. You can control the dust on an open base saw, but you'll need to move a lot of air into the cabinet and direct the dust off the blade as much as possible. I also use a over the blade collection arm hooked to a shop vac and that helps a lot.

From a review:
Dust Collection

The Bosch 4000 has a shroud that totally encloses the blade below the table that harnesses the aerodynamics of the spinning blade to help eject dust through a rear-mounted port that accepts standard 2 ¼"-diameter vacuum hoses.
The shroud system is very effective with even a medium powered shop vac to help extract the dust. As with any table saw, some dust comes over the top of the blade but even that seems to be reduced by the effectiveness of the shroud system.
Because the shroud is part of the motor/blade carriage, the dust port moves with the rest of the assembly when set for bevel cuts. Dust collection remains effective without having to add homemade covers or bags beneath the saw.


The newer saws will have much better dust collection, and if that's what you want, go for it! :yes:

 

[Dave Paine]

There are shrouds which are fixed in place, like my new Delta Unisaw, and there are shrouds which move with the saw blade.

Since my new Delta Unisaw shroud is fixed the higher the blade, the greater the space under the shroud.

My new Delta Unisaw has a 5in dust port, but I did not like the inner design, partial opening to the cabinet and partial to the hose for the shroud. I closed off the partial opening to the cabinet in order to get better suction at the hose for the shroud. I periodically clean out the debris in the bottom of the cabinet, easy to do since Delta provided a nice opening on the front of the cabinet.

 

[cburdick1]

Right now I have a DeWalt 748 contractors saw built into a large bench so it is more versatile. The bottom of the saw has a custom dust chute that I made which funnels down to a 4" port. Above the table I have a Shark Guard (http://www.thesharkguard.com/sharkwadkin.php) which fits into the factory blade guard slot.

I have a 4" flex hose attached to the DC duct that runs on the ceiling of my shop. When using the TS I attach that hose to the top of the Shark Guard. This provides me with DC from above and below the saw, and from what I can tell, collects all of the dust generated by cutting with the saw.

The Shark Guard isn't cheap, and it takes a while to get one, but it's really well made and I'm very happy with it as a solution for dust collection at the top of the saw.

 

[toolguy1000]

Just curious for those of you running a TS with a dust collection shroud around the blade how effective it is.
ive adapted open based contractors saws to dc, had saws with the ports in the bottom, but in theory a blade shroud sounds the best, and perhaps a great excuse to upgrade saws. lol

here's the ghetto version using the OEM blade guard and soem 1/2" black pie i had left over from other projects.

 

[troyd1976]

Tool guy that's ghetto-riff! ive thought of doing that also, is it very effective with the top side dust? would it make me want to run the blade guard again (im horrible about using them)

 

[toolguy1000]

it works best when ripping or CCing anything wider than the size of the opening in the bottom of the blade guard. thin rips/CCs leave one edge of the guard hanging out with nothing to support it and more dust escapes. for no cost (used left over scraps and hoses from a defunct max select ridgid portable vacuum and left over plumbing material), it works ok, in conjunction with the DC that services the saw cabinet. my BG collector is serviced by a shop vac.