[Jerry Thompson]

I am trying to find out the best placement for the duct to be placed in my Unisaw. It was made in the 90's. The right side is open except for the motor protrusion. I do not want to cut a hole in the cabinet. I would butcher any attempt at this.
The only way I can see is to build a box around the opening. This would enclose the motor. I would place the duct in the box.
I plan on using a HF 2hp DC and flex hose to the saw, jointer, planer and SCMS. The hose would be moved from machine to machine as needed.
I understand the HF DC has a 5" intake that the two 4'' wyes come off of. I would be using only the 5'' port.
It is also in the works to use a Thien separator and a Wyn filter.
Space and cost are the main problems. My shop is in my garage. The longest run would be around 10 feet
I don't want to put too much money into a system as I am 71 years old and how much more time I have left in the shop or on Earth is an unknown.
I have never had any dust collection in the shop for 25 years and the main reason is I am tired of cleaning up dust and fine dust does present an explosive possibility. No need to expound on the health aspects.
So does this sound as though it may work?

 

[Fred Hargis]

Mine (2000 model) has a square opening right under the motor cover, and I just ran ductwork to that. That meant making a cover for that rectangular hole that also had an opening for the ductwork. If your saw has a ramp inside the cabinet that tilts down toward the bottom of the motor opening, I'm thinking that putting a duct into that (the motor cover) isn't going to work very well. It needs to be down near the bottom of that ramp. All this assumes your saw is kinda constructed like mine.......keep in mind, if you put ductwork to the motor cover, every time you need to get inside the cabinet (like for a dropped arbor nut, etc.) you'll have to disconnect it, them open the cover, and reverse everything.

 

[Jerry Thompson]

DC

I find my saw was made in May 1989. It does not have a motor cover. I will have to give some thought as how to make one. It does, however have the rectangular area as you mentioned.
Thanks for the help.
Jerry

 

[ryan50hrl]

Jerry,

Is it possible to snap a few pictures? Or get us the model number off your saw so we can find a picture online....i'm sure we can come up with something....

 

[Jerry Thompson]

Numbers

89E25418 Cat# 34-802
I found a site that sells Unisaw plastic motor covers. I need to do some measurements to see if it will fit.
If it does I would be able to do a set up similar to Fred's.
First I have to hoe out the shop and I have enlisted my grandson to do the boring work. I am a slob in the shop and it needs it now more than ever. We have built 6 Shaker wall clocks plus a few this and that's with no cleanup.
Thanks.

 

[ryan50hrl]

Jerry,

If you don't have the base enclosed with a motor cover.....your dust collector will be pretty useless. You need the air to funnel out of one place....

 

[Steve Neul]

I have a newer model unisaw made for dust collection. The inside has a shoot directing the dust to the back of the saw where there is a 4" connection for the dust collector. Then the side where the motor protrudes there is a plastic box that covers the motor and the opening.

 

[jg2259]

Jerry,

I have that exact model number of Unisaw. I believe mine is 1986. Mine also didn't have a motor cover, so I built one. I will see if I can locate pictures of it or I will take some when I get home.
As for dust collection, I haven't gotten around to that yet ( 2yrs ), but since I put the motor cover on, dust hasn't been that big of an issue. Most of the dust is collected inside the cabinet, and I run a shop vac around the outside of the base every week or so. If you look on the base of your saw(mine is in the back), there should be a rectangular piece of metal tack welded on the base (pith?). That is where I plan on putting my DC port when I get around to it. I also plan on duct taping 2 pieces of thin plywood together, the fold them in half so I can slide it thru the louvered access door, and set it inside the cabinet to form a ramp down to the port.
Hope this helps some
Jim

 

[Fred Hargis]

You see in the pic on mine that's a 6" pipe. There's not quite 6" of clearance in the little rectangular opening, so where the pipe mates with that plywood baffle, I had to crush it slighly into an oval. That wasn't easy, I had to heat it up a little. Doing that still gives you the same square inches of opening, so it doesn't degrade performance.

 

[Tom King]

I built a wooden box over the motor that accepts a slide in 12x12 furnace filter as an air inlet, and also some cooling for the motor. It works fine. I took the removable panel off of the lower front, and have the duct elbowed out there.

All small holes, of which there are a bunch, are covered with blue masking tape, including the curved slot for the height wheel. If I need to tilt it, I just pull the blue tape off, and put some more on when needed.

We also use the Exactor overarm, and overall the DC works great. Portable DC is 3hp 4-bagger.

This is our portable saw. It's on a mobile base, and has a piece of Masonite under the cabinet to seal the bottom. The stand for the overarm is bolted to a double piece of Baltic Birch scrap, which is in turn bolted to the mobile base. The outfeed table is a lightweight version. We roll the saw into the loader bucket to move it from a house to a trailer when we need to move it from one job to another. Our jobsites are usually pretty long term.

 

[jg2259]

Jerry, here are some pics of my shop built motor cover and the DC port on the back of the base. One of the pics shows the dust that has accumulated around the saw after 3 weeks of medium use.

 

[Jerry Thompson]

DC

I am still in the thinking stage. The Harbor Freight DC has a 5'' port after removing the 4'' wye. I cannot, yet, find 5'' PVC pipe. I can order 5'' flex hose that is smooth on the inside and run it straight to the DC. I could also do the same to my 8'' jointer.
I would have to build a dust port for the jointer as I can find no 5'' ones on the web.
I would probably use rare earth magnets to attach the Unisaw motor cover as well as the jointer device.
I have a 12'' SCMS. I have a "Big Gulp" device behind it that is worthless using a shop vac. If I recall it has a 4'' port. It would seem that connecting the DC 5'' hose with a reducer may do the job.
I do not like the big gulp as it is a space hog.
At present I plan on using the HF DC with a Wyn filter only. I will do the Thien separator later. Does the Wyn filter have a method to remove dust such as a built in "scraper?"
Thanks everyone for the help.

 

[Fred Hargis]

5" PVC doesn't exist, at least in the thinwall. One of the downsides to PVC is the limited sizing, it's 4" or 6". The DC can be easily change to a 6" inlet by making a new cover using a 6" HVAC starter collar for the connection. I've never bought a Wynn filter, but don not think it comes with a flapper to clean the filter.

 

[Jerry Thompson]

DC

I went to Harbor freight and looked their unit over. It is 110v only and nowhere on the site does it say it can be made re-wired to 220v.
I looked at various Grizzly DC and found one with a 6'' port, more cfm and 220v. It also has a 1 micron canister. I know everyone recommends a 0.5 mc but with the amount of shop time and life expectancy I have I think this will do the job.
By the time I get done fiddling with the HF unit it seems this would not cost me that much more. It is $530 shipped to the house. Some other companies want $170 shipping for similar items.

 

[Fred Hargis]

Personally I think you're better off that way. Compare the impeller sizes, I'd bet the Griz is 12" and the HF is 10". If true that right there would be a reason to buy the Griz.

 

[Jerry Thompson]

Griz

Thanks Fred. I showed this to my wife. She plans a "Drive By" on your place early next week.:yes:

 

[toolguy1000]

Jerry, here are some pics of my shop built motor cover and the DC port on the back of the base. One of the pics shows the dust that has accumulated around the saw after 3 weeks of medium use.

where's the dust hose collection point on your unisaw? i used that little plate on the base and it worked wonderfully.

 

[Jerry Thompson]

DC

Remember I have, as of yet, no motor cover. There is a rectangular area just up from the base. It would have to be seal off with plywood except for the insertion area of the 6'' pipe.
This will be down stream a bit until I do a serious shop clean out and rat hole some money. I have a 30'' razee jointer I have used very little that I may put out on the market. It is one of Steve Knight's last ones. I have several hand tools I should, not shall, unload. You know how that is.

 

[jg2259]

Toolguy1000,

I haven't put a port on the opening on the base of my Unisaw yet, because I haven't had time, and it just doesn't seem worth it because most of the dust collects inside the cabinet and I just clean it out occasionally.
I will keep my eye on this thread to see what Jerry does, and maybe someday I will rig something up.

Jim

 

[Jerry Thompson]

DC

I have finally just said to hell with it. I read a long article by Bill Pentz. In order to serve my needs and cut dust to 0.5 mc the unit I would need would cost $2000. Then I have the pipe, etc.
I cannot exhaust the fine dust outside. At my age and an unknown time left WW it does not add up.
Thanks to everyone's feed back and help.
I am the most happy these days when I take a shower and nothing falls off.