CNC vacuum (too much wood dust)

i saw on a you tube, some sort of vacuum device on a CnC - and i thought “what an excellent idea” as with the snapmaker, i can’t see what it is carving - and have to wait until the end of the job to see if it turns out or becomes firewood :smiley:
also it would have the added benefit of keeping the dust down (i think it would work better than the enclosure)
i am soon changing to the laser - and i can see i have a big clean up job inside the enclosure.

has anybody made this mod? or in the process of?

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There are some on thingiverse like this one: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4147717
There are also these threads (where I found the one above)

I haven’t tried them yet as I’m still waiting for my SM2 to arrive. I think up to a certain level it might also benefit the laser to carry away any smoke, or maybe even be an alternative for 3D part cooling (in stead of blowing air on it) To be tested obviously :slight_smile:

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I use one I found on cult3d https://www.facebook.com/groups/newsnapmaker/permalink/4081184628561600/

Do you have a non Facebook link? I don’t have a Facebook account and don’t intend to get one and seems this page is private.

Thanks

agree with you brvdboss (i can’t view it either) @Nathan

thankyou @brvboss this is exactly what i was looking for :slight_smile: actually it is better than i had imagined :grinning:
i did a search before i posted (mustn’t have used the right words) so i didn’t find the threads, going to do some laser, but after that - will definitely print this dust shoe out.
thanks again brvboss thumbs up

This is the one I used https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4147717 it is also on Cutls3d

FYI the Snapmaker Facebook group (there are actually 2 for some reason) is more active than this support forum, however there are also many more people that just complain about shipping times and newbie fails too. It is still a useful resource though, anyone can join it (if you use facebook).

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thankyou @Nathan if i can ask further :grinning: the tube going from the “dust shoe” looks like a vacuum cleaner hose?? and is it attached to a vacuum cleaner?? in the same room??

i noticed you are using it for the 3d printing module (assume this works for keeping the smell down), can you also use it for the laser?? (a little concerned something hot will find its way to the dust in the vacuum).

these may seem like basic questions (it shows how much i am leaning :grinning: )

Just a small update after I’ve used this for the first time this weekend. I do like the dust shoe and have made a small adapter that fits in the top and allows to connect the hose:

it’s threaded on the inside and allows the vaccuum hose to be screwed in it. The adapter fits snuggly in the dust shoe but can still rotate just so it doesn’t hinder any movement. I have another one at the other end of the hose and there plug in the vacuum cleaner. Works rather well.

One small adaptation I did make: put on some painters tape at the bottom. This does help in pieces of debris flying around and improves them being sucked in. Yet it’s soft and won’t damage your workpiece. Typically you have brushes/hairs on the end, but this is an easy to implement replacement :slight_smile:

added two close up pictures with and without the dust brush of painters-tape. Makes a significant difference:

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Is the ventilation for the cooling fan still good enough?
Im going to print a vacuum adapter during the next days.
My alternative would be this:

That one looks really good too. And the airflow might even be a bit better.

I do like that it’s height adjustable, on the other hand I’m not sure I would use it. Depends on how deep you want to cut. If you hit your workpiece with the plastic then something will get hurt (either the module, the workpiece or the motor will start skipping steps). In that case I like my painters tape mod better. Not too much could go wrong.

About the ventilation: The longest I’ve had it running without a pause is between 3 and 4 hours and I didn’t notice any issues, nor that it got too hot. Obviously, the one you refer to won’t cause any problems.

If you need to adaptor for the hose, let me know. I haven’t uploaded the source code to thingiverse yet as the code isn’t really nice to look at, but it’s just a few parameters to set the right diameters.

Very helpful thread, thank you!

Do you have any recommendations on a small quiet vacuum dedicated to the snapmaker?

Tim

Not really. We happened to have an old one (nilfisk) available (after moving to a home with central vacuum system). It doesn’t really require very high suction, but should be able to be on for a few hours continuously.

You should be able to find relatively cheap shop vacs in DIY stores. those are typically ok with being on for a longer time and the type of dust you get from woodworking.

They sure are noisy though - maybe putting it outside and adding a bulkhead through the wall like you would a vent could help.

buuut thats getting a bit out of control lol

Only I would do something that insane.

Im bout to put an air compressor in the shed and run a line to the basement.

Whats at the other end of these attachments doing the sucking?

Generally some sort of shop-vac.
Some people have some of the nicer dust extraction systems like those made by Fein.
(which is basically a glorified shop-vac with better motors and filtration)

-S

In my case just an old nilfisk (premium brand) home vacuum. But at the lowest setting and I did print a cyclone dust collector that’s in between so only a minority of the dust gets in the dust collector of the vacuum. This actually works surprisingly well.

What size is the diameter where the hose attaches?

I modified the model to attach a bigger hose. I don’t know what size the original was. But I’m really satisfied with how the print went.
If you want I could upload my model and look up what size my hose is.

Edit:
That’s the hose I use:

Do you have a CAD file or STP you could send me so I can modify it to fit the hose I’m going to use? Working with STLs is a pain when modifying the design.

The original design to glue on the module is here:

It contains a full f360 project and a stepfile.
The previous design I shared did only modify the base to attach the screw on modules. It works with the duct from the original.