so much for the DeWalt 621 dust pickup

[Max]

I tried the DeWalt 621 dust pick up. I'm not impressed.

(pictures)

Anyone have recommendations? (oh......yes, I did have the vac turned *on*)

Max

[Lowell Holmes]

I've never experienced what you show using my 621. Did you leave some of the shroud off of the router. You may have altered the dust collection system when you put the non-Dewalt base on the router.

[Max]

"Lowell Holmes" wrote

Shroud in place. I cut the plastic base to the same outline as the original base (which does have an unusual profile) The shop vac I had attached seems to have plenty of suction. ?????

Max (sick of the #@#*&^% dust) :-(

[Max]

"Max" wrote in

Well...... I removed the little plastic piece (from the shroud) that surrounds the bit and it improved the air flow a little but the dust is still enough of a nuisance that it isn't worth bothering with the vac.

Max

[Charley]

Catching sawdust from a router is very difficult. Your two photos didn't make it clear what type of cut you were doing (at least it wasn't obvious to me) but photo 2 did show a lot of sawdust on your floor.

A router that is held or mounted vertically when it is used throws sawdust horizontally, in line with the cutting edge of the bit and perpendicular to the bit's orientation. The direction that the sawdust is thrown horizontally changes significantly when the point of bit contact with the board changes. It is therefore going to be quite difficult to catch all of the sawdust with only a single point vacuum source, especially when this point is located above the cutting edge of the bit. The DeWalt 621 router's vacuum pickup, which is above the cutting line of the bit, will allow many chips to just go past this pickup point rather than bending upward and into it due to the speed at which the chips are thrown. It may work acceptably if you are plunge cutting holes with an up cutting spiral bit, as the chips will be drawn upwards and contained by the board until they reach this point, but it just isn't located in the right place to catch chips from most normal routing operations. It needs to be located down under the router's base roughly opposite the point of contact of the router bit to the board.

When routing the edge of a board I frequently use Leigh's first generation vacuum attachment that they made for their dovetail jigs. It features a rectangular funnel that gets mounted below the base of the router, in line with the cutting edge of the bit. It's opening has a roller on the trailing edge of it and a spring to keep this roller in contact with the board being routed effectively closing the area behind the bit and opposite the edge of the board being routed. With this funnel in line with the cutting edge of the bit, the vacuum can easily collect the chips that are thrown into it during the cutting operation, but it misses some that are ejected forward of the cutting operation. When routing the edge of a long straight board this vacuum attachment works very well collecting 80% or better of the chips. However, it is impossible to use if the board has an irregularly shaped edge, as this pickup funnel is too big and clumsy to fit around corners and in tight places. In this case I don't even try to collect the chips and just sweep them up afterward. A down draft table may work better for this, but I don't have one to try.

Leigh recently replaced this vacuum attachment with a new and improved version that mounts directly on their dovetail jigs and not on the router. This new vacuum attachment is only useable with their dovetail jigs and can't be used separately, but it works much better for dovetailing than their first generation vacuum pickup attachment did. In fact I've found that it collects 98% or more of the chips from this process. You may, however, still be able to find one of their first generation vacuum attachments at one of their distributors or direct from Leigh, since the new vacuum attachment only became available last October.

Charley

[Max]

"Charley" wrote

Thank you for your very informative reply. The cut shown in the photo is at the top of the side pieces of what is to be a TV stand. (to replace this one)

I was using a 23/32" bit for dadoes. 3/4" (nominal) plywood top piece will rest on the "rabbet" .There will be two shelves below the top, dadoed into the side pieces. (that why I used a 23/32" bit) I would have used an up cutting spiral bit but I'm not sure they're available in a 23/32" size. I "could" have cut the dadoes on my table saw but I like the flat bottom a router bit gives me. Plus the ease of setting up a router and using an edge guide. The Leigh attachment appears to be a device I could use when doing rabbets. I will certainly try to locate one. (Leigh no longer has them)

Max

[Leon]

Well, while pricey Festool tools are designed for optimum dust collection by comparison. Let your local dealer give you a demonstration and or buy one and if you are not satisfied you have 30 days to return it.

[Max]

"Leon" wrote

Thanks for the suggestion. The Festool website doesn't show any dealers in my area. (El Paso) The nearest is in Tucson. I'm not sure I'm ready to spend $450 for a router and another $490 for a dust collector without seeing one in action. :-( I watched the Festool demo by the Wood whisperer but he didn't demo a dado process; just edge forming. The dadoing is the application I'm most interested in since I may have a process for mitigating dust production during edge forming.

[Charley]

Have you considered using a smaller bit and making multiple passes? If I remember correctly, Leon has a jig posted on his website for easily making dados with a router. You can easily set the width using a piece of scrap the thickness of the desired dado and then cut the dado with a top bearing guided bit. The bit will remove material to whatever the jig width is set for. If you don't want to build the jig you can clamp 2 straight edge boards across your work with the scrap held between them to set the width, then remove the scrap and rout the dado using the same top bearing bit. Of course, this doesn't solve your desire to collect the sawdust, but it does allow you to easily make perfect fitting dados with a router. The vacuum pickup on the DW621 may work some because the chips will be contained in the jig slot and under the router base where the vacuum option may be able to collect at least some of them.

Charley

[Max]

"Charley" wrote

Thanks again for taking the time to respond. I'm certainly open to options. Taking 2 passes would allow the use of a spiral bit and I have no objection to making jigs. Like clamps, there's no such thing as too many. The 23/32" bit I have been using makes a perfect fit for the Oak plywood I've been using but if moving to a spiral bit will improve dust pick-up, I'm all for it.

Max