Miter saw dust collection?

[DerbyDad03]

interest in the #1502 DustChuter for miter saws (formerly Keen Dust Chuter) . Unfortunately, at this time the product is not available. We appreciate y our patience while Milescraft is in the process of making final changes bef ore manufacturing. The major challenge Milescraft is facing, are the differ ent types of miter saws. Attaching our new DustChuter to every model is bas ically impossible. So far, we know it fits the following brands and models.

hich saw you do have, as you may still be eligible for testing the product.

Interesting. Thanks for that. They list the GCM12SD, I have the GCM10SD mod el. I think I will contact them and see what they say.

[Leon]

It is so simple I wonder it if would work on most anything if you are willing to drill a few holes.

[krw]

Let us know what you find. I don't see any mention of the thing on their US web page.

[J. Clarke]

Just tell them you have an Harbor Feight model thus and so and see what they do. They may decide that it's worth testing.

[Unquestionably Confused]

I did exactly that on Friday and have not yet heard back from them. If I get a response - ANY response - I'll share it.

I mentioned that I live about 30 miles from their location and would be more than willing to pick up and test a unit and help adapt one.

[Unquestionably Confused]

I received an e-mail response from Milescraft, Inc today which informed me that they had not yet tested my model numbers from Harbor Freight and offered to ship me a prototype along with generic instructions for installation. They also sent me a letter detailing what they expected of me (photos, critique of their existing instruction manual, honest comments and evaluation of the product, etc) none of which were onerous. I agreed to their terms and await the receipt of the product for pre-production testing.

[Jay Pique]

Wrong. Since he's getting a Kapex anyways you definitely want the Festool vac. It's a system.

JP

[Leon]

Not wrong. The Kapex and the Festool dust extractor are a system. But I do own both and any vac would likely provide enough suction to remove the dust. Now I would agree that the Festool dust extractor would probably be less trouble to attach, turn on, and would be much quieter than than most any vac.

[Dr. Deb]

We will both be testing and I am interested to see how yours turns out. My Dust Chuter should be in tomorrow. What model do you have? Mine is a 98194.

[Murph Spider]

Any updated news on this or any other manufacturer that makes one?

[Leon]

[DerbyDad03]

I think the issue with a "chute" type device is that there is no way that one size fits all - or even many.

There are so many different brands, models, revisions, etc. of miter saws that a universal chute adaptor would be next to impossible to design. That why you see individual DIY mods for specific models, as well as the non-specific tents, boxes and other external bolt-ons.

As an example, I made one of Don Pattison's modified chutes for my Bosch saw, which really improved the dust collection, but I also use some blocks of wood behind the fence to try and aim a little more dust into the modified chute. However, it still makes a mess. To bring home the point of non-universality, Dan offers 2 different templates, one for the 10" model and one for the 12".

[krw]

I have one of the Fastcap ones. It works well but takes a LOT of space. It doesn't really take much more behind the saw because the rails are back there anyway. It would be dumb to put a Kapex or the Bosch Bevel Glide saw in there.

They also just dump the dust out the bottom. Something on the floor to dump it into is needed and it doesn't just drop. It gets hung up in the cover, which then has to be cleaned out. It makes it a awkward mess to move around, too.

[DerbyDad03]

As I mentioned earlier, other than the exterior hoods like Fastcap, any miter saw dust collection mod needs to be specific to the model saw being used. There is no universal chute or chute accessory that will work for every saw.

This guy took the Pattison's chute mod for the Bosch saw a step further and added a 3D printed "ramp" to lift the dust into the chute well as a flap at the top to catch dust that hits the top of the chute and falls back down.

The cool thing is the way he diagnosed the problem. He uses slow motion video to capture the path taken by both smoke and the sawdust as it approached the chute. His tests really emphasize my point that miter saw dust collection is really, really specific to each model saw.

IOW, if you want to improve your saw, you need to know what is happening with your saw.

[Leon]

Dust collection was a major reason that I choose the Kapex over the Bosch. I think the biggest issue with collection is the path past the chute, inside the saw, to the vac hose.

My Kapex actually made a mess cutting on my last job. I kept looking down the manifold that the hose attaches to and saw the blade. What I did not see was a relative large but think piece of oak waste that was in there somewhere disturbing the flow. Oddly/eventually I saw that piece appear on the bed of the saw, it fell out, and dust collection went back up to about 95%.

[Leon]

Especially on the Kapex, there would be little to nothing to catch. ;~)

[DerbyDad03]

I'm sure that that is part of the issue, but the dust has to get into the saw before that area can enter into the equation. As shown in Keith's video, some of the dust wasn't even making it into the chute.

Pattison's chute modification (intentionally not discussed in detail in Keith's video) makes the chute wider and lower, which really helps a lot. I can attest to that.

Keith added the ramp to help send the dust into the chute but also added the flap at the top of the chute. His slow motion video detective work showed the dust physically hitting the flat edge of the chute and (his word) ricocheting down, never making it into the interior of the saw.

Wait...the Kapex doesn't have an app that sends a notification to your smart phone when there's a clog? Color me surprised! ;-)

[krw]

Impressive work indeed. I wonder what he does for a living. Mechanical engineer/ Aerospace?

It should tell you *where* it is too, dammit! Festool batteries have Bluetooth so you'd expect the Kapex to have at least 4G cell capability. Even refrigerators have 19" color LCD displays, Internet cameras, WiFi, and web browers so what's Festool's problem?

[Leon]

The dust was not entering the chute on my Kapex either. If the flow inside the chute is compromised it will not be sucked up into the chute. And the chute is not huge on the Kapex so I believe the design of the flow inside the saw is important, not necessarily the size of the chute.

I know, right? Actually not clogged, just something, a piece of debris, that was interrupting the air flow inside the saw, and I did not see it until if fell out on its own.