On Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:07:47 -0700, Jane & David wrote:

Would a portable downdraft sanding table do much of a job at clearing
the air behind or maybe under my Jet midi lathe? (I realize that a
sanding table wouldn't be the most stable support [probably only
slightly better than jello] but there is usually a way to make something
more solid) I've been thinking of building one or just buying one of
the General Intl. downdraft boxes. And if others have found one to be
useful around a small lathe, that would be another good reason to put a
crowbar in my wallet.

My dust collector is an 1100CFM that does a good job with most of my
machines. With my little lathe, it gets nearly all the dust when sanding
on the lathe, but when turning it captures very little.

TIA
David

My best advise would be NO! lol

Downdraft tables are easy to make and work really well for sanding flat stuff
with a sander, but are a very bad idea for a lathe..

Consider what you're trying to collect and direction of the dust....
Sawdust, due to the spinning of the wood, tends to go more "out" than down, in
my case, towards the back of the lathe.. That's where my DC hood is..

What falls down is mostly shavings, which you don't want the DC to suck up,
unless you enjoy finding the clumps in the hose and breaking them up every few
minutes.. DAMHIKT

I used to use a plastic hood and wasn't real happy with it.. One problem that I
had was that with the flimsy mount it came with, if the DC hose wasn't perfectly
aligned and supported, the weight and/or sideways pull of the hose would keep
re-adjusting the hood... Very frustrating..

Then, I saw a page of a fairly famous turner, (wish I could remember who), the
has the most efficient and least expensive hood I've seen yet:
A cardboard wine or beer box (thicker than normal) cut into a rough 45 degree
angle, screwed to a couple of 1x4's to prop it on the lathe, with a 4" hole in
the back...
Set it where you want it, and stick the DC hose in..
He used duct tape to seal the hose inside the box, I use a quick-connect
fitting, as I have 3 different size boxes..
I found that instead of propping the 1x4's between the lathe rails, I prefer it
clamped to an old adjustable height support stand.. The kind that sells for
maybe $30 and has a roller on it.. YMWV


mac

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