Replies

1. 
   andyfew322 | Jan 28, 2008 11:42pm | #1

   I see a lot using pegboard for the top.

    

   "It is like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer: it feels so good when you stop"

2. 
   JohnWW | Jan 29, 2008 01:58am | #2

   I did some experimenting with downdraft table design when I was the shop manager at Fine Woodworking magazine.

   An early discovery was that if you hook up a random orbit sander to a shop vac you don't need a downdraft table, the vac will catch 99% of the dust. A downdraft table wasn't nearly as efficient in catching the dust coming off of a sander, a lot of dust still got into the air. My recommendation, if you will be sanding primarily by machine, is to invest in a sander with a good dust collection hook up for a vac hose and skip the trouble and expense of building a downdraft table.

   For the shop test, I used a basic Ryobi sander and still had very good dust collection when it was hooked up to a vac. Presumably using a top of the line sander with excellent dust collection, like a Festool, you would catch virtually all of the dust. For a vac we used an inexpensive small Ridgid with an aftermarket Cleanstream filter, I don't think you need anything more.

   John White

1. 
   Dorsett | Jan 29, 2008 04:49am | #5

   John,Currently I have a PC ROS, with a fixed discharge port. As you suggest, I connect it to my shop-vac. It works well. My Makita finish sander is more than 10 years old. I recall it came with a dust port, that was rectangular. I removed it because the bag filled quickly, and it never really worked. Assuming I can find the exhaust port I haven't seen a rectangular attachment to connect the FS to the shop-vac. Additionally I use a triangle sander. Other than Festool, I have not seen a dust port for these. If you know where I can find dust ports and connectors for finish and triangle sanders please let me know.Thanks.Dorsett

3. 
   DonC | Jan 29, 2008 02:25am | #3

   I saw a downdraft commercially made table at a trade show. It had a very important feature. The edges of the table had slots cut into it. When using a sander near the edge of the table the dust was sucked into the edge. Without these edge slots this dust would be airborn. His booth was set up with harsh lights and a black background so a customer could see how the dust was captured. Very clever design. I'm sorry that I don't remember the mfg but he was from Indiana. You might find a web site that shows his product and get some idea of how to build it into your table.

1. 
   saschafer | Jan 29, 2008 02:55am | #4

   I've been thinking the same thing, that it makes more sense to move the air in a horizontal sheet across the top of the table, rather than straight down, because the dust is mostly generated on top of the workpiece, which of course blocks any straight-down airflow.

   -Steve

    

1. 
   DonC | Jan 29, 2008 08:31am | #6

   http://www.denray.com/

   Here is a pic of a table similar to what I saw. The one I viewed was much less expensive. It was neat to see the dust fly off the board's surface and then immediately curves back into the horizontal slots in the table's edges.