Down Draft Table

I’m planning on building one of these too. I opted for the Rockler downdraft panels, which are sitting collecting dust (pun intended) on my workbench until I get around to building it.

I was thinking of having the insides like a inverted pyramid, funneling everything down to a hose outlet exiting the bottom center. I built an adjustable shelf into my workbench to allow me to put certain tools in place so that their outfeeds are level with the benchtop and I’ve got a hole for the dust collection hose to come up underneath, so I plan to put this in that spot when I use it allowing me to vent it out the bottom.

I haven’t tried out the Rockler panels yet, but I liked a few things about them:
- you have 4 in a table, which allows you to swap them out for solid panels if you’re working on smaller pieces or want higher suction (ya ya, I could do this with MDF too…)
- the panels have rubber grommets in the holes, giving it grip on the workpiece
- there are also stop blocks, essentially bench dogs, that come with it for stability of the workpiece

When I get around to building it I’ll post it and let you know if the pyramid idea works…or if I got too confounded by the compound angles and gave up! :-)

-- Ian - Life's a game, if you don't play, you can't win.

Nice design Steve.

Looks good I say any size and design that works for whatever project your working on is the best to use. as long as it works.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

looks good Steve. The one I made was some Larger and I found it helped to cover some of the holes when sanding small parts. Seemed like it increased velocity. Good job.

-- Lynn "If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right". Henry Ford

Pyramid compound angle calculator

-- My broker promised me he would treat my money as if it were his own. Trouble is, he did.

Really cool.

-- Mad F, the fanatical rhykenologist and vintage architect. Democraticwoodworking.

That compound angle site is pretty cool….basically does what I need! Thanks for the link!

-- Ian - Life's a game, if you don't play, you can't win.