# How should I set up a dust collector for a lathe?



## Seacaptain (9 mo ago)

Before I go out and invest the money in a dust collector system, I'm wondering the best way to hook it up to get the most benefit when I'm running my lathe. I have a lathe, bandsaw, table saw, thickness plainer and Jointer. All the tools besides the lathe I've been able to figure out a way to hook up the system system but I don't know what I should do to be able to collect most of the chips flying off my lathe. And. Any suggestions?


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## controlfreak (Jun 29, 2019)

Once freed of the wood spindle lathe chips are so angry they act like bees and will attack you.


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## Unknowncraftsman (Jun 23, 2013)

I use fans to push and pull the fines away from me. 
Unless it's wet wood then it doesn't matter 
Other machines are hooked up to a cyclone 
Good Luck


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## northwoodsman (Feb 22, 2008)

Rockler makes and sell something that works, sort of. It get's about 25% of the chips, but that's only if you keep moving it. I tried and tried to come up with something. You almost have to pull debris from underneath and towards the front but then it's either always in the way or your dropping important things into it like mandrel parts, bushings, etc. The way I looked at it - if I have to clean up 75% of the shavings, instead of messing around all day trying to get the dang thing in the right spot I'll just pick up 100% of the shaving and go on with my life. I would love to see other ideas.


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## MrUnix (May 18, 2012)

DC is near impossible… shoot for containment. Many here have 'wrapped' the lathe area using tarps, sheets, shower curtains, etc… keeping the chips contained within their confines. Fancy setups have guides or tracks above so they can be moved out of the way easily when not in use.

Cheers,
Brad


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## Seacaptain (9 mo ago)

Thanks for all the replies. Containment sounds the best. I can do that.


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## WoodenDreams (Aug 23, 2018)

As all have mentioned, not easy for good dust collection with a lathe. Aj2 has a good suggestion to use a fan to blow the shavings or sanding dust away from you. Maybe add an Air Filtration Unit to the area you blow the sanding dust. I added a dust hood that connects magnetically to the back of the lathe. It only helps some. But, it does have a chip deflector on it. https://www.ptreeusa.com/turn_dust_collection.html I got mine on sale for $19.95.

I also have a small workbench next to the lathe with a benchtop vise just left of my lathe. I'll clamp a 2 1/2" dust collection tube in the vise, so the tube is next to the lathe tool rest to draw in some shavings and sanding dust.


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## Andybb (Sep 30, 2016)

Unless you're making pens or other small items you're out of luck. If you watch anybody who turns a lot of bowls you rarely if ever see DC. Too many large chips and with a bowl, the hose would have to be a foot away.


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## Phil32 (Aug 31, 2018)

Be content if you can contain the chips & sawdust within 20 feet in all directions including up.


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## 987Ron (Apr 9, 2020)

Have used a scoop on behind the lathe on small projects and when sanding. Works to a degree as the above have stated. Use it more for sawdust when sanding than anything else.


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## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

anyone find the holly grail of lathe dust collection let me know,,,,,,,please !!!!


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## OSU55 (Dec 14, 2012)

Sweep and shovel chips. DC is good for the fine stuff that hangs in the air. I have a neo magnet attached to the 4" hose, place it where I can, turning or sanding.


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## TDSpade (Oct 14, 2011)

I hang a trap behind the lathe. I have three 12 gallon plastic storage bins on the floor that catch about 65 to 70 percent of the dust and shavings that bounce off the tarp. Some of the dust and shavings fall between, and on both sides of the bins, and underneath the lathe. But most of it stays in the lathe area.


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## TheDane (May 15, 2008)

About the only time I use my dust collector at the lathe is when I am sanding or turning resin. Otherwise, running my 5hp Oneida is just a waste of electricity.

I have shower curtains around the lathe to contain the chips and shavings. A brush to clean the lathe off and a broom and dust pan for the floor finish cleanup.


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## PCDub (Sep 24, 2017)

> ...
> I have shower curtains around the lathe to contain the chips and shavings. ....
> 
> - TheDane


I have several slatted window blinds that I hung around the lathe to keep chips from flying everywhere. I can raise them when not needed.

Also, I saw recently that the guy whose utoob channel is "Fixing Furniture" (Wooden it be Nice) has invented something that he's still waiting on the patent for that helps contain chips and allows a dust collector to actually collect them. (Sorry I can't find the vid in which he introduces the fixture at the end…)


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## northwoodsman (Feb 22, 2008)

The fan idea blowing it away from you isn't the best idea. You may stay clean but now your entire shop will be covered under a layer. Instead of spending 30 minutes cleaning up the work area you will now spend hours. Not to mention all the fine particles you have introduced into the air that you will breath in. I wear a turners smock and a mask and let the chips fall to the ground.


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## TheDane (May 15, 2008)

> Also, I saw recently that the guy whose utoob channel is "Fixing Furniture" (Wooden it be Nice) has invented something that he s still waiting on the patent for that helps contain chips and allows a dust collector to actually collect them.


Might be okay for small stuff, but when I turn larger bowls, I generate enough heavy, wet shavings to fill a 35-gallon bag in my dc's bin.


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## hcbph_1 (Apr 11, 2020)

I tried rigging a dust collector hood behind my lathe. Doesn't do that good collecting chips or dust off a turning, though it collects a little. If I hadn't already had all the parts, I don't know that I would have tried it. I don't know of any what works well, but that's just my opinion.


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## Andybb (Sep 30, 2016)

You'd need suction strong enough and a hole big enough to suck in a small child or pet.


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## bigJohninvegas (May 25, 2014)

I totally agree with the containment idea. My small garage shop is so packed, My lathe is close to a shelve system that I store all my wood on. After battling the turning chips and other woodworking dust. I found that painters drop cloths worked well and look good. so all my storage areas in the garage now have drop cloth curtains. The way I am set up, the one closest to my lathe does a great job at containing it all to that area. I have use a DC set up on the back side just below my work piece when sanding. But honestly I don't feel it works well either. And a DC is simply not designed for the chips that a lathe produces. I just need to remember to turn on the ceiling mounted air filter when I am finish sanding. and let the chips fly.


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## Phil32 (Aug 31, 2018)

You could get a biological hazard containment box - you know, with the rubber sleeves extending inward - big enough to contain the lathe, wood, tools, etc. When it's completely packed with chips and your arms cannot move, set it on fire and buy another one.


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## EricFai (Sep 30, 2018)

Some interesting ideas here. I am starting a DC install and was wondering what would be the best way to set up a collection at the lathe. It seems that one would have to have a deep trough under the lathe, for the chips, but the fines would not be collected. I use a Shopsmith for my lathe and might try my hand at collecting the chips and dust. 

Another thought is to have an air cleanner behind the lathe to pull the fines into. Made up using a box fan with a frame that holds a filter or two, I have seem some guys here that have built stands in this fashion..


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## Knockonit (Nov 5, 2017)

lol, everything here is so true, i just can't keep the dang chips outta my shoes, gal sewed up some gator type things for my calfs to hold up, but dang it, shoes fill full of chips, and some just don't wanna come out in the wash, and you get the sticky socks ugh. ditto on the collector for fines and dust, good info as noted
rj in az


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## Lazyman (Aug 8, 2014)

I keep saying that I am going setup some containment curtains but where I have my lathe under the garage door will make that challenging. When I am roughing a bowl, chips fly into every corner of my shop which is a 2-car garage. I do use a fan to push as many of them as possible to the side. When I am done, I sweep and vacuum up the worst it and then use a leaf blower to push the rest out the door. BTW, wear a dust mask while you do that.


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## hairy (Sep 23, 2008)

I use an Oneida personal benchtop dc next to the lathe.
https://www.oneida-air.com/dust-collectors/benchtop-personal-dust-collector 









Right at the the end of the lathe I have a homemade cabinet with my sharpening tools mounted on top and a furnace motor and filter inside. I turn it on anytime I'm making dust.

I still need to use a broom and dustpan, but I get as much airborne dust as I can.


That Oneida isn't cheap, but it is very handy. I move it to wherever I'm making a mess.

This Old House made a fan/filter for the shop. They work very well for airborne dust, useless for chips and shavings.









How to Make a DIY Air Filter


Ross Trethewey explains how air filtration systems work and how to build a localized DIY air filter.




www.thisoldhouse.com


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## EricFai (Sep 30, 2018)

Harry, I was thinking along the same lines for an air cleaner, using a box fan and 3 or 4 filters.


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## WoodshopTherapy (Feb 11, 2018)

I've been developing an effective dust collection system and I'm starting to share my journey on YouTube. You can subscribe to get notified when I publish each video https://www.youtube.com/cleanlathe


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## OSU55 (Dec 14, 2012)

Chip containment (made Roman blinds that roll up when not in use), small fan to blow dust toward dc intake all good ideas/methods. If you want to fully protect your lungs, add a papr system, I use 3M Versaflow.


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## bigJohninvegas (May 25, 2014)

EricFai said:


> Some interesting ideas here. I am starting a DC install and was wondering what would be the best way to set up a collection at the lathe. It seems that one would have to have a deep trough under the lathe, for the chips, but the fines would not be collected. I use a Shopsmith for my lathe and might try my hand at collecting the chips and dust.
> 
> Another thought is to have an air cleanner behind the lathe to pull the fines into. Made up using a box fan with a frame that holds a filter or two, I have seem some guys here that have built stands in this fashion..


My 1st filter for woodworking in general was a box fan with 20X20 air filters. While the filter got plenty dirty, it did not seem to clear the air. Simply not very efficient at the job I needed it to do. 
And as mentioned, a DC is also a very inefficient way to catch chips. 
But having a 4" DC hose right behind the work piece when sanding does pretty good. Just watch out for losing things in that 4" hose. lol, It is very unforgiving. 
And I am very impressed with my Jet air filter that hangs from the ceiling. I often tend to forget to turn it on. and when using a finish sander, it can get pretty cloudy very quick. Switch on the air filter, and in minutes the room is clear. And sanding at the lathe produces far less dust than I typically get with a pad sander. 
I do often power sand at the lathe too. usually a 2" disk. It tends to not produce the dust I get from a 5" RO, or a 4" pad sander though. Then again I don't have a open DC hose next to the pad sander.

I don't have my DC set up right now, but found a photo online of basically what I do.. And I am not doing anything as fancy as shown in the photos. Honestly my 4" hose has a Rockler Dust right handle on it to hook to all my other tools. But at the lathe, I tend to just use a couple zip ties to secure it where I want it. And the hose hands straight down with the nozzle pointed up. actually the set up in the photo will still suck up things you don't want to lose. But you wont have to worry about simple dropping things straight into the hose.


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## RyanGi (Jan 13, 2021)

I just sweep up. The chips are big enough that it’s easy, and (as with a jointer or planer) the chips are big and airy and they’d fill up the DC super fast. I do have a small flex pipe and inlet from Rockler that I hook up when sanding. It works great to pick up all the fines during sanding, which is really all I care about.


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## moke (Oct 19, 2010)

So, very interesting inventions! I really like the roman blinds Idea on each side of the lathe. Mine is against the wall. I use a shop vac to suck up the sanding particles and let the other stuff fly. I also have a couple of Jet air filtration units overhead. The DC is hooked to all other machines, I even tried one of those "big Gulp" plastic extrusions for the DC.....it was virtually useless. I scoop up what I can with those giant hands made for leaves, then sweep, then vac.....but very soon I will have roman blind partitions to contain what I can....


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## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

moke said:


> So, very interesting inventions! I really like the roman blinds Idea on each side of the lathe. Mine is against the wall. I use a shop vac to suck up the sanding particles and let the other stuff fly. I also have a couple of Jet air filtration units overhead. The DC is hooked to all other machines, I even tried one of those "big Gulp" plastic extrusions for the DC.....it was virtually useless. I scoop up what I can with those giant hands made for leaves, then sweep, then vac.....but very soon I will have roman blind partitions to contain what I can....


yeah i got a big gulp too and yeah it doesn't catch much.it will get some of the sanding dust but ive pretty much given up worrying about it.


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## Redoak49 (Dec 15, 2012)

I use a bell mouth hood pointed at where I am sanding on the lathe. You can see the dust be sucked into it. The dust collector you are using makes a big difference and mine is 5 hp Oneida.

It also makes a difference with how much flex hose you are using. A smaller dust collector and long flex hose is not a great combination. 
BobL on the Aussie forum has lots of info on bell mouth hoods.


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## bruc101 (Sep 13, 2008)

I open a set of double doors, put a large shop fan behind me, and let a lot of the chips return to mother nature out of the shop. . Worker pretty decent until my wife came around the corner one afternoon and got her new perm full of chips. That's another beware of wife on the premises story though.


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## jay1 (Feb 24, 2009)

Seacaptain said:


> Before I go out and invest the money in a dust collector system, I'm wondering the best way to hook it up to get the most benefit when I'm running my lathe. I have a lathe, bandsaw, table saw, thickness plainer and Jointer. All the tools besides the lathe I've been able to figure out a way to hook up the system system but I don't know what I should do to be able to collect most of the chips flying off my lathe. And. Any suggestions?


Two separate problems. With the chips containing the chips has been my best answer. But when sanding it is another story. Collect as much of the dust as possible using one of the “big mouth” fixtures, but you need a fairly high air volume DC. Also protect your self with a dust mask of some form. I prefer the combo helmets with built in air filtration and strong face shield but they are pricey. I found after a couple quarter sized pieces wacked me they looked a lot less expensive. Replacement lungs are not cheap


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## calabrese55 (11 mo ago)

Not sure what you are looking to manage the dust or the cuttings flying off the tool when turning ?
For sanding dust I mocked up something to try just to test the concept. It worked so well for me I did not go any farther into a design. Simply a sturdy cardboard box with a 4 inch hose connected high up in the back of the box. Picture attached.
If you are looking to direct away the stuff that flys off the cutting edge keeping it out of your face and collecting in the work area you might simply try an electric leaf blower  
Simply set it up to direct blast away from your work area and toward a possible collection vacuum point.
example https://www.amazon.com/BLACK-DECKER...locphy=9005146&hvtargid=pla-350548061913&th=1
calabrese55


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## Knothead62 (Apr 17, 2010)

I use a Shop Vac and Oneida Dust Deputy with the hose attached to the wall, bent over to the lathe (I turn mainly pens) and hold in placed with a magnetic hook and a cord. I'll see about getting a photo for this thread. My shop and bank account are too small for a real DC system.


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## WoodenDreams (Aug 23, 2018)

I did get a hood from Peachtree Lathe Dust Hoods (ptreeusa.com) help some but not as much as I was hoping with the shavings. Worked good while sanding.

I have a workbench to the left of the lathe with a bench vise. Sometimes I'll use the vise to hold a 2 1/2" tube attached to hoses to the dust collector. I caught about half of the shavings. but had to keep move the tube to be with the tool.


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## QC Inspector (26 d ago)

I scrounged some 16" fans from an industrial ceiling hung furnace from work that was burned out. I took them to my father's place and mounted 2 of them in the wall behind my fathers lathe. With both on virtually everything cut or sanded on the lathe was blown outside. Great in the summer but too cold in the winter months. He put an old refrigerator door on the outside to keep the weather out. Propped it up when wanting to turn.

Pete


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## Phil32 (Aug 31, 2018)

Put your lathe in a biological isolation box - one of those clear plastic boxes with rubber gloves extending into the interior. When it's packed full of chips and dust, build a similar setup on the opposite side of your shop - it would be an optimum time to upgrade your lathe. When all space in your shop is gone, have a lathe sale. LOL There is NO way to contain lathe chips and dust.


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## calabrese55 (11 mo ago)

Phil32 said:


> Put your lathe in a biological isolation box - one of those clear plastic boxes with rubber gloves extending into the interior. When it's packed full of chips and dust, build a similar setup on the opposite side of your shop - it would be an optimum time to upgrade your lathe. When all space in your shop is gone, have a lathe sale. LOL _There is NO way to contain lathe chips and dust._


*I must disagree my shop is very efficient in containing chips and dust from most of the outside world*.
calabrese55


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