Dust shoe bristles

[dstivens]

a hinge is a good idea. I based my design on this http://www.kentcnc.net/nc/products/9...dust-shoe.aspx
using magnets.

[firetrappe]

I made 2 attachments for my DIY shoe, one with bristles and one with plastic.

I figured the clear plastic would be nice so that I could watch the tool cutting. The trouble is, if you cut loads of strips then you lose the transparency as the cut edges of the plastic refract (I think that's the word?) the light. With 10mm wide strips as I have then, like Eddy says, large gaps appear when the shoe presses onto the workpiece. I toyed with the idea of adding another layer of strips inset from the existing ones, but the other attachment with the bristles worked that well that I've never bothered.

Si.

[charlieuk]

Yea I was a bit worried that PVC or that type of thing would not be stiff enough to resist the vacume but it would be nice to partly see through it to see how it was going. I will have to look into what thickness PVC is available

[cncJim]

Really nice Si - Like the use of magnets and the spacer sections. The bristles attachment looks good, where did you source them from?
Jim

[EddyCurrent]

You will like this one; http://www.kronosrobotics.com/dust-shrouds/

http://www.mycncuk.com/threads/7917-...1814#post61814
Relisted: only 30mm bristles though http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Flexible-B.../161456197558?


http://www.mycncuk.com/threads/6388-...7640#post47640

https://www.mink-buersten.com/en/pro...ex-system.html

[firetrappe]

Charlie, I used this 2mm PVC for the plastic skirt : http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Clear-Flex...-/250981624261
I had no problems with the vacuum sucking the skirt into the tool, just issues with fine MDF dust getting through the gaps.

I can actually see the bit through my dustshoe when cutting. Because the lower section of the shoe is larger than the spacers that it attaches to, there is a ~10mm wide lip between the bristles and the spacers which I can look through to keep an eye on things.

Jim, the bristles I used came from a section of Garage Door Brush Strip from B&Q. I can't find it on their website now, but toolstation do the same brand/size : http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Iron...h+Strip/p84655
The brush strip slides out of the aluminium mounting rail really easily. Unfortunately the bristles are crimped into a steel channel to hold them in place, and that steel is almost impossible to bend by hand! I tried everything I could think of to try and form it into a circular brush using hand tools. In the end I had to resort to making a very crude metal bending jig using some skateboard bearings a socket set and a steel plate and I had lying around. If I were you i'd look for an alternative strip constructed from plastic or aluminium!

I've attached the basic design files for my dust shoe below if anyone want's to copy or modify it. The largest part is machined both sides (pockets for magnets one side, pocket for brush strip on the other) which is why it's drawn with a couple of extra holes for registration purposes. It should make sense if you refer to the earlier photo I posted.

Si.

[charlieuk]

Cheers many thanks I guess I will start playing with some of those ideas the foam looks interesting too and can get that locally so will give that a try

[jimbo_cnc]

I think I need a dust shoe. At the moment I'm prototyping so I hold the vac nozzle for the 10min that the job takes. But if I'm goingto run a 1hour production job then I need something to suck the swarf out of the work.

I'm using acetal down to a depth of 20mm, and the swarf builds up in the hole, I suspect it would clog up a bit and spoil the finish if left. On the other hand I might be able to rough everything out without suction, and then just attend with the vac to the finishing passes. So much to learn/try!

With 20mm travel do you think attaching to the spindle will work OK? I was thinking the dust shoe would have to be fixed height.

[EddyCurrent]

With 20mm travel do you think attaching to the spindle will work OK? I was thinking the dust shoe would have to be fixed height.

If using flat sheet material I would have the dust shoe fixed height but then I'd like the height to be adjustable for different thickness sheets, just so it's skimming the surface.