Modular Miter Station - Phase 4 - Dust Hood
The one thing that I absolutely hate about woodworking is……SAWDUST! It gets everywhere… and by everywhere I mean everywhere! And the biggest sawdust maker in my shop always seem like the miter saw. So for Phase 4 of the Modular Miter Station series I knew that I wanted to add a Dust Hood to The Foundation. Something that would hold the dust in a small area so that my shop vac could suck it up, but was also large enough that I could still make miter and bevel cuts on my saw.
This post contains affiliate links. This post is sponsored by Kreg Tool & BuildSomething.com. All opinions, pictures, design, and published plans are my own!
This is Phase 4 of a 4 part series I teamed up with Kreg Tool on to put all the build plans on their DIY project plan website BuildSomething.com. But before you go check out the plans on their site let me tell you a little bit more about this build!
After building the first three phases of the Modular Miter Station I had plenty of plywood scraps to work with, so I designed my plan around them. I first tested my saw in several different positions to come of with my measurements…. your saw and your measurements might different, but this will give you a place to start. My miter saw is huge, so I had installed it off center on Phase 1 - The Foundation, so the dust hood ended off being offset… 8” on the left side and 4” on the right. I determined the height to just give clearance. My goal was to make the box as small as possible without interfering with the function of the saw.
My theory on the not making it completely square was that the sloped back would help any of the sawdust fall faster down into the shop vac port. That theory has yet to be proved or disproved.
To help eliminate sawdust from flying out the front of the box or interfering with the saws function I decided adding a thick piece of plastic strips. It reminder me of a meat locker/freezer thing I probably saw in a movie. But where to get the plastic? After not finding anything at the store I remembered that I had a couple of dust collector bags lying around. I’m not sure how thick the plastic is or its mil rating, but its sturdy. So I cut the bag up, doubled it up and stapled it onto the front of the dust hood. Then I cut each layer into strips offset for the other layer hoping that would help keep the dust in better, but again still on interfering with the saw operation.
And lastly I added a piece of trim to the front to cover up the staples and make it look a little better. I plan on hooking a dedicated shop vac up to the miter saw soon to not only get keep the sawdust in the dust hood, but to also suck it away!
This post is sponsored by Kreg Tool & BuildSomething.com. All opinions, pictures, design, and published plans are my own!
Here is the link to the free plans so that you can start building Phase 4 - Dust Hood of your Modular Miter Station.
Happy Building and have an AWESOME day!
Sadie Mae