DIY CNC Dust Shoe 

Thank you for the kind words!

Nice Job Frankie!

Hi Will, Thanks for the kind words. The lever is used to press the spindle lock button on the Dewalt dwp611 router. When you change bits on this router their is a button on the side that you can press to lock the spindle from turning so you just need a single wrench to loosen the collet. Because of the orientation of the power cord and the location where I have my shop vac - the button ended up in the middle between the router and the dust port - so I just added the lever to make it easy to press the button. You can press it without the lever - but it was a bit awkward with my large fingers. :-] Best Regards Dale

Thanks Mac,In the end I went with a more traditional brush setup for general purpose use - it allows more air flow in and carries away the dust better. The suction on the solid material version tend to lift the fingers up near the material. I still keep the PVC, Vinyl, and Silicone flavors around for special cases, like the first time I cut a design and I want a clear view of what the cutter is doing.Check out these videos - we did a visual comparison of the performance of various configurations:Dust Skirt Shootout ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vA59GWtjEgAC.htmlNC Dust Shoe - the Brush ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-s2ASCBFkcAQ.html

+Dale Root Nice design. You should do something about the dust that escapes when the bit is higher up though. Perhaps a second thinner skirt that goes down farther on the outside of the piece.

Yes - you're right!I've played around with various material and lengths - right now I'm running it with a longer brush setup. Maybe I'll put something together to show the effectiveness of the various configurations. Thanks for the comment.

Hi Chris - Thanks! Happy to share the design with you - really simple. A couple rounded rectangles - a few circles - a pocket , and that's about it. The trick is how you connect them with the various toolpaths to create the parts - and to be honest that is the fun part. ;-) If you are interested - let me know and I'll find a place to post the design files. I'd probably have to put something together to demonstrate the process of translating the simple shapes into turning into the toolpaths. Thanks for the comment.

They are Festool Clamping Elements - designed to work with their MFT surfaces. I machined similar holes directly into the MDF pallet and it seems to work pretty well.www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JNEC1Q?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

Hi Anthony,Sorry - I don't have dxf or stl files - but you can find the VCarve Pro files about midway down this project page: www.OakLines.com/Projects/CNC_Router_DustShoe/default.htm

They are Festool Clamping Elements - designed to work with their MFT surfaces. I machined similar holes directly into the MDF pallet and it seems to work pretty well. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JNEC1Q?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

They are Festool Clamping Elements - designed to work with their MFT surfaces. I machined similar holes directly into the MDF pallet and it seems to work pretty well. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JNEC1Q?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00 When unlocked - you can slide the business end back and forth to adjust the length. Then with a cam action - underneath the center - a hard metal plate (up inside) bites against the silver rod to provide the clamping force. The silver rod is a softer material - and it can get little nicks from the biting action that hinder the sliding a bit if you use them in the same position all the time. If that happens - you can polish rods to buff out the nicks - and/or use the adjustment screws to adjust the clamping plate position. Not perfect - but very flexible and I do like them.

Dale, Thank you so much. I just bought them when I got your messege, bouht it in ebay for $110 and will continue to watch your channel! Again thanks so much for the great info.

They are Festool Clamping Elements - designed to work with their MFT surfaces. I machined similar holes directly into the MDF pallet and it seems to work pretty well. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JNEC1Q?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

Thanks for the kind word! The control software is Linux CNC The clamps are Festool Clamping Elements - designed to work with their MFT surfaces. I machined similar holes directly into the MDF pallet and it seems to work pretty well. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JNEC1Q?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00 I've recently also started using Kreg In-Line clamps - and they seem to work pretty well too - and they are much less expensive. You can see the Kreg clamps in use with my fixture pallet in this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-h7L7SX-jxKA.html

Dale Root thanks. I order them today.

Hi James, It was designed in VCarve Pro - so if you can use that format I'd be happy to share it with you.It's a pretty simple design from basic shapes - rounded rectangles, circles, and lines. It is a bit of a mind bender to think through how you can achieve all of the desired pockets and profiles for 2 sided parts (top and bottom) - but once you get the hang of it's kinda fun - like a puzzle. Let me know if you'd like a follow up - I'd be happy to help if I can. ;-) Thanks for watching!

Yes, that'd be great!

Dale Root hello I'd definitely be interested in the vcarve format.

Dale Root might help if I gave you a email dnssound@gmail.com

Hi James,You can find the VCarve files about midway down this project page: www.OakLines.com/Projects/CNC_Router_DustShoe/default.htm Sorry about the tardy reply - somehow it slipped thru the cracks! ;-)

Good Question! This is actually a tool length sensor - rather than a material touch off sensor (although they kind of have similar effects). Imagine this - your system has home switches - so that when you turn it on and run the home procedure - it automatically looks for and finds the home position of each axis. It then knows where it is within the working envelope - with the one caveat -the length of the tool in the router. So my post processor runs a little routine each time a tool change in called for - to go over and touch the Tool Length Sensor - and adjust the tool table offset for that tool to maintain the same previously touched off Z zero (wherever it is). From a practical standpoint - when I change the fixture pallet on the system - I need to manually drive the system and touch off to set the Z zero to the top deck of the fixture pallet. I do this so I don't have to touch off on each and every piece of stock that we work with. You can put any material on the system - and the system always knows where it is relative to the top deck of the fixture pallet. You do have to design parts with this in mind - usually it's a default setting that you pick in your design software (I use VCarve Pro)- design from top of material - or design from top of fixture. My default is simply set for top of fixture. This makes is supper simple to get going in the morning - turn things on - run home procedure - load design - load material - hit run. Everything then happens automatically - tool changes are prompted when needed - and tool lengths in the router are automatically measured and compensated for - before cutting begins. Changing projects is a snap - the material height comes along with the design - so you never really need to touch off on the material. Just load and go! Hopefully this all makes sense - it's simpler than it sounds! ;-]

@@OakLines Thanks for the reply! I follow but I don't follow it though. So when the machine touches off. it sets the Z axis to what exactly? 0.000? or something else? Is the part top x0 y0 z0 or is the part bottom x0 y0 z0?

​@@IcanCwhatUsay So - long story short - this process does not touch off or change the zero at all - it only fiddles with tool length offsets in the tool table in some clever ways. I guess a way to think about it: The tool length sensor is used to maintain whatever zero you already had setup as you change tool bits. In this case the Z axis has previously been setup for Z0 to be the top of the fixture pallet (i.e. bottom of the part material) - and I want to maintain across all tool changes. The tool length sensors (and the automated measurement routine) are used to determine the Z tool length offset needed to maintain the the Z0 that existed with the previous tool - at the same point once a new tool has bee installed. As part of the measurement process - the measured z offset will be applied to the selected tool - in the tool table - and presto magic - the same physical Z0 - with the new tool - regardless of how far it sticks out of the router. X Y Z Home switches get you a known position within the mechanical working envelope for each axis. The tool length sensor is simply a home switch for the working end of your bit. With a little math you can compute the tool offset - and store it at the right location in the tool table (this is all done automatically as part of the measurement routine). Huge productivity boost - all you have to do is tend the machine - it does the rest. If you're still interested - maybe we can do a video and walk you though it. It is simpler than it sounds! ;-] Here are some related videos that deal with the idea of fixture coordinates: ru-vid.com/group/PLHMYQtEe1E6APEw7BwRb3M4oXEeKOlT4i

Not that I'm aware of. ;-)

Hi Andre, I'd be happy to help if I can. I'll contact you at the email address.