How to Fully Automate Your Dust Collection Setup 

Is it going to be another year and a half before the next vid?

Very very cool project!

I thought I had been unsubscribed until I checked and found you hadn’t posted. Making videos is hard work and I get that; but, the things you post are always worthwhile and I have “saved” many of your videos for future reference. Your organization series is killer and I have recommended it to other viewers in comments on other channels. If you can only come up with time and good content every year and a half, so be it, but know that your work, research, and ideas are appreciated.

@@johnrazor8720 greatly appreciate that. Thank you!! Truly means a lot.

@@thanemakes5377 thank you so much!

Haha thanks! I knew I would never get them lined back up properly if I didn't find someway to stick them together. Appreciate the kind words.

Thanks! Greatly appreciate that!

Thanks a lot! Greatly appreciate the kind words!

HAHA thank you so much. Great idea with the exhaust port as well, thank you!

Thank you so much, I appreciate it!!

Thank you so much for the kind words! Glad you are enjoying the channel!

Thanks! Greatly appreciate the kind words. Let me know how it works out for you!!

Thanks!

Great quote! Such an amazing game. And glad you liked the setup as well!

Thank you so much, really appreciate the kind words. I have a few more ideas that I’ll put to the test that I didn’t mention in the video that I hope work out. Glad you enjoyed it!

Of course! Was a long time coming! Glad you enjoyed it.

Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it!

Thank you so much! Appreciate it!

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

Thank you so much!

Agreed! Definitely makes it less of an eye sore and adds a fun element to it as well. Thanks for the kind words.

I considered going wireless but since I needed the air line ran to them anyways I decided against it.

The tool trigger is wireless. The solenoids are at the gate hard wired back to the controller

Thank you so much! Greatly appreciate it.

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks! It was a lot of time spent, but well worth it for me. No excuse not to use it anymore haha

Thanks! That means a lot!

Everything is great, just been busy and distracted by trying to do too many things at once haha! Thanks for the kind words, I'm really enjoying the setup!

Thank you so much. Glad you are enjoying it!

Haha thanks! One of my favorite things to do is over engineer something to solve a simple problem.

Thank you so much!

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks!

Hahaha that’s amazing!

Thanks! Appreciate that!

Thanks! Happy to be back!

That’s awesome to hear! Thanks for the kind words.

Doing great, thanks! And I’m glad to be back!

If you watch the video Bob at I Like to Make Stuff did on the arduino dust collection he breaks down the current sensor much more clearly. As far as air it’s very little as long as there are no leaks. The lines are only about 6mm thick so it’s not much there.

Thanks for your reply ! I’m still working on my version. I ordered the cylinders on Amazon but without de fittings. These are M5 ports and the fittings are the most common size in America. The recesses around the port holes are poorly machined so that the fittings does sit tight thus creating an air leak. I have to file around the port hole to create a flat shoulder so the fittings ça seal properly. I have suggested about adjustable mufflers. I bought some. BAD IDEA ! when releasing power to the solenoid, all the other solenoid are connected in parallel which in turns connect all the other cylinders in parallel. It creates a reservoir with almost no flow limits for the gate when closing. There is no way I can control closing speed this way. An adjustable supply valve is the only way to control opening and closing speeds. Your video is still of a great help in constructing my system thanks again for your work.

Thanks!

Ya the Falcons have been brutal...the first time in like two decades they have even an average defense and now they can't play offense...luckily the whole division is bad so there is still hope haha. Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it!

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

Thank you so much!

Thanks! Good to be back!

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

1) Speed, air cylinders to my knowledge would open and close much faster and with more force to push out any dust that got stuck in gates. 2) Cost. Was trying to keep parts cheeper for people who would want to replicate this.

Thanks for the kind words! Great question. Around 30 psi was plenty but you can always go a little higher then turn it down at each gate. The kit I used for the 100ft of tubing comes with a larger thread adapter. I took that up to the size in my compressor but forget the exact sizes. Was a very common part you can find for a couple bucks at Home Depot, Lowe’s or Harbor Freight.

@@RingsWorkshop OK I see it now. Thanks.

Well thanks a lot, there goes my next few evenings. 😂 Appreciate the feedback and idea!

My first solve used servo motors and I didn’t like how they worked and had multiple burn out on me. Thanks for the kind words!

@@RingsWorkshop yea, decent servo motors cost money. Keep up the videos, I'm an automation junkie.

Thanks!

Gotta be good at something I guess lol

Not a bad call but hasn’t failed me yet, works great.

Hahah thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

Correct. My sawstop is 220 and it works perfect on that. Although I may have it too sensitive as there are times I think it goes through it’s diagnostic and it kicks the DC on when I’m not expecting it and scares the crap out me every couple of days 😂😂

😂😂 Appreciate you Pat!

Thanks!

I did. It was more speed to open and close so I didn’t have to wait as long. But I agree that would have been easier.

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks! I appreciate it! Glad you enjoyed it.

@@RingsWorkshop I've been a big fan since we met on the Makers Playground. Very happy to see you continue sharing concepts and solutions. Folks like you are what makes the maker community stronger and better. Many blessings.

@@skigglystars9525 as always I always appreciate your feedback and kind words. Truly means a lot.

Thanks!

Ya it is just split off the main compressor, it only uses 30 psi so nothing crazy there. Hoses I just ran inside some larger mesh cable management to keep them together.

Thank you sir! Excellent video...very well presented 👍🏽

Yes. As long as it is a safe distance from the blade, that is where you should have your hand. Having it on the outside only would not feed the board through once fully cut through and would greatly increase your chance of kick back.

@@RingsWorkshop So, my friend…what are push sicks for?

@@azul8811 when the piece is too small and forces your hand close to the blade. The drawer fronts I was cutting would have been more dangerous with a push stick than my hand. Push block maybe, but push sticks are for narrow pieces of wood, not wider pieces. There are plenty of videos of me using a push stick on more narrow pieces on the channel, but not on ones where the piece I’m cutting is 5+ inches wide. If that makes you more comfortable by all means use one in that scenario.

@@RingsWorkshop Oh, I see. Okay, that makes sense. Thank you for the info.

@@azul8811 of course! Ya using a push stick on a wider piece can cause it to pivot and if that happens after the remainder is cut of it can bind and cause a kick back.

Makes sense! I’m sure someone will make a more user friendly version someday.

Thank you! As far as camera and lighting equipment? I have not but I do have a few posts on Instagram about it.

Correct. Split off before it goes to my main reel and reduced way down to 20-30 psi.

I’ll look into that link tomorrow, good looking out. Which electrical coil actuators are you referring to?

@@RingsWorkshop Hi, yes I mean where the electrical connection is on the solenoid valves. On Amazon it shows a different orientation of the valves so that they are on the same side as the air intake/outlets.

My air compressor, just split a line off to go to this.

I explain that in the video. Far less ability to customize them, leave them open for different times, sometimes I want some to open and other times I do not (ie my router table fence only being open up if I’m using it), or to have one close and then have a longer delay for the miter saw since it powers off after each use but then once it is done being used close the main one and then open another before closing down. It can accomplish a lot of this, but not near as fun or customizable and would have made for a very boring video.

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it! It’s posted on my thingiverse page, follow the link in the description!

Thanks found it - would have helped if I read the original description properly😊. What did you use for you air input, a small compressor?

Good to know!

I didn’t do a wiring diagram as every setup is going to be vastly different and if I did the video would have been 30+ minutes to cover all of it. I have links to my tools I use on my website, I do have links for parts used in each videos description.

Thanks for the info...GREAT setup!@@RingsWorkshop

Hahaha nothing sounded right.

Haha sounds good. Hard part would be everyone’s shop is different and how many gates they would have, would have to be somehow plug and play depending the variations someone had.

Thanks! Glad to be back!

Was for me as well, had to google and RU-vid almost all of it and then piece it together.

I do not. I had hoped to but unfortunately not in the cards currently. The 3d models are available for free though.

I don’t ever have help. That said if you were going to use two tools at once, and have a strong enough dust collector to accommodate, you would just need to code it differently, but definitely still possible.

@@RingsWorkshop thank you I will definitely try this for my workshop. Have the blast gates held up well overtime?

I knew none of it a couple years ago. Learned it all from google and RU-vid and 3d printing is becoming more and more accessible with some of the nicer printers out there.

I do. Most the tedious stuff was figuring out how to get it to work mobile and be easier to disconnect. But the rest of it was all pretty straight forward. Messing with the coding is something I’ve always enjoyed and i had some pretty specific things I wanted so no complaints their either.

Hahaha! I had this thing mostly done over a year ago and drug my feet on the last few details so it would take me a bit to figure it all out again.

You must be new to the channel then. 😂 A constant work in progress.

Oh no. I'm a regular. Very good work.

@@mmmdesignllc I tend to mumble and talk very fast and when I focus too much on it I sound robotic and have no emotion in my voice so it’s finding a balance lol. Appreciate the kind words

The code is in a text file on my thingiverse site that is linked in the description. My first version a few years ago used the servo motors but I also found them to be the weak point and had a few go bad on me.

Thank you😁🛫@@RingsWorkshop

Hahaha thanks! Very happy how it turned out, well worth it, especially if you can find the individual parts on sale.

Thanks so much!! Yes but I always have it on anyways and they use very little to fill those little tubes.

Good looking out, I appreciate it!

Thank you!!! I’m feeling pretty good that it will not be that long this time!! 😂😂

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!!

HAHA a bit. I just like having the one solid piece when I use it as an outfeed or assembly table.

Love it! Thank you! Let me know how it turns out!!

My system has two buttons, for my bench top tools and my floor sweep. If you don’t have buttons you can remove that part of the code. There is also the code you likely have to remove for it monitoring the table saw and router table that has a switch depressed at all times I want those monitors. I explain that in the video as it’s a mobile setup, I only want it monitoring those tools if I have the dust collection connected which has the switch built in to it. Removing those few if statements should fix the issue of it not looking for the table saw or miter saw

3d prints are great, used 50% infill and 4 or 5 walls just to make them more durable. I did break one early on using less infill and didn’t have the valves to lower the psi. I’m pretty sure I have the psi set to like 30 for the whole system, nothing crazy.

I hadn’t heard of that system. Are you able to program it where you could have one set trigger with tool powering on but then a timer to change to other blast gates after a timer? Or reset the timer if tool is used again before shut off like on the miter saw. I had never found a system you could chain multiple commands to vs just what happens when a tool is turned on or off.

​@@RingsWorkshop Hey Sorry I was away on vacation and just got back to the States. To answer your question, yes, you can program multiple actions that will happen when you trigger a tool. For example: I have a 5HP Felder Dust Collector (3 phase) and as you may imagine, it has a lot of power. One of my tools connected is a Kapex chop saw that is connected to the ductwork via a 4" branch and then reduced to 3" ductwork and reduced again to a 2" hose after the 3 inch blast-gate. My main Ductwork truck is 8". You can imagine the wind velocity and noise if my 5HP dust collector was only pulling air from a 2" hose. The Grit system allows me to program a 2nd blast gate to open at the same time as the chop saw blast gate whenever I trigger that particular tool. If I wanted to, I could program that 2nd blate gate to only open 60% of the way if needed. In fact the servos that control the blast gates can all be programmed to open at any percentage I want when a tool is triggered. As you know, CFM and air velocity both play a part in dust collection. All this is controlled thru an app on your phone or tablet. In the case of my chop saw, I have it programmed to keep the dust collector on for 30 seconds after the cut is completed. If I make another cut within that time, the system resets the timer. The owners of Grit Automation are also very approachable and helpful. When I had a question on setting up the component that would start my 3 phase dust collector, (via the trigger) the guy who invented the system (Joel) called me on a video call from his cell phone to make sure I made the right electrical connections on my dust collector circuit panel. The same system also control my air filter in my shop, when the shop is in use and the PPM dust factor goes up to a predetermined level, the air cleaner kicks in and keeps running until the air quality sensor tells it to go off. Think of the air quality sensor as a trigger. When it detects dust in the air, it turns on the air cleaner. And when the air is clean again, it turns off the air cleaner. Hope this answers your question, and again...great video!

The past tense of sub is subbed, so I’m gonna go with tubbed, which sound ridiculous as well. 😂

I initially had it at around 25 minutes but I failed to have video of things like me running some of the wires or cabling and it was just me talking with no video to display so I removed a few things on it that I will try to cover in the future.

@@RingsWorkshop you definitely have a great solution with lots of potential future content. Very much looking forward to more!

Thanks!

I debated putting a speaker in it to say “Entity Detected” when it sensed a tool be turned on…but figured that was maybe a step too far. Also, couldn’t find a good way to make GAIA work as an acronym 😂😂

@@RingsWorkshop fair emough. But if your workshop starts making thunderjaws don't come complaining to us, is all I'm saying But to be honest it would be awesome to hear that if you had some unsuspecting person to go and turn it on 😂

@@xaraldobruxo hahahaha I even thought about putting red LEDs inside the fan to glow out if that happened. Would have been fun but about 5 people would have actually appreciated it

Just found in on Thingaverse!

Thanks! It’s on the thingiverse site linked in description. I used servos on the last setup and had three burn out so moved on haha

Thanks so much! That’s a really cool idea! Coding isn’t as hard as you may think. A lot of googling and RU-vid, and some patience / stubbornness to get it to work, got me to figure this out.

Thanks! Good to be back!

Game changer for sure! Thanks for the kind words!

Thanks! Was well worth it!

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!