LATHE DUST COLLECTOR

I have an old Shop Smith that I am keeping just for the lathe function. I made this dust collector chute which works very well.

The chute is made with sides and front pieces made with interlocking dowels, that can be changed depending on what diameter wood you are using, and if you are doing spindle work or bowl work.

Here is the basic set up for a small diameter log. The advantage to this Shop Smith is that I mounted the chute onto the base that the chisel guide mounts onto. So no matter what length of spindle work you do, the chute moves with the chisel guide. This allowed me to make a smaller dust chute with more concentrated suction.

The ends can be removed for a larger diameter log.

This shows how the dust collector can be used for bowl work.

The dust collector worked excellent, but after a year, I decided to build a new one. The original one restricted the diameter that was available, and I found that there were times that it was necessary to move the tool attachment separate from the dust collector.

This new one just sits on the base of the Shop Smith. So it’s easy to slide the tool rest whenever needed.

I now have the full 15” swing of the lathe. Normally you don’t need that full amount, especially after you round off a log. So if it gets down to only needing a 12” swing, I made a shelf that can sit on top of the steel carrier tubes. This makes the dust collection a lot more efficient.

#dustcollectorchute #lathedustcollector #shopsmith