Custom Coaxial Dust Collector Makes CNC Router A Clean Machine

Everyone loves firing up that CNC router for the first time. But if the first thing you cut is wood, chances are good that the second thing you cut will be parts for some kind of dust shroud. Babysitting the machine and chasing the spindle around with a shop vac hose probably isn’t why you got it in the first place, right?

Trouble is, most dust-management designs just don’t get the job done, or if they do, they obstruct your view of the tool with a brush or other flexible shroud. [Jeremy Cook] figured he could do better with this coaxial dust collector, and from the practically dust-free cuts at the end of the video below, we think he’s right. The design is a two-piece, 3D-printed affair, with a collar that attaches to the spindle and a separate piece containing the duct. The two pieces stick together with magnets, which also lets the shroud swivel around for optimal placement. The duct surrounds the collet and tool and has a shop vac hose connection. In use, the vacuum pulls a ton of air through small opening, resulting in zero dust. It also results in the occasional part sucked up from the bed, so watch out for that. [Jeremy] has published the STL files if you want to make your own.

We’re pretty impressed, but if you still feel the need for a physical shroud, check out this shaggy-dog design that seems to work well too. Or you could just throw the whole thing in an enclosure.

24 thoughts on “Custom Coaxial Dust Collector Makes CNC Router A Clean Machine

      1. The rotation ability looks really convenient. My current (version 2) does not suck as good, and is much bulkier. But still better than V1. I moved from a 2.25″ shop vac to a 4.5 dust collector hose, big improvement but still have to vacuum up a bunch of chips\dust finishing the cuts.

        Printing means you can get those nice compound curves that are much more difficult on a sliced CNC project. That gives you such a tight fit right around the bit.

        I have found that the magnets themselves are plenty to hold the shoe in place though, without clamping.

        Seeing, or actually not seeing the dust going into the collector is amazingly better than just a straight through like the wooden one and mine.

          1. As an engineer I see great potential in this design. Get a copyright ASAP. Then show it to cnc manufacturers like shop saber , lacuna etc. good luck.

    1. You could make that with the cnc if you wanted.. a few layers glued together for all the parts. But a 3d print is much more convenient design it and print, barely any babysitting required vs the cnc with no dust extraction and then so many more parts to put together.

    2. I did exactly that with the original dust shoe on my router. Built it up out of flat parts. It’s a crappy way to do it if you have access to a 3D printer. It’s more difficult and it wastes a bunch of material. And, for the record, there ARE plenty of designs out there of CNC accessories made with the router itself,. It’s just that, from what I’ve seen, they’re almost ALL inferior, in one way or another, to the 3D-printed designs I’ve seen.

      I recently re-did the dust shoe just a few days ago, similar to this, except I stuck with the brushes. I absolutely would choose the 3D printer to do it every single time. There’s just no reason at all do do it on the router.

      i will also add that anyone who gets personal (as opposed to using it exclusively for business) use out of a CNC router would absolutely find a lot of value in a 3D printer. I knew I would use mine plenty, but I still regret not getting one earlier because I use it even more than I thought I would.

      1. I completely agree both have advantages in different ways. Making a dust show would be easiest and simpler with a printer than cutting it. I financially had a choice. Sometimes I wonder if I should have gone the printer route.

        1. If you live in a non-rural area you may be close to a library with a public 3D printer. Probably better than owning one if your only doing the occasional print or a single one-off.

          Although owning one, or two, .. or five is nice, too. If you’re into constantly servicing machinery :)

  1. Awesome I was literally just looking through thingiverse for dust collector designs. Im downloading this right now. Jeremy I watched some of your youtube videos, and your garage and shop clothes look just like mine. Cargo shorts and flip flops for the win.

  2. Hi there.
    This design is absolutly thinking out of the box! Awesome!
    Owning a hobby cnc and nearly two 3D printers – having all the same problems i searched the internet for a while prior to this and came up with a also 3d printed and self designed version. Mine is more likley to the brushed effords. I would have liked to fix it to the gantry as this would allow the brush to stay on top of the surface of the milled material. But that didn’t work out for my alpha version. Never the less your design is perfect for milling wood any plastics – namely everything that doesn’t need cooling on the tool. I think best for me is having the brushed version for aluminium combined with a constant cooling device and having something simmilar to your nozzle. Thanks for this

  3. How about having the hose connection on the part that gets fixed to the router? It would require redesigning work to keep the rotation option, but it would also eliminate the need for clamps. I’m guessing they are mainly there because the hose is pulling, pushing and twisting the shroud? I’m thinking a top part with hose connection attached to the router with inner duct that leads from the hose connection to an opening at the bottom of the router. The lower part would then be a simple skirt (= the nozzle you have there now) with a flange that would attach to top part around/below the router body/bottom.

    I like “stationary” dust shoes more than “moving with the gantry” ones since you can make them sit flush on the work piece even when cutting deep. I have had many designs in use already but I’m slowly gravitating towards the common design where the hose just attaches in front of the router and a continuous skirt goes around the tool & the hose inlet.

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