Controlling Planer Shavings on Site
Create a quick, low-tech planer dust collection system for the job site.
I recently purchased a DeWalt thickness planer, and I was amazed and pleased with the fan-assisted chip-ejection setup. In the shop, I can hook up the planer’s ejection port to my 4-in.-dia. dust-collection hose to manage the piles of chips.
But what about taking this portable planer out of the shop and onto a job site? I reasoned that with the tool’s chip-ejection fan, I should be able to come up with a low-tech portable planer dust collector.
My solution? I took a Rubbermaid Roughneck trash can and bore a hole in it for a 2 1/2-in.-diameter vacuum hose. Then, as shown in the drawing, the hose hooks up to the ejection port on the planer.
Next, I had my daughter sew a bag from some landscape fabric with a drawstring large enough to go over the rim of the trash can. Propped up from the inside with a 2×2 scrap, it looks like a mini version of my shop unit. It catches 95% of the shavings. Cleanup is a breeze.
— Mark Gibbesh
From Fine Homebuilding #225
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I have the same Dewalt Planer and the set up is the same. I cut to holes in a Lowe's five gallon. I ran a hose direct from the planer to the top of the bucket with another hose connected to my shop vac. This hose goes into the bucket midway down the hose. I have no cleanup if I remember to turn the vacuum on. I clean up what little mess there is with the wand on the vacuum. Same basic idea, but with a little less set up I think. I always have a generator on site. Works very well for me as does the one mentioned in the article,