Problem Type: Cleaning
Workspace: Woodshop
Asset: Other
Summary: The woodshop is a mess
Additional Info: Someone isn’t cleaning up after themselves or did a lot of cutting without the dust collector or the dust collector is busted. There’s a coating of dust on everything, the floor is slippery in most places because of the dust. Some pulled the bin from the DC but didn’t empty it. I canceled my woodshop booking because I didn’t come in to clean up after everyone else.
Report generated from a filing. This report has also been sent to Asmbly staff, leadership, and space leads with any contact info that was provided. Provide additional photos or resources here to help. When the problem is resolved, ensure it is marked.
There was a problem report about the CNC dust collector being over-filled. I wonder if that’s what spread dust everywhere. I haven’t seen that issue in quite a while.
The table saws have several issues that may be contributing to excess dust.
Both tables need new internal flex hoses that direct the suction toward the blade. They are a little short and stiff causing them to fall off frequently.
Both tables are missing the dust directing for that sits just to the right of the blade. The door helps direct suction to the under side of the table. https://www.sawstop.com/product/dust-shroud-door
The dust collector attachment at the Y fitting and 90 degree elbow are clogging with offcuts. The sheet metal screws make cleaning this out dangerous. Gem and Sarah have a grabber arm for cleaning it out more safely. However, I think that section of pipe needs a redesign to keep it from clogging.
We could also 3d print a grate there to prevent the thin strips from going through the rest of the system. That would also prevent having to reach into the pipe.
I think the thin strips will always pose a problem, and IMO it is better to have that problem be in an easily accessible area, rather than potentially plugging up a larger pipe section. But, it does make it into a regular maintenance item.
It is unacceptable to leave the space in a dirty state. If its a tooling issue, whoever came across it should have cleaned the mess and reported this. It should never be left to someone else to discover.
Many members reading this do this regularly, some members do not. We will review camera footage for who contributed and reach out accordingly.
It is in everyone’s skedda bookings as a reminder to clean up after themselves.
In a recent donation from a closing business, there a box of flex hose. I’ll get those replaced on Monday–or if someone is able to do it today, the box of flex hose is in the Steward’s closet.
Yesterday morning when I arrived, the area surrounding the large CNC DC was filled with dust and the bag had a large gap were its supposed to seal. James was using setting up to use it and I pointed it out to him. I did not check back on it to see if he had time to fix and/or clean the area up as I was setting up to teach a class.
I really like Al’s idea of 3D printing a grate to keep strips from reaching the ducts. Other tools might benefit from this as well. I don’t know if it’s my imagination but it seems like the DC suction has been diminished across the whole system lately. The vac hose by the drill press does almost nothing, for example. I’m wondering if there are clogs from wood chunks in the main pipes.
I disassembled the elbow and Y to find a large number of offcuts jammed in the elbow. Pictured below.
Al an I discussed the position of the 3DP grate system. My thought is that the grate should mount directly on the Y fitting, so the resulting clog is contained in the flex hose where it’s easy to clean out. Feedback?
Julie also stopped by to brainstorm ways to make the elbow easier to clean. It’s likely to always have some amount of clogging. She recommended covering the screws with caps (3DP or equivalent) so everything is a little less stabby. I agree that some caps would be a nice quality of life upgrade.
@Kasper Thanks so much for your work on unclogging the table saws!
As a followup to my earlier observation about the overall system, I discovered and closed 6 open blast gates this morning. They were: all 3 sanders, planer, band saw #2, and the vacuum tube by the drill press. After closing them, I noticed a substantial improvement in the suction observed at multiple locations. So we probably do not have a major clog in the main pipes.
I think grit has been running long enough without any issues so I’m comfortable with us finishing this setup.
I imagine we’d need to close down the woodshop for a few hours for install and testing.
@ewei did a whole lot to help us get prepared for this by running some of the trigger wire around. Are you able to help me out later this week or next week?
