Triton Workcentre Dust Bag Modification

Dust collection in the workshop is critical for having a healthy, and an enjoyable work environment. In Australia, all wood dust is classified as carcinogenic, which should be encouragement enough to have a good dust collection system, but it tends to be when every tool that you are looking for has disappeared beneath layers of wood shavings that a decent collection system is considered!

One of the things that first impressed me about Triton was that they consider dust collection as being an integral part of their systems, rather than just an afterthought. Each item in the Triton range has provision for a dust bag and/or vacuum collection.

Before the advent of the Triton Dust Bucket, the original dust bag for the Workcentre had a vacuum offtake. The original dust bag then evolved into the current passive system where a bag beneath the table collects the dust and shavings.

 

Photo 1 – The current dust collection system (sourced from http://www.triton.com.au)

Funnily enough, the current dust bag lends itself very well to being adapted to active dust collection. Particularly the rigid ring that the lower bag connects to is excellent for supporting a funnel. You can choose to fit a ready-made funnel, or make one of your own. One of the best ideas I have heard recently was to cut the top of a commercial spring water bottle for a water cooler- it makes a great funnel.
You can collect the dust using the standard Triton Dust Bucket, but this results in a very narrow end to the funnel, which is prone to blocking. The alternative, is to use a full 4” collection system, where the high volume, low velocity suction and wide tubing copes a lot better with larger debris.

Since acquiring a 750W Dust Extractor from Triton’s new parent company (GMC), I have fitted out the workshop with 4” tubes for dust collection from all my major workshop tools (blast gates are used to prevent suction from tools not in use- see Photo 6 which includes inline blast gates). This provides a superb dust collection system. For the Workcentre, I adapted the dust bag with a funnel that reduces the diameter down to the 4” tubing. (Note, in future, I will be going for a much more powerful extractor – 2HP is preferrable!)

 

Photo 2 – GMC 750W Dust Extractor

Now, instead of collecting the sawdust in the lower bag which requires frequent emptying, the 4” tube feeds all the sawdust and scrap wood directly to the Dust Extractor.
For the funnel, I chose to go the hard way, and make my own.
Starting with a single piece of MDF, a circle is cut with a 50cm diameter. This can be done on a bandsaw or the Triton Jigsaw Table. Next, a number of concentric circles are cut. However, these are cut with the work set at 35 degrees to the blade, producing cones.
Three additional rings are cut with straight sides. These are to produce the cylinder that the dust extraction hose will fit on. This cone is being made for a 4″ dust collection system, however there is no reason that the normal Triton hose could not be used if the cone is made to come to a smaller diameter.

Photo 3 – The cut rings and cones

The cones are then inverted, and placed on top of each other, producing a funnel. The first ring is quite a bit larger than the next, creating a lip that will locate on the hard ring in the upper section of the dust bag.

 

Photo 4 – The funnel, ready to be glued

Photo 5 – The funnel in position, ready to be attached to the 4” tubing

I have had some questions in the past about whether the bag will collapse in, restricting the funnel, when suction is applied. I am happy to say that I have had no problems with that, and in fact the dust collection is even better than before (and not just more convenient), as air is drawn into the bag through all the gaps, preventing dust escaping. It will also be beneficial for the saw itself, as the positive suction draws clean air in through, and around the motor, and discourages dust getting into the circular saw’s housing.

 

Photos 6 & 7  4” Hose connected, leading to a Blast Gate and Y section