What the build needs
| Item | What it needs |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | Beginner: straight cuts, one square opening, glue and screws |
| Time | An afternoon, plus glue drying |
| Stock | One piece of 3/4 in plywood 18 × 12 in plus the 4 × 4 in insert; 1/2 in plywood for the box, about 8 × 12 in |
| Drill press | A table at least 18 × 12 in, or the base cut down to fit yours |
| Vacuum | A shop vacuum or extractor and its hose; the hose's end sets the hole size |
Powermatic's PM2800B has a 20-1/2 × 14 in table, so the base fits with room for clamps; JET's JDP-17MF has a 14 in round table, so trim the base to suit; WEN does not state the 4214's table size, so measure yours.
Cut list
| Part | Qty | Size | Material |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base | 1 | 18 × 12 in | 3/4 in plywood |
| Insert | 1, plus spares | 4 × 4 in | 3/4 in plywood or other flat stock the same thickness |
| Box top | 1 | 8 × 4 in | 1/2 in plywood |
| Box back | 1 | 8 × 3-1/2 in | 1/2 in plywood |
| Box ends | 2 | 3-1/2 × 3-1/2 in | 1/2 in plywood |
The box's back and ends stand on the base under the top, so they are 1/2 in shorter than the 4 in box height; the ends fit inside the back, so they are 1/2 in shorter than its 4 in depth.
Building the table
Cut the base
Cut the 18 × 12 in base, then trim it if your drill press table is smaller; keep the bit centred side to side and 5 in from the front edge.
Mark the bit centre
With the drill press unplugged, set the base on the table, lower a pointed bit to it and mark the centre. Centre the 4 × 4 in square on that mark.
Cut the insert opening
Drill a hole inside each corner of the square and saw between them, keeping inside the line, then file to the line so the insert is a snug push fit. The drill press table under the base supports the insert from below.
Make the box
Glue and screw the ends to the back, then the top over all three, so the front and bottom stay open. Drill the hose hole in the right end, sized for your hose's end to fit snugly; on a 3-1/2 in end, keep the hole to about 2-1/2 in or less so the wood around it stays sound.
Fix the box
Set the box on the base at the back edge, centred side to side, open face toward the bit. Fix it with two screws driven up through the base so it can be taken off for work that will not fit in front of it.
Clamp it down
Clamp the base to the drill press table at the front corners, clear of the bit's path. Lead the hose sideways from the right end, clear of the column, the table's crank and the belt cover.
Check before drilling
Lower the chuck by hand, unplugged, to the bottom of its travel over the insert: it must not touch the box. Replace the insert when its holes start to wander.
Safety— Using it
Clamp the work or hold it down, as Powermatic asks for whenever possible; do not let the box serve as a stop for work that can spin. Make adjustments with the drill press unplugged, clear chips with a brush, not your hands, and stay until the spindle stops. If the vacuum plugs into a tool outlet, the two together must stay within the outlet's limit — 15 A on Bosch's extractors.
What BenchRoot does not give plans for
- A home-made cyclone. A collector's maker designs its cyclone, impeller and filter together and measures what they deliver — Grizzly publishes measured curves for its cyclones and gives its own grounding instructions for plastic duct. A home-made cyclone has no measured curve and no maker standing behind its grounding or its materials. OSHA notes that finely divided wood dust in air can become explosible, and its 1997 bulletin on cyclones installed inside woodworking plants shows how much collector placement matters in industry. Where you want a separator, a manufactured one rated for your collector — Grizzly's G0863 is rated for 1.5–3 HP collectors and 750–2300 CFM — comes with those figures.
- An overarm table saw pickup. It is built around, or in place of, the saw's blade guard. Changing a guard is outside what BenchRoot will draw; use the saw maker's guard and its own dust accessories.
- A whole-shop duct system. Sizing one depends on your collector's measured curve, every run's length and fitting, and the collector maker's own method; it is set out in principle in the dust collector guide, not as a plan.
Before starting
- Your drill press table measured; the base trimmed to fit
- The hose's end measured for the hole
- Drill press unplugged for marking and fitting
- Clamps for the base and for the work
- Spare inserts cut at the same time
The drill press itself is in the drill press guide, and vacuums in shop vacuums and dust extractors. Choosing a vacuum for this kind of pickup is in how to choose a shop vacuum.
Sources
The table is a BenchRoot design; every dimension is on the drawing. Drill press table sizes are the makers' figures. BenchRoot publishes no plans for home-made cyclones, separators, overarm guards or duct systems, for the reasons given on the page. The design was not built for this page.
- 1.
Operating Instructions and Parts Manual, 18-inch Variable Speed Drill Press, Model PM2800B (Rev. E1, 04/2019), as hosted by Purdue University. Powermatic, 2019.
Used for: A 20-1/2 × 14 in table on an 18 in drill press; work clamped or held down whenever possible; adjustments made with the machine unplugged; chips cleared with a brush, not hands; staying with the machine until the spindle stops.
- 2.
Operator's Manual, JDP-14J/14M/17M/14JF/14MF/17MF Drill Press, as hosted by UC San Diego. JET Equipment & Tools.
Used for: A 14 in diameter round table on a floor drill press.
- 3.
Model 4214 12-inch Variable Speed Drill Press manual (2015), as hosted by a retailer. WEN Products, 2015.
Used for: A 12 in drill press whose manual does not state its table size; backup material under the work.
- 4.
VAC090S / VAC090A / VAC140S / VAC140A Dust Extractors, Operating/Safety Instructions. Robert Bosch Tool Corporation.
Used for: Extractor hoses of 35 mm and 22 mm, and a 15 A limit for an extractor and the tool plugged into it.
- 5.
Model G0440/G0441 Cyclone Dust Collectors owner's manual (for models manufactured since 03/12). Grizzly Industrial, 2020.
Used for: A maker's duct design method built on the collector's measured curve, its own grounding instructions for plastic duct, and its warnings about static, ignition sources and emptying.
- 6.
Model G0863 Grizzly Growler Cyclone Separator instructions (for models manufactured since 6/21). Grizzly Industrial, 2022.
Used for: A manufactured cyclone separator rated for 1.5–3 HP collectors and 750–2300 CFM.
- 7.
Hazard Information Bulletin: Improper Installation of Wood Dust Collectors in the Woodworking Industry. U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 1997.
Used for: OSHA's bulletin on cyclone collectors installed inside woodworking plants, and the fire code it cited on where collectors may be located.
- 8.
Combustible Dust (safety and health topic overview). U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Used for: Finely divided combustible material, wood among it, able to become explosible when suspended in air at the right concentration.
About this guide
Written by BenchRoot Editorial. How BenchRoot sources, checks and corrects its pages is set out in the Editorial Policy. If something here is wrong or unclear, the contact page explains how to tell us.