Lawrence M's Scratch Build CNC with Revamped Dust Collection System

Lawrence added another stepper motor and used aluminum and linear motion equipment. Lawrence said that he struggled "for years" dealing with dust and this new design helped considerably. You can see the raised edges in the attached pictures, as well as the angle to deflect dust from the Y axis. Lawrence needed to make cuts that went from 1/8" to 1-3/8" deep. The dust needed to be collected at many levels. Most of the designs he had seen used a brush that moves with the X, Y, and Z axes. The Z was his biggest problem as there were either gaps or too much downward pressure from the shoe in past attempts. This last iteration only syncs with X and Y. Z is set at the beginning of each job at about 1/8" below the level of the wood. The shoe moves snuggly against the wood, but doesn't change height as the depth of cut increase. Lawrence also mentioned he had trouble with changing bits with a dust shoe in the way. He finally solved this issue with a split and disconnect of the front 1/2 of the shoe. It quickly pops off the bottom of the support arm and is moved out of the way for bit changes. This requires no tools and takes only seconds to remove or replace. Check out the pictures to see Lawrence's machine. Nicely done Lawrence!