# would using a downcut spiral help reduce sawdust in the workshop?



## chickenslippers (Nov 25, 2008)

Hi guys, having read a little about spiral cutters I was wondering if the downward spiral cutter would help in my quest to reduce sawdust in the shop?

I do have a dust extraction system for my table router but when I used my portable router even with a vacuum cleaner attached there was dust everywhere. I always wear a P3 rated(good enough for mdf) respirator but I am trying different things in an effort to keep the workshop as clean as poss with the least effort. 

Thanks in advance, Si


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## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

If the cut goes right through it might reduce the amount of dust in the air but increase the amount on the floor.
My opinion is that workshops are meant to be covered in wood dust. I have an old hair dryer that has a broken heating element that I use to blow all the dust off surfaces and then vacuum it off the floor. I don't do it nearly as often as I should though.


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## chickenslippers (Nov 25, 2008)

Hi Gav, yeah I totally understand what your saying but if I could help reduce the dust just by altering to a different type of bit, every little helps as they say.

What I didn't say in my question was the type of cut I was thinking about. I was thinking of dado's after my recent experience of building my router table. Whilst routing out the dado's sawdust went everywhere, with the cutter not going all the way through, the cutter spat all the dust out across the sheet of wood at quite a velocity into every nook and crany of my little shop. It took ages to hoover it up.

I started to try and come up with a big jig that surrounded my portable router that my extraction system could hook up to and try and collect as much dust as poss. This looked very impracticable on my drawings and then I read Marks thread "Down cut spiral bit correct? "

Mark says in his thread, "I found I had to stop very often to vacuum out the recess" . This got me thinking and wondering if I had used a downcut spiral cutter to cut all my dado's, would I have had dado's full of dust that needed cleaning out and very little ejected all over the shop.

And now that you mention "If the cut goes right through it might reduce the amount of dust in the air but increase the amount on the floor." then I think this is better than trying to clean out the nooks and cranys.

If my workshop wasn't so small and cramped full of tools and machines I might be more inclined to clean up after each day. As you are probably aware some of these machines weigh a tonne and moving them regularily each day to clean behind is something I don't like.

I think I will give them ago anyway as I only have a few cutters so any excuse to buy more:laugh:, what are the negatives of a downcut spiral cutter? are there jobs they are just not suitable for.

Sorry for what might sound like dumb questions but I will never learn if I don't ask.

Many thanks, Si


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

HI Simon

It will not make a hill of beans, I found out the best way is to get it at the point of the bit makes it, that's to say pop on your vac.pickup tube on your router, it can be use in a router table or for hand jobs..
Always clean out the vac.tank b/4 if you are going to route man made lumber, to get the max pull, they are nasty and make one heck of a mess..

I also use the hose hanging from a light bracket to suck up the dust if I don't have the vac.pickup tube on the router. see below..the lazy way I guess 
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chickenslippers said:


> Hi Gav, yeah I totally understand what your saying but if I could help reduce the dust just by altering to a different type of bit, every little helps as they say.
> 
> What I didn't say in my question was the type of cut I was thinking about. I was thinking of dado's after my recent experience of building my router table. Whilst routing out the dado's sawdust went everywhere, with the cutter not going all the way through, the cutter spat all the dust out across the sheet of wood at quite a velocity into every nook and crany of my little shop. It took ages to hoover it up.
> 
> ...


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## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

bobj3 said:


> , it can be use in a router table or for hand jobs..
> 
> 
> =========



That has a totally different meaning in Australia.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi gav


hahahahahahahahahahahaha 

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gav said:


> That has a totally different meaning in Australia.


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## chickenslippers (Nov 25, 2008)

Thanks Bob, it was just a thought.

I already do what you suggest, my dust extraction system is placed out side(under a suspended sheet on wet days) in an effort to achieve max suck. Outside I'm not bothered about dust particles so I still use the canvass filter sack that came with the system, if I had kept the extraction system indoors then I would have needed to use the 5 micron filter which, yes it filters out the harmful smaller dust particles but reduces the suck factor in the process. 

My portable vacuum cleaner which is connected to my portable router is cleaned out regularily and has a handy filter blocked light that lights up when the need arises.

Looks like for routing I just have to get used to the mess.

Thanks again for the help.

Cheers, Si


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## chickenslippers (Nov 25, 2008)

Hand jobs:lol::lol::lol::lol: different meaning here in the UK also


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## AxlMyk (Jun 13, 2006)

AN UPCUT bit is the way to go. It forces the saw dust toward the router for the DC to get easier. The downcut bit directs the saw dust back into the work piece.


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## radar57 (Dec 11, 2010)

If the bit is turning your making dust. What your doing with the bit on a particular project will determine whether you use an upcut, downcut or compression cut spiral bit.


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## dovetail_65 (Jan 22, 2008)

If you get the right collector and right fittings you should not get any dust at all. Like Bob says for the most part the type bit will not matter when it comes to dust.

I must say I use down cut bits whenever I can and upcut bits very rarely. Down cut give clean edges on the work and I find that the most important thing. The down cut spirals are the bits I use 75% of the time. 

With a Fein or Festool vac and any Festool router or DeWalt 618 type router where the dust collection goes up I get zero dust if I am routing on a piece. If I am routing around the perimeter where part of the router base is not over the work I have to add a cup type collector fitting under the base and then I get about 95% dust collection for those cuts.

In short get a router that is made for dust collection and get a vac that is designed for tool dust collection as well. It is worth every penny not having the dust all over.


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## chickenslippers (Nov 25, 2008)

Thanks for the replies,

I will look again at my dust collection points to see if I can make any improvements. One place I can make an improvement when hand held routing around edges is to use the underside collection port that came with the Triton guide bush set. I have not done any cuts like this yet to try it out, only the dado's that I mentioned earlier in the thread.

I will be buying up and down cut cutters to increase my bit collection and I can then see what difference they make on different cuts with different dust collection set ups.

Many thanks, Si


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## TWheels (May 26, 2006)

Shortly after getting serious about using a router I was using a downcut spiral bit in a router table. The wood dust was pushed up into the work piece and caught fire! Fortunately I had water and was able to extinguish it before it ignited too much of the wood dust on the floor. The only lasting damage was a burned router bit, but it could have been much worse.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

In the table Tom, an up-cut spiral bit is the order of the day.


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## TWheels (May 26, 2006)

harrysin said:


> In the table Tom, an up-cut spiral bit is the order of the day.


Yes Harry, something I learned the hard way (but it could have been much harder!)


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## The Warthog (Nov 29, 2010)

I got myself an upcut spiral because it seems logical to me. I think a downcut spiral must be for edging or through-cutting work, as the dust must have somewhere to go and the inside of the cut ain't a good place. For doing edging on the table a downcut spiral would put the sawdust on the table where the vacuum port could suck it off.


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