PS

"Pete S"

21/06/2012 4:15 PM

How do you keep blast gate slots from filling with stuff?

I have several blast gates in my dust collector system. When any
particular gat is open, it seems to collect wood dust, etc. right in the
slot where the gate itself needs to go to shut off that passage.
How do you folks deal with this issue or am I the only one who had the
problem?

I don't know how to stop it from happening, so, every now and then, I have
to take them apart and clean them out with a piece of wire bent to get into
to crack where the gate fits.

My gates are all plastic. Are metal ones any better at this?

What am I missing?

Pete Stanaitis
-----------------


This topic has 7 replies

LJ

Larry Jaques

in reply to "Pete S" on 21/06/2012 4:15 PM

21/06/2012 2:46 PM

On Thu, 21 Jun 2012 16:15:23 -0500, "Pete S"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>I have several blast gates in my dust collector system. When any
>particular gat is open, it seems to collect wood dust, etc. right in the
>slot where the gate itself needs to go to shut off that passage.
> How do you folks deal with this issue or am I the only one who had the
>problem?
>
>I don't know how to stop it from happening, so, every now and then, I have
>to take them apart and clean them out with a piece of wire bent to get into
>to crack where the gate fits.
>
>My gates are all plastic. Are metal ones any better at this?

Yeah, they usually are. They're made tighter.


>What am I missing?

I've only found crud in the bottom of the slot, so when I close, I
leave it open 1/2" for a second and it scavenges all dust out of the
bottom. Then I can close it without leaks.

--
However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.
-- Sir Winston Churchill

DD

"Dr. Deb"

in reply to "Pete S" on 21/06/2012 4:15 PM

21/06/2012 9:03 PM

wrote:

> I made my own... They are not halfies.. They are full length.. One side
> has a hole, the other blocks it. Self cleaning.
>
> You can cut the corners of the plastic ones to let the excess sawdust
> have a place to exit.
>
> On 6/21/2012 5:15 PM, Pete S wrote:
>> I have several blast gates in my dust collector system. When any
>> particular gat is open, it seems to collect wood dust, etc. right in the
>> slot where the gate itself needs to go to shut off that passage.
>> How do you folks deal with this issue or am I the only one who had
>> the problem?
>>
>> I don't know how to stop it from happening, so, every now and then, I
>> have to take them apart and clean them out with a piece of wire bent to
>> get into to crack where the gate fits.
>>
>> My gates are all plastic. Are metal ones any better at this?
>>
>> What am I missing?
>>
>> Pete Stanaitis
>> -----------------

Not only do the metal one self clean, but they just work better all around.
I wish I had gone that route first, but when I put my system I did not even
know they existed. The good news is, the upgrade is not all that expensive
and is extremely to accomplish. Then you can achieve "good guy" status and
give your old plastic ones to a newbie. :-)

Deb

JG

"John Grossbohlin"

in reply to "Pete S" on 21/06/2012 4:15 PM

21/06/2012 5:42 PM


"Pete S" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I have several blast gates in my dust collector system. When any
>particular gat is open, it seems to collect wood dust, etc. right in the
>slot where the gate itself needs to go to shut off that passage.
> How do you folks deal with this issue or am I the only one who had the
> problem?
>
> I don't know how to stop it from happening, so, every now and then, I have
> to take them apart and clean them out with a piece of wire bent to get
> into to crack where the gate fits.
>
> My gates are all plastic. Are metal ones any better at this?

I use all-metal gates that are self-clearing... The slot is open across the
"bottom". Perhaps you can sand the bottom away so that yours too are open?

John

tn

tiredofspam

in reply to "Pete S" on 21/06/2012 4:15 PM

21/06/2012 5:17 PM

I made my own... They are not halfies.. They are full length.. One side
has a hole, the other blocks it. Self cleaning.

You can cut the corners of the plastic ones to let the excess sawdust
have a place to exit.

On 6/21/2012 5:15 PM, Pete S wrote:
> I have several blast gates in my dust collector system. When any
> particular gat is open, it seems to collect wood dust, etc. right in the
> slot where the gate itself needs to go to shut off that passage.
> How do you folks deal with this issue or am I the only one who had
> the problem?
>
> I don't know how to stop it from happening, so, every now and then, I
> have to take them apart and clean them out with a piece of wire bent to
> get into to crack where the gate fits.
>
> My gates are all plastic. Are metal ones any better at this?
>
> What am I missing?
>
> Pete Stanaitis
> -----------------

JM

John McGaw

in reply to "Pete S" on 21/06/2012 4:15 PM

21/06/2012 6:25 PM

On 6/21/2012 5:15 PM, Pete S wrote:
> I have several blast gates in my dust collector system. When any
> particular gat is open, it seems to collect wood dust, etc. right in the
> slot where the gate itself needs to go to shut off that passage.
> How do you folks deal with this issue or am I the only one who had the
> problem?
>
> I don't know how to stop it from happening, so, every now and then, I have
> to take them apart and clean them out with a piece of wire bent to get into
> to crack where the gate fits.
>
> My gates are all plastic. Are metal ones any better at this?
>
> What am I missing?
>
> Pete Stanaitis
> -----------------

I've had no problems since I re-did my system and installed new metal gates
with the built-in switches that control the DC. Before that I had one
plastic gate in the system down at the lathe end of the shop and IIRC it
did get jammed a couple of times but nothing major. With the switched gates
any jamming would be immediately obvious since the blower would keep running.

Mm

-MIKE-

in reply to "Pete S" on 21/06/2012 4:15 PM

21/06/2012 4:35 PM

On 6/21/12 4:15 PM, Pete S wrote:
> I have several blast gates in my dust collector system. When any
> particular gat is open, it seems to collect wood dust, etc. right in the
> slot where the gate itself needs to go to shut off that passage.
> How do you folks deal with this issue or am I the only one who had the
> problem?
>
> I don't know how to stop it from happening, so, every now and then, I
> have to take them apart and clean them out with a piece of wire bent to
> get into to crack where the gate fits.
>
> My gates are all plastic. Are metal ones any better at this?
>
> What am I missing?
>
> Pete Stanaitis
> -----------------


Install them with the slot up, so gravity keeps dust out?


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com
[email protected]
---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

Du

Dave

in reply to "Pete S" on 21/06/2012 4:15 PM

22/06/2012 5:05 AM

On Thu, 21 Jun 2012 16:15:23 -0500, "Pete S"
>I have several blast gates in my dust collector system. When any
>particular gat is open, it seems to collect wood dust, etc. right in the
>slot where the gate itself needs to go to shut off that passage.
> How do you folks deal with this issue or am I the only one who had the
>problem?

Naturally, self cleaning gates are the answer.
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=51506&cat=1,42401,62597


You’ve reached the end of replies