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Of all of the machines you can buy for the shop, the thickness planer makes the biggest bloody mess! I had mine all of 1 week before I knew something had to be done about this. Unfortunately, being impecunious and want of a dust collection system, I had to wait years before I could plane stock without having to shovel and sweep after each run.
I knew that some kind of plenum or boot must be available for this purpose as there are two threaded holes in a plate directly at the back of the chip chute on my Makita planer. It was simple work to retrofit it with something to collect the mess.
On a planer you have one major consideration. At least you do on mine. Most planers today have a moving cutter assembly and a fixed bed. Mine is the opposite. The bed moves and the cutterhead is fixed at the top of the machine. Regardless of this, probably, you just can't attach a hose coming out of the back. It may interfere with the stock coming out of the planer. It is much more convenient to have the chips exhausted straight up toward the ceiling. This also adds simplicity to your dust collection system design. This problem is made worse by the fact that my attachment site was meant for a horizontal collection device rather than vertical.
A simple box, as shown in this exploded view, serves my needs well. I first purchased a simple duct thingy (I don't know anything about HVAC) and then proceeded to size and shape the box based on:
- available space
- the size of the chute opening on the planer
- the size of the duct thingy
- available stock
The result, as shown in this photograph from the back, is a trapezoid shaped box as thick as possible, but not so thick as to interfere with the stock leaving the machine. It is wide enough to cover the entire opening on the back of the planer, then tapered toward the back to a size that will accomodate the material and leave enough room to easily attach the duct. A hardwood strip glued and screwed to the top has holes that match the mounting locations on the plate above the dust chute on my machine. You can see it clearly in this photo from above.
Other than the $5 (actually $4.86 if I remember correctly - the price tag is still on the duct) required to purchase the ductwork, the entire box was built from scraps in my pile. Strips of 3/4" plywood were used for the sides while the top and bottom were made from 1/4" plywood. I glued and screwed the box together and sealed all the joints from the inside and the ductwork with leftover silicone caulk. The final touch was to use leftover foam rubber weatherstripping to help the edges that touch the planer seal more effectvely. I did not use caulking as I wanted to be able to remove the box if it got clogged. However, 10 years later, it hasn't had to be removed and has provided stalwart service.
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