I just finished upgrading my dust shoe to one that:
1. Is stronger to support extra weight of larger dust shoe with 4” hose
2. Has larger interior vacuum cavity
3. Uses factory (Suckit) Z-independent dust collection rails
4. Allows mounting from the front of the machine, just like the factory version
As a result, I needed to design and 3D print new, stronger, Suckit dust arm without the hard stop on the end of the main channel.
This newly designed Suckit arm, along with the link to the dust shoe I used, AND the FreeCAD v20.x design file for the arm, have all been posted to Thingiverse and Prusa Printers websites.
Great job, I too had issues with the stock arms and had already crack one, (too quick on the joystick). Built mine in Onshape and made them stick out another 1/4 inch to center the spindle when using small short bits. At least now I can print a spare after a bonehead move into a hold down. Appreciate you sharing your design, nice work.
Note: the author of the dust shoe provides the full design file created in SolidWorks CAD format, and, I did have to “manipulate” the model as technically the Suckit design is not proprietary to Onefinity and the shoe was a tad too wide with the magnetic wings screwed on. But all I did was chop the height down inside my 3D printer slicer program before sending to the printer. The other thing is I had to use a flapper sanding wheel from a Dremel, and 5 minutes of time to grind down the mounting holes on the inside ring so the Makita router can fit all the way down inside.
Here’s some photos showing size comparison, how it clears for homing the machine, and where all I have left to do is attach the dust brush, drive to my nearest Woodcraft for the flexible hose (great price and quality #shoplocal), and 3D print a 4" version of the hose clamp that goes around the Z-axis stepper motor.
Shoe clears for homing if not lowered to the absolute lowest level:
In my experience, the standard Suckit 1" brush occasionally presents clamping interference issues because the body is too low to the material surface during a variety of projects. I thought of modifying the standard shoe to 1-1/2" brush but I was concerned the vacuum draw would suffer greatly. Thus my reason for moving to the 4" version that allows for use of my shop’s DC rather than a Shopvac (which is nearing the end of it’s life anyway).
I love the Thingeverse author’s design for the 4" shoe but experienced the same trouble with the side wing width, which I chopped them down before printing too. A drawback that didn’t work for me is the shoe can’t raise above the bottom of the Z slider mount. I got around that by cutting out the forward section of the printed body with a Dremel (starting just behind the brush channel) to allow router clearance. That leaves a larger gap behind the router’s channel though. The DC has ample suction to overcome that added gap and captures chips esily though. The end result is I regained the working height of the dust shoe reducing interference with various clamps now and I’ll also not be troubled with the occasional smaller sized hose clogs.
As I also cut out the four tabs (dust shield mounts) at the bottom of the router opening then found I could have used the rear two tabs to mount a “partial” shield to fill the larger gap I created. At some point in the future I may reprint the shoe with these modifications I’ve already made in Fusion 360.
For the time being I’m happy to use my beta version though.
I somehow missed the need to modify the design to fit the standard Z16 slot width. She’s bolted on for now without the magnetic spacers. Will do a V2 soon and share pics. The clamp for the hose is also magnetic, but needs to be improved, too. Made the diameter too small for the 4” hose.
The good news the is the dust collection is improved by 200% minimum, even with the “duct tape and bubble gum” of my current set-up.
Well done! I also encountered problems with the stock arms and unfortunately cracked one due to a quick joystick movement. I redesigned mine using Onshape and extended them by an additional 1/4 inch to align the spindle better when using short bits. This modification allows me to 3D print on shoe, a replacement in case I make a mistake like accidentally moving into a hold-down. Thank you for sharing your design; it’s impressive work, and I appreciate it.
