DIY Dust Collector for Scroll Saws

A scroll saw is the tool to use for making intricate clocks, dollhouses and other decorative wooden articles. For complicated pieces you trace or glue a pattern to the piece of wood and the saw blade follows the pattern. This process creates fine sawdust that tends to cover everything nearby. Fitting the saw with a simple dust collector will reduce the problem, and make your workshop neater and the air safer.

  1. The simplest dust collector

    • A simple, if inefficient, means of collecting sawdust from a scroll saw is to simply secure the hose from a shop vacuum cleaner to the underside of the saw. This can be done with nylon ties, string or light mechanic's wire. This method is the least efficient because it collects dust from only the bottom of the saw, but not the top side of the workpiece. Most scroll saws have a small hose situated near the blade through which air is pumped to blow the sawdust off the cut line, but this does nothing more than blow the saw dust into the room.

    A top and bottom solution

    • The best dust collection system removes dust from both sides of the work and doesn't interfere with the cutting. It affords easy access to the blade clamps and doesn't get in the way of blade changing.
      You make this system from a shop vac, PVC pipe and 3/4-inch plastic tubing.

    How to make your own scroll saw dust collector

    • Start by measuring the inside diameter of the vacuum's hose end. Find a piece of PVC pipe that will snugly fit in the hose. Cut this pipe to about a foot long and glue a cap on one end. Place the pipe in a drill press and drill two holes in one side, with one hole almost touching the glued-on cap. Make these holes just large enough for the plastic tubing to be forced in the hole. You need a good tight fit here. Insert the pipe into the vacuum hose, duct-taping if necessary to get a good airtight fit. Secure one plastic tube to the top arm of the saw and place the open end as close to the blade as you can without causing interference with the work. Secure the second tube along the underside of the saw, placing the open end as close as possible to the opening in the table where the blade comes through. Turning the vacuum on will produce a strong suction through both tubes and get rid of most of the sawdust.