Home made skate sharpener exhaust system

[wickedwrister 0]

After figuring in the extra half hour of drive time and gasoline, I have estimated that sharpenings are costing me almost $10 each for me and my son. That being the case, I have recently ordered a portable sharpener. I have spoken with JR about his idea for a exhaust system that might be able to be manufactured at home. I would like to hear from some people about what they have made or seen. I have until the end of the month to come up with something. All help appreciated.

[DamnLocust 0]

2 of my friends and I have this machine at home.

here is the same machine without the vacuum system

The wheel is on a swingarm and the skate stays stationary. the shroud that you see in the first pic (behind the skate) is attached to a 4" hose, which leads to the blower unit.

To make one at home, it seems all you'd need is some sheetmetal to make a shroud to catch the dust/metal and a shopvac. fabricate the shroud to sit behind the wheel (i.e. where the sparks go) with a hole in the back to attach the shopvac's hose to.

If you're only doing one or two pairs at a time, the dust isn't so bad and cleanup is easy. Even with this vac system, we need to wipe down the machine and the shroud after heavy use.

[kovalchuk71 212]

Exactly. If you look at a real sharpening machine, there are "vents" or holes that suck the dust away. Id look into finding a way to having 2 garage vacs and rigging the hoses close to where the dust comes out.

[wickedwrister 0]

I have one Shop-Vac. Why a need for 2?

[kovalchuk71 212]

My bad, I was thinking about the grinding wheel as well. Sorry.

[jimmy 194]

If you are just doing yours and sons skates, you can do without a dust system. Those are generally needed for higher volume sharpening. Just get a good respirator to use while sharpening and use your shop vac later to clean up the dust. I have one machine in my shop that I use infrequently and don't have a dust system, just use a respirator when I use it. I could prob do without the respiration but the dressing kickes up a lot, not the sharpening itself.

[Gongshow11 1]

do it in the garage with the door open

[wickedwrister 0]

If you are just doing yours and sons skates, you can do without a dust system. Those are generally needed for higher volume sharpening. Just get a good respirator to use while sharpening and use your shop vac later to clean up the dust. I have one machine in my shop that I use infrequently and don't have a dust system, just use a respirator when I use it. I could prob do without the respiration but the dressing kickes up a lot, not the sharpening itself.

Will everything end up in one general area when I am done for me to vaccuum up later?

do it in the garage with the door open

Great idea......in the Summer. Not so good at -10f in Winter.

[forbs02 20]

Hang a wet towel on the left side of the sharpener. That will catch most of the dust. When you are done you can just rinse the towel off.