instructables

3D Printed Vacuum Cleaner for a CNC Machine

by Nikus

As I started to use my Dremel CNC more often I
noticed that after milling wood and MDF there is a lot
of thin dust everywhere around. I also faced a
problem with aluminum chips that got stuck in a lead
screw, so I added a cover for the lead screws but I
knew that the best solution would be attaching a
vacuum cleaner to the machine. I have a really big
and loud workshop vacuum cleaner that is way too
powerful for this task. While I was scrolling through
posts in Dremel CNC builders group on Facebook I
noticed Jan's post about his 3D printed vacuum
cleaner. I thought that it's a really cool idea to build a
small vacuum cleaner that I can put next to my CNC
machine and keep it on all the time when CNC is
milling. So I opened Fusion 360 at 1 AM and 2 hours
later my very own 3D printed vacuum cleaner was
ready to be printed. Before you will start reading this
instructable you have to know that this was more of
like an experiment than a project, I had no idea if it
will work, I just did a quick research on the internet to
find out how cyclonic separation works and how
vacuum cleaner turbine looks like. But I have to say
that this project exceeded my expectations a lot!
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3D Printed Vacuum Cleaner for a CNC Machine: Page 1

Step 1: Watch the Video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtGDuiBodaQ

Step 2: Parts

For this project we need a few 3D printed parts, it should take about 12 hours to print all of them. The gasket
should be printed with flexible filament, but this part is optional, for sure it improves the project but you can also
build it without a gasket. Hose holder is especially designed for the Dremel CNC and a hose with an external
diameter of 22 mm. As a hose I used something called corrugated pipe, it works great and is very inexpensive.
Here is what else we will need:

775 motor: https://bit.ly/2PlQyGG

DC connector: https://bit.ly/2GvQHnV
Red filament: https://bit.ly/2GveR1N
Flexible filament: https://bit.ly/2GveR1N
M3 screws with nuts (X4)
M4 screws (X2)
Hermetic food container

3D Printed Vacuum Cleaner for a CNC Machine: Page 2

 View in 3D Download
https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FT4/GP1R/JUMXOW6D/FT4GP1RJUMXOW6D.stl
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https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FKD/19YB/JUMXOW6F/FKD19YBJUMXOW6F.stl
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View in 3D Download
https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FMF/KBNZ/JUMXOW6J/FMFKBNZJUMXOW6J.stl
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https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FVO/B93C/JUMXOW6L/FVOB93CJUMXOW6L.stl
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https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FGX/Z028/JUMXOW6O/FGXZ028JUMXOW6O.stl
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View in 3D Download
https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FZC/ELNG/JUMXOW6Q/FZCELNGJUMXOW6Q.stl
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Step 3: Assembly

Firstly fix the 775 motor to 3D printed part with two
M4 screws. Then press the turbine to the shaft of the
motor, you may need to sand hole for the shaft a little
bit. Generally, we want to have a tight press fit here to
keep the turbine secured on the shaft. Put in place
M3 screws like so and then put a gasket in place.
Close that with big 3D printed part and screw down
with nuts. Assembly of this project takes like 5
minutes it's really simple. Make sure to squeeze the
gasket with screws a little bit.

3D Printed Vacuum Cleaner for a CNC Machine: Page 3

Step 4: Dust Box

The best and least expensive way to make a dust box
for this project is to use a hermetic food container.
We need to drill a 45mm hole in the top of the box. Be
carefull it's easy to brake this thin plastic. To drill this
hole I used this thing that you can see on the images,
I have no idea what's the name of it, but it works kind
of fine for such big holes in thin materials. Once the
hole is ready you can mount it on the vacuum cleaner
with a 3D printed nut.

3D Printed Vacuum Cleaner for a CNC Machine: Page 4

Step 5: Hose

As the hose I used a corrugated pipe, it's crazy cheap
and works fine for such project. There is one small
downside because it is corrugated it makes weird
sounds while air travels through it, that's not a big
deal, sometimes it even sound kind of funny but after
few hours it may irritate. The internal diameter of this
hose is 18mm and external diameter is 22mm so if
you have any other hose with the same diameters
you can easily use it with this project.

Step 6: Power Supply

Initially, as the power supply I used my lab bench power supply to control the voltage and speed of the motor, I
was afraid that because of the vibration this turbine will blow up. Once I tested everything and it was fine I soldered
a DC connector and now I use 12V power supply to power this motor. What's cool about this project is that you
can actually power it with a 12V batter, 3S lipo battery or even car power outlet.

3D Printed Vacuum Cleaner for a CNC Machine: Page 5

Step 7: CNC Attachment

To attach the hose the Dremel CNC I designed a very
simple mount that you can easily attach to Dremel
CNC without any modifications. It takes about 30
minutes to print it. You have to take out Dremel in
order to put this in place, then put Dremel back in and
it will hold the hose perfectly. Make sure that during
milling hose wouldn't touch your material because
that can jam the CNC. You can easily design any
other attachment of the hose to your CNC machine or
any other tool.

3D Printed Vacuum Cleaner for a CNC Machine: Page 6

Step 8: Conclusion

As I said this project exceeded my expectations a lot. It not only works as vacuum cleaner, it's is quite powerful for
such small thing. And it is super easy to build, you can even use it as a small vacum cleaner to clean your
workbench or desk. I hope you enjoyed this project! Let me know what you think in the comments!

3D Printed Vacuum Cleaner for a CNC Machine: Page 7

When my makerspace's printer is back online, I'm definitely making this.

3D Printed Vacuum Cleaner for a CNC Machine: Page 8