3D-Printed Dust Collector for Dremel CNC

CNC machines are a great addition to any workshop, however, they also create dust… alot of dust. To mitigate this problem, people have designed all manner of “dust shoes” that attach to machinery and keep dust, if not entirely contained, at least under control. Nokodem Bartnik’s Dremel tool dust collector build, though, takes things one step further. He not only developed a way to hold a dust collector’s hose, but actually 3D-printed an entire cyclone-based dust collector/separator from scratch!

The project uses a powerful 12–36VDC motor to drive a rotary impeller to suck air and dust into a cyclonic separator assembly. This is screwed into a clear plastic container where dust is stored, and allows excess air to escape via a hole on the top. While some comments in the write-up point towards the need to an output filter, the build does separate a good amount of debris, which make its way into the container below.

You can see it collecting dust from a piece of MDF at 11:45 in the video below, and while there is still some buildup of debris directly on top of the bit, the surrounding area is kept mostly clean. If you’ve ever run a CNC without dust collection, you know that this is a huge improvement, and certainly keeps things more pleasant in the workshop.