VACU-SWEEP, Better than any dustpan!
Here’s how we threw together a quick vacuum sweeping helper to keep the workshop clean using scrap wood, screws, 3D printing, and shop tools including using four saws five ways. A super nice thing about the makerspace is the wide variety of tools that are readily available, this project used (in order): A piece of scrap plywood The table saw with crosscut sled to straighten the rough cut sides of the triangle A pencil, nail, and scrap wood as “Hacker’s Compass” The drill press for the jigsaw starter hole The jigsaw to cut the circle The table saw with the fence to cut the sides of the triangle square to uniform width (height) The compound miter saw to cut mitered ends on the sides The Qidi X3-Plus 3D printer and PLA for the hose adapter (thanks again Canuck Creator and Polymaker for donating the 3D printer and PLA) FreeCAD for the hose adapter design Screws and washers The laser printer for the name The paper cutter and scissors to cut the name out nice and square Packing tape to affix the name It needed a 16″ wide mouth for the best results with push brooms, and a 4″ inlet for the dust collector hose. We found the perfect rough cut triangular piece of scrap plywood in Workshop 88’s ample wood supply. The edges of the triangle were trimmed straight and square on the table saw using the crosscut sled. We marked 4 inch diameter (2 inch radius) circle using our “Hacker’s Compass”. The “Hackers Compass” is a scrap piece of Masonite from the back of a projection TV riddled with ventilation holes that, with a nail or screw and pencil, can mark arcs and circles. The improvised compass, initially needed to draw a large circle, started as a joke but turned out to be super useful and now is an easy go-to tool hanging in the shop. The drill press was used to drill a 5/16″ hole just inside the edge of the circle for the jigsaw blade. The workpiece was clamped to the edge of the workbench and after ensuring the workbench was out of danger, the large circular hole was quickly cut with the jigsaw. A 4 inch hose adapter was designed in FreeCAD and successfully 3D printed after a couple failed prints due to mistakenly loading PETG instead of PLA (Doh!). 20250930 Workshop 88 dust collector adapter plate v03 Download Another piece of scrap wood was selected for the edges. The U shaped scrap was cut into 2 irregular strips on the band saw, then cut to the roughly one inch height dimension on the table saw using the fence to guarantee both sides were the same height. The ends were mitered and cut to length on the compound miter saw, then screwed into place. The failed 3D printed adapter in the picture illustrates where the hose adapter will screw into place. The hose adapter was screwed into place with wood screws and washers, then finally we affixed a laser printed name with packing tape. Voila! Live in action! This was a fun and useful project that cost next to nothing and took almost no time to make. If you want to take a better look around Workshop 88 makerspace, see our 360° virtual tour . What will you make at your makerspace? The post VACU-SWEEP, Better than any dustpan! first appeared on Workshop88 .