Dust Collection Parts Not Fitting? Tape It.

One of the most annoying things in the workshop is the sizing of all the dust collection parts.  They are supposed to be standardized, but how many times do two parts look like they should go together and just don’t?  So, I end up buying connectors, step-downs, reducers, etc to jury rig the hoses, fittings and ends together.

I have a Ridgid Shopvac, a Festool  CT22 and a Harbor Freight Dust Collector in the shop.  They use various hoses, fittings, ends, etc.  I’ve got quite the collection.

One trick that is very useful is to tape the inside or outside of a part in order to snug it up to the connecting piece.  Recently I’ve used this trick twice.

The first was to fit the Festool 50mm hose to the 36mm hose on the CT22.  The two ends are the same size, so I needed to use a union connector.  I picked up a 2 1/4″ union, but of course the inside was slightly loose.  One piece of blue tape did the trick.  Nice snug fit.

The second tape-fitting-process was done on an end that came from my Dyson (used in the house, not the shop).  The end has soft bristles which I find useful for picking up dust after sanding – it doesn’t leave any marks on the wood.  The brush slipped into the festool 36mm tool end, but didn’t grab at all.  I wound a few layers of bluetape on the outside of the end and presto!  A nice tight fit into the hose.

So – what will you tape?