I like the idea of having a downdraft table in my shop. These handy worksurfaces are great for collecting dust during hand-held operations like routing, sanding, or sawing. But unfortunately, I just don’t have the room for a dedicated one in my already crowded work area. To solve this problem, I came up with the idea of this simple, lightweight downdraft table. It rests on a pair of sawhorses when in use. And when you’re done, you disconnect the dust hose and store it away in a corner of your shop.
You can build the table with basic materials and a dust collection fitting. It consists of a pegboard top, a plywood bottom, and solid wood sides that wrap around the top and bottom. A hole cut in the bottom panel accepts a dust port that’s attached with screws. And a thin piece of metal flashing is epoxied right above the dust port underneath the pegboard. This acts as a baffle to even out the suction throughout the box.
Inside the table, a support assembly reinforces the pegboard top as you work. It’s made up of solid-wood supports that extend out from the dust port. You can see how it all goes together in the drawings at left and below. Once you glue the assembly together, using the table is as simple as setting it on a pair of sawhorses. Attach a 4" dust hose beneath it, turn on your dust collector, and you’re ready to breathe freely as you sand, rout, or saw in your shop.
