The original AirEchanger design was based on the early K2CNC and Velox spindle mounting system. They were very popular back in the day. Even companies like CNCRouterParts were using this mount.

That is why the bolt pattern on their new mounts has the same as that on the K2CNC/Velox mounts.

The K2CNC/Velox spindle mount came with an accessory mounting hole. This was intended to hold a dust shoe, so that is what I used.

Generation 1 was made totally out of layered acrylic. There are pros and cons to using acrylic in an application like this, but it did serve me well for years on my early machines.

The shroud was another weak point on this early design. The brushes were big and bulky and a little finicky to get adjusted.

The used small screws in the shroud to act as tabs inserted into the main base.

Eventually I came up with the magnetic base that attached to the bottom of the AirExchanger.

K2CNC and Velox mounts were getting harder and harder to find. It was time to start working on a new mounting design for the AirExchanger.

The design that I ended up with was this 3D printed mounting system. It uses the existing screw placement, and adds a few more of its own.

These worked well for a while, and I actually sold some kits that came with the 3D printed mounting bracket.

3D printing parts for orders became a real pain. So I came up with a design I could laser cut.

I could not use acrylic for the mount or it would just crack. I decided on a mount cut from four layers of 3mm thick Baltic birch plywood.

The mounts worked extremely well and could be painted to match your machine color.

I even came up with some options with plywood spacers.

Generation 3 closely resembles generation 2. The main difference is the materials used.

To start with the base material is all made from .093” polycarbonate. Polycarbonate has a much less tendency to crack and holds up much better in applications like this.

The spacers and the mounting brackets are cut from 1/2” expanded PVC. The PVC is more forgiving than acrylic when accidents happen.

In addition, I changed the profiles on all the parts to make them more machining friendly.

The goal here is for you to make your own AirExchanger and shrouds, using your CNC machine.

This takes us to this current time.