Clogged sandpaper leading to burns in the wood has always been a big problem with my PerformaX (JET) 16-32 drum sander.  I’m hopeful that this is the fix — replacing the cover to provide a connection for a 4″ dust collection hose (from the current model) rather than the original one which connected a 2.5″ hose.  Here are the pictures — which started just before COVID and ended…  today, almost a year and a half later.

UPDATES — scroll to the end

April 2026 — I’ve used it for a while… and this replacement part is no longer being made. I’ve added some stuff about both topics at the end.

Starting point — March 1st, 2020 — the old cover

The new cover arrives – March 7 2020

Check out this post to get part numbers for the new hood.  The description of the hood is in the paragraph just before the video, the part numbers are just after.  With 20/20 hindsight I should have ordered the new knob and latch mechanism, but it wasn’t too hard to move the old one over.  Here’s the link — go there for part-numbers at a minimum.

http://www.halfinchshy.com/2011/04/upgrading-performax-16-32-to-sandsmart.html

Removed the new-cover hinge-mounts – March 8, 2020

… and notched the hinge-indentations to match the old/standard cover.  This is the best view of the difference in size between the old 2.5 inch port and the new 4 inch port – about 2.5 times the area (and thus airflow) which should help a lot.

And that’s where those two parts sat until today — June 20, 2021.

I got stuck trying to figure out how to mark the place to drill the holes for the hinges.  My pal David was over and suggested putting the cover in the open position, which would put the hinges on top of it.  Easy to mark from there.  <facepalm>

So I finished it up this afternoon.  Here’s the hinge side…

Here’s the handle side.  Black tape covers the pre-drilled hole for the handle.  It would have been clever to order the new knob and catch (check those numbers out in the post-link above).  But it wasn’t hard to mount the old hardware.

Old hardware, remounted…

With a reminder as to how to open the latch.

2026 UPDATE

My experience with this has been great.  Using a bit more caution and running with this dust cover has been a joy and I now use the Performax regularly without troubles.  So much for the good news.

The bad news is that this part is no longer being made.  So when Wayne asked me about getting one I came up dry and turned to my favorite AI (Claude) for answers.  He landed right where I was headed — a 3D-printed replacement.  I’ll see if Ralph has a 3D scanner.  If he does i’ll run my dust cover through it and post it here.  Claude came up with some other options as well — here they are:

Good news — there are real options here.

Drop-in replacement: probably not. The 80-8002 dust cover for the original Performax 16-32 (with the 2.5″ port) is discontinued and nothing is being made as a straight swap.

What does exist:

1. 1. Quality First Wood Products (q1wp.com) — they make 3D-printed aftermarket parts for obsolete woodworking machines, including the Jet 80-2003 dust cover for the 22-44 sander. Worth contacting them directly to ask if they make or will make an 80-8002 equivalent. They explicitly advertise custom work.
   2. Free STL file on Printables.com — someone designed a 4″ dust port adapter specifically for the older Performax 16-32 with the 2.5″ port. It requires cutting the existing cover to enlarge the hole and drilling two mounting holes for bolts, then using caulk or foam tape to seal it. So if you have access to a 3D printer (or a service like Craftcloud/JLCPCB), that’s a free path to the large-port setup.
   3. The 22-44 cover hack — the Performax/Jet 22-44 dust cover has a 4″ port and some people have cut it down and adapted it for the 16-32. Availability on eBay is hit or miss but worth checking periodically.

DIY option if none of the above pan out:

Cut out the existing 2.5″ port on your current cover, enlarge the hole, and bond a 4″ dust collection port (available from Grizzly, Rockler, Woodcraft) using JB Weld or similar adhesive. It’s not elegant but it works and preserves your existing cover as the structural piece.

One thing worth checking before you commit: going from 2.5″ to 4″ drops air velocity significantly — someone on Sawmill Creek suggested making a cardboard mockup to test before cutting anything. If you’re already running a strong vacuum, the velocity loss may hurt more than the CFM gain helps, depending on your dust collector’s specs.