Dust collection for bandsaw

Dust collection for BS · 12-08-2008, 05:25 PM

I have a 14" enclosed base Delta bandsaw. There is a small dust port below the table just in front of the lower guides. It is totally worthless. I bought this bandsaw over 10 years ago and it has mostly sat in a corner. Unless I can improve the dust collection it is going back in the corner.

I seem to remember buying a dust port of some kind that attaches to the outside of the lower wheel housing. If I can find it and install it will it really do anything for the dust collection. If this is not going to work how do you guys/gals collect dust from your bandsaw.

This must be my sixth post since I rolled this @#$% bandsaw out of the corner. Really starting to remember why it was in the corner. This was suppose to be a good way to return to the shop after surgery, small projects on the bandsaw. I don't think it is going to help my surgery much if I end up picking this thing up and throwing it out of the shop.

Sealeveler · 12-08-2008, 07:10 PM

My 10" craftsman has a dustport on lower wheel and I have a 4" pickup mounted on the back of upper wheel housing behind blade.This catches most dust that a 10" puts out.Throw the saw at me when you throw it outside.Tony

medic · 12-08-2008, 08:54 PM

If your bandsaw is like mine it came with a 4" to 2 1/2 " reducer that mounted just below the lower guide assembly .I have mine hooked up to a vacuum and it will remove most of the dust , probable that it would work better if I had a d/c system , I think I still have the paperwork that came with the saw , I'll look and see if you want, to find a part# for it

Gotcha6 · 12-08-2008, 09:21 PM

Now see, if you had you a lil' ol' wood lathe, you could just turn ya one o' them adapter thingys right out!

Sorry guys, but I'm slidin' down th' slope mighty fast!

Keye · 12-08-2008, 11:28 PM

Originally Posted by Gotcha6

Now see, if you had you a lil' ol' wood lathe, you could just turn ya one o' them adapter thingys right out!
Sorry guys, but I'm slidin' down th' slope mighty fast!

I think old Dizzy Dean would say you have already slude down the slippery slope

.

CarvedTones · 12-09-2008, 12:13 AM

Here is one I have bookmarked:

http://bt3gallery.cpu-etc.com/main.php?g2_itemId=2073

Really simple - just a hole in the bottome cover pretty low down. I have a different but almost the same saw. Mine did not initially have the "worthless" one you describe but I added it and use a shop vac there for as long as I can stand the noise (turn it on for really heay cutting). It actually does quite well, which is one reason I haven't gotten around to cutting the other hole. I still get a pile to sweep up, but the vacuum (I have a HEPA filter) gets most of the fines.

CarvedTones · 12-09-2008, 09:31 AM

You motivated me to go ahead and do the better fix. I ordered a couple of parts:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=97496
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=97495
you might not need the second item. Only $4 - $7! But wait - the shipping will double that, right? Nope, courtesy of Bas, here is your coupon code:
692-497-130
Free shipping!

If you are head scratching and saying that's a floor sweeping attachment, you are correct. I am not going to drill a hole in in mine. If you are, just get a $3 blast gate instead. I will mount the sweeper accessory on my closed base snug up against the bottom cover where all the dust leaks out of mine. And while I don't want to cut a hole in the center of the cover, I am less reluctant about cutting/grinding back a little of the bottom edge of the cover to ensure it leaks really good there. I will have to do some cutting, heating and bending, but this DC piece has the right general shape and enough plastic to do the job.

Keye · 12-09-2008, 11:14 AM

Originally Posted by AndyBarnhart

You motivated me to go ahead and do the better fix. I ordered a couple of parts:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=97496
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=97495
you might not need the second item. Only $4 - $7! But wait - the shipping will double that, right? Nope, courtesy of Bas, here is your coupon code:
692-497-130
Free shipping!

If you are head scratching and saying that's a floor sweeping attachment, you are correct. I am not going to drill a hole in in mine. If you are, just get a $3 blast gate instead. I will mount the sweeper accessory on my closed base snug up against the bottom cover where all the dust leaks out of mine. And while I don't want to cut a hole in the center of the cover, I am less reluctant about cutting/grinding back a little of the bottom edge of the cover to ensure it leaks really good there. I will have to do some cutting, heating and bending, but this DC piece has the right general shape and enough plastic to do the job.

Andy, thanks for both of the posts. The little dust port under the table, which came with the saw, has an ID just over 1 Inch. I have a small shop vac attached to it. Of course nothing is the correct size so I am using tape to hold it in place. If this is what you have and it works for you I would think it would work for me. I have a plastic insert with a small kerf. Maybe opening the kerf some would help.

The thought that a bandsaw might need two dust collection ports while all the big arn only need one gauls me to no end.

In the winter with everything closed up I reach a point where I can hardly see. I clean my glasses thinking this will solve the problem and then realize there is one big cloud of dust in the air.

CarvedTones · 12-09-2008, 11:52 AM

I didn't realize you meant a little vac port. I meant a 2.5" one with a reasonably hefty shop vac. I forget what mine is rated at, but it give the router a run for its money noise wise and I have one of those mufflers (which helps) on it. I will not use two ports. I am going to take the other one near the guides (which I added) off. I will try to limit leaks around the cover except at the bottom, where I am adding the new piece. That way it will be pulling air in at the guides and where the blade goes up.

Here is an oversimplified explanation of how I think the bandsaw creates dust in the shop:

Dust from the cut is mostly in the gullet between blade points as it goes under the table, but the fines start wafting away there. If you have a really strong vacuum really close to the blade as it goes under the guides, you can suck a lot (most?) of that out of the gullets as it passes by and most of what you don't get is the heavy stuff. The heavy stuff, with some fines mixed in, gets dumped out of the gullets when the blade bends around the wheel. Gravity helps. But after a few cuts it starts to pile up so much that some of it starts getting scooped back into the gullets and carried up and that is what goes everywhere. So my idea is to put the most suction where that pile is forming and pick it up and try to seal the cover well enough that the air it is pulling in is mostly coming through the openings for the blade so that the fines that start wafting away get pulled down into the vacuum.

I also run one of those Shop Vac portable air cleaners, which I know is not a DC but I put it close to the source of fines and I have to deal with the filter fairly often.

Gotcha6 · 12-09-2008, 11:54 AM

You may want to take off the table & look for other places dust can leave or air can enter. Bandsaws make a very fine dust & if you can create a situation where the only place for air to enter the cabinet is at the blade slot the dust must go to the vacuum port. I'd also think about sealing the wheel covers some way. You'd be surprised how much air that lil' crack around the covers lets in. Careful, though. You don't wanna collapse the thing!

Keye · 12-09-2008, 01:01 PM

I just did something I really hate to do and that is to take an interim step. I rearranged some things in the shop so I could place the bandsaw in a better position for dust control and collection. Yes there is a difference. On a day like today I use dust control. The bandsaw is now close to a very large door, as in garage door. I sit two large fans behind me, with door open and blow the dust outside. I also have the bandsaw located where I can now consider how I am going to do dust collection. The bandsaw is now close to the 16 gal. vac. I use on the jointer and the Delta dust collector I use for the planner and the tablesaw. I just have to figure out what I am going to do.

The interim part was to move a bunch of wood, some 18" wide X 12 feet long cherry. It is now sitting where I am going to build my real wood storage system. This means I am going to have to move it out of the way to build the storage system. I really hate doing things twice. Maybe I should have asked for volunteers to come and take the wood.

CarvedTones · 12-09-2008, 01:09 PM

I tried that technique in the past. I hate to break it to you, but it doesn't work. It's like putting a sign outside a hornet nest telling them to go the other way before you start shaking the branch. Fans cause air to circulate and mix when you blow them toward a big door. If you can get close to a window and put a tight fitting box fan in it and then open a door on the other side of the garage, that will be far more effective.

Partman · 12-09-2008, 01:43 PM

My 18" Rikon has two 4" ports. One under table and one down low. Does a good job with dust with both hooked up to DC.

Danny

Keye · 12-09-2008, 02:15 PM

Andy, I was probably not very clear. My bandsaw is on a mobile base and I will roll it outside and place two fans behind me. I do this when I am using a belt sander, actually anytime I am doing a lot of sanding, and it works. With the prevailing wind across me the dust ends up out in the pasture. If the wind is out of the NE I do not sand.

If it is cold and I can not figure out a way to use the vac. and/or the dust collector I will do just what you said. The bandsaw will be in front of a window and I will use a box fan to draw the dust out.

Chuck Seehuetter · 12-10-2008, 12:07 PM

I had to add a dust port to my powermatic 143 so I used this from Peachtree USA bought through Amazon. Mine is now a 2 1/2 inch port and works somewhat but I'm going to change it to this one.

http://www.amazon.com/4-FLAT-DUST-PO...924343&sr=8-16

Once I change to a 4" port I will also try to seal around the doors so incoming air will come in around the blade.