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Bandsaw Dust Ports Do Not Suck

Thanks, Reed. I need to post some pictures of the nifty way that my MiniMax bandsaw keeps the dust under control. I think that it is pretty slick, but still wasn't perfect. I improved it a lot by simply cutting a few pieces of cereal box cardboard secured in place with painters tape to make some baffles that closed up some of the leakage paths. It was supposed to be just a temporary proof-of-concept before going to something permanent, but it has been twelve years now and I am still using the temporary mock-up because it works so well that finishing the project hasn't even made my "round tuit" list. The original four inch port is still being used along with a wimpy Sears portable DC which is alleged to be 1 HP if you want to believe any HP claims that Sears makes. The only actual mod that I made to the saw was to remove the plastic crossbars from the port that only serve to clog up when you have long stringy wood from rip cutting green wood. So now the long streamers clog up in the impeller of the DC (it's a single stage DC, so everything goes through the impeller. I seriously do want to get an Oneida and put this Sears hunk-o-junk in the trash.

There is one more thing that would help to capture virtually all of the wood chips and dust -- using an air nozzle to blow the chips out of the gullets of the blade, which would be especially helpful with green wood. The blade on my saw moves so fast ... nearly 4,000 SFPM which means that there is very little time for the chips to be cleared out even with a brush riding on the blade. I think that an air nozzle would solve that problem and also help with increasing the air velocity at the collection port. This would be gilding the lily since the dust collection is working very well as it currently is configured.
 
Half the battle is putting dust ports where the dust falls. The other half is funneling the air flow to help it along. I will have 2 links up. One a guy made a wood box pretty much around the lower blade guides and up to the table. I had thought about thick foam rubber to fill in those gaps. From the responses I have gotten, all bandsaws are pretty much the same.

robo hippy
 
...I improved it a lot by simply cutting a few pieces of cereal box cardboard secured in place with painters tape to make some baffles that closed up some of the leakage paths. It was supposed to be just a temporary proof-of-concept before going to something permanent, but it has been twelve years now and I am still using the temporary mock-up because it works so well...

There is one more thing that would help to capture virtually all of the wood chips and dust -- using an air nozzle to blow the chips out of the gullets of the blade, which would be especially helpful with green wood.

Bill, your fix sounds much like mine! I mocked up a baffle to fit most of the way around the lower guides under the table but open in the back. My 18" Rikon saw has a 4" DC port into a small compartment just below the guides. The baffle appears to direct air past and down into that compartment, perhaps creating some of the airflow you suggest providing with an air nozzle. (Note, I have been exploring a similar idea to direct airflow across the gullets of my tablesaw blade.) I intended to use my cardboard prototype to build a permanent baffle from clear plexiglas but the cardboard works so well I just left it. I hold the cardboard in place with some magnets.

Any dust that follows the blade path into the lower cabinet is picked up by another 4" port at the very bottom of the cabinet directly under the guides. I position a third 4" flexible duct on the top of the table as needed to pick up dust that sprays across the table from skimming cuts. I have a 6" duct running from the DC to the bandsaw where it splits into the three 4" ducts. (DC is a 5 HP ClearVue cyclone.)

The only time I've had a clog is when I forgot to turn on the DC.

JKJ
 

Great video, Reed, thanks! I definitely want to make that lower port for my Grizzly 14", but will buy the Oneida fitting you mentioned. BTW, I've cut quite a bit of 2" PVC with a 12" miter saw (not my slider, but a standard miter saw) using a 72-tooth blade and haven't had any problems. Used the same blade to cut the 4" double-walled PVC, also easy. Do you think the Sched 40 single-wall would be more prone to shattering? Followed a suggestion to make sure it's up to full speed and not force the cut. I think a low-tooth-count blade would be a little scary.
 
Jamie,
You can cut PVC on a chop saw, but it always makes my sphincters tighten up (quote from Pat's Fan over at Wood Net, "When sphincter tightening exceeds chuck tightening, you have a problem"). You may be able to find them at some big box stores, and any heating/cooling place that runs duct work.

robo hippy
 
i always cut pvc with a hacksaw........its just not enough of job to use power saw
 
Good discussion, which stimulated me to go check out my own set up. My 1+hp Delta bag DC has seemed to work quite well, with little accumulation. Upon inspection, the 4" port on my Shop Fox 14" saw is right down at the bottom of the bottom wheel housing, right where it ought to be. It's got a "starfish" guarding the port, but only one strand of formerly wet shaving is stuck in it, and I don't think I'll cut it out unless future bouts of green blank sawing prove troublesome. Thanks for the insight Reed--would you send me a cord of green myrtle strictly for testing purposes?
 
Dean,
I just called my log supplier. He said madrone would be easy to get, but the myrtle is more difficult and more expensive. Seems like some one is paying any price, cutting it up and sending it across the pond to Asia.... I do like to get the madrone when the spring sap is rising, and it started here about 3 or 4 weeks ago. A bit earlier than normal. Depending on what I can get, I may have some for trade.

robo hippy
 
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