Bandsaw Dust Ports Do Not Suck

Re: Bandsaw Dust Ports Do Not Suck

Doc Green

Reed,

I think the basic problem with dust collection on bandsaws is that there is no easy way for air to get into the wheel compartment to give a flow of air through the region. It is the volume of moving air that you have together with its velocity that determines how well the dust or shavings will be picked up and carried away.

Obviously, no more air can flow out through the dust collection port than can flow into the chamber through the various openings surrounding the blade and so forth. Ideally, I think it would work best if you had a fairly large opening near the top of the bottom chamber so that a large volume of air would flow in, down, and out the collection port.

It's clear that your modification has made a big improvement. To test the idea of letting more air in, could you rig up a safe way to operate the saw with the bottom door partially open? Seal the gap around the bottom and up the side, but leave the opening near the top for the air to flow in.

Just a thought . . .

~Doc

Re: Bandsaw Dust Ports Do Not Suck

John K Jordan

Hmmm... I just cut up a few hundred pounds of wet dogwood, some pear, walnut, cherry, and mulberry and there is scarcely tablespoon of sawdust in my bandsaw. (a Rikon 18")

I have three 4" DC hoses to my saw. One is to the 4" factory port at the very bottom, almost directly under the downward section of the blade. This gets almost everything out of the bottom compartment.

A 4" factory port under the table aimed at the lower guides was practically worthless until I fixed it: I made a shroud that nearly encloses the guides but is open at the back for air flow. I make holey blade inserts which now grab most of what comes off the blade. I hold the shroud in place with magnets so it can be removed easily for adjustment.

I position a third 4" hose on top of the table where needed and hold it in place with a magnet. The worst dust is from skimming cuts which spray dust across the top of the table. I position the hose where it will catch most of that.

I do have a strong suction device - a 5 hp ClearVue cyclone with a 6" duct to the bandsaw.

I will certainly review your mods when I get around to bringing my smaller delta bandsaw into the shop. Thanks! The dust collection on it is basically non-existant.

JKJ

Re: Bandsaw Dust Ports Do Not Suck

robo hippy

Bandsaw cabinets are really bad for directing the air flow for efficient removal. I will have a link up shortly if not already to a clip by Paul Mitchel who made a shroud to go around the lower guides. I had thought about thick foam rubber to do pretty much the same thing. Also putting some of it around the blade on the up side to again restrict and direct the airflow where it is needed most. My DC is a 3 hp Oneida. I only use one line down to it.

robo hippy

Re: Bandsaw Dust Ports Do Not Suck

robo hippy

Here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRZ2tsB3bo8

robo hippy

Re: Bandsaw Dust Ports Do Not Suck

john Lucas

The biggest problem on my bandsaw (a 16" mini max) is the gap between the bed the bottom half of the machine. Temporarily have attached a bunch of panels with magnets that can be easily removed to tilt the table. There is still a fair sized gap. I should say the blade insert is about 3x3 and has lots of holes in it to try and pull some dust down that way. That's a factory thing. Below the blade guides they put a housing around the blade that has a removeable wooden insert. This blocks a lot of the sawdust from doing down. The dust port is above this on the right side and does a pretty good job.

What I'm looking at building is to put some foam or a sort of bellows that go on top of my magnetic covers that will seal up against the table. That should create a little more suction around the blade. I need to leave some opening to get enough air flow.

On top of my bandsaw there is a hole where the blade support bar goes if you crank the blade guide up to full height. I put a second dust collector hose attached to that hole. The guide simply goes up into the hose if I raise it up but this port collects a lot of the long shavings that follow the blade when ripping.

I like your sloped dust collection port and may look at modifying mine so that I have a larger opening.

That fitting is Called an ....

Barry Irby

....End Boot. You can get them at a well equipped duct supply house. Cheap. Probably less than $5. Probably not going to find it at a big box store. I found them at a supply house in Richmond, VA called East Coast. Don't know how wide spread East Coast is But there will be a similar place where you live. The supply houses have lots of fitting not available at the Borg. Tee's, Wye's, Etc. Its worth a trip to go and stare at the charts they have of whats available.

I have a 14" Delta bandsaw and tried the through the door setup. Hated it. Made it difficult to open the door and did not do a very good job. I replaced the door. Used an end boot hanging vertically where the factory one was on the side of the saw. Trimmed the top down to nearly a point and it reaches right up under the table. Hangs there from a single Eye bolt. Can tilt the table if I want. Gets almost all the dust. I just went and looked and there may be a cup of dust in the dead spots behind the lower wheel. I added one small piece of metal to cover part of the opening at the door. Its attached to the end boot. This setup is so effective I lost interest in doing more. So little dust makes it to the top its not worth worth it to install a second hose. I may be able to post a picture if anyone cares.

Reed, I think you don't have enough air flow. Those dead corners are collecting the dust because you don't have air flow there to keep the crap flying. Try putting about a 3/4" block in the door to hold it open and run a strip of tape down the side about half way. Leave a crack across the bottom and part way up the side and see what happens. A good air leak in the right place is your friend.

Re: Bandsaw Dust Ports Do Not Suck

Bob Macgregor

Maybe what they need is a two-port system where one is a suction port to remove dust/shavings and the other is a pressure port to improve flow-through (air/dust movement). In a system like this maybe you could run the outflow air from the dust collector into the pressure side.

The biggest problem with a system like this, I think, might be overheating...not good for the machines (especially the dust collector) and not good in a woodworking shop! Better would be pressure air supply from a separate source.

Re: Bandsaw Dust Ports Do Not Suck

Roger Chandler

After reading the replies to this post, I guess I might be the odd man out on this, but my two bandsaws have what I consider pretty decent dust collection. I have a 1.5 hp 1200 cfm dust collector, equipped with a dual "Y" port with 4" openings...a Delta 50-850 with canister filter top. It is also equipped with a "Dust Right" handle from Rockler, and expansion hose [think really long slinky with hose material] that will stretch out to any of my machines [tablesaw, etc] on one of the ports coming off the "Y" and the other port connected to a 4" pvc duct system that runs overhead the length of my shop. Off this pvc duct, I have a router table setup, and a line running off a "T" down to my radial arm saw. I have blast gates on each machine and can close them off when not in use.

I take the flexible expansion hose with the dust right handle, and connect it to the back of either of my saws....the big 18" Jet or the Grizzly G0555LX 14" saw,which both have a connection fitting that fits the dust right handle.

While it will not collect every spec of dust, it does collect most of the material when I cut blanks. The Grizzly G0555LX collects more than the Jet saw. The port on that saw is on the lower right of the bottom wheel housing in the back, and is located in the path of the blade when it comes down to the bottom wheel.

If the wood is wet and the shavings are a bit stringy, then they will not all go through the opening due to the cross casting in it. I guess they put those in there to keep large chunks from clogging the hose?

I have cut many blanks on both saws........I like to use the Grizzly most of the time now, as it does a super job with a good blade. Usually, if I have cut a large amount of blanks, then I do take the hose off the back and suck up the shavings that did collect on the bottom .......it is usually not enough to fill the bottom compartment up like I saw on Reed's video, but I rarely cut more than 15 or 20 at a time. He may do a lot more.

The air flow on the Grizzly G0555LX is pretty good, and I get good dust collection even with a smaller 1200 cfm dust collector and I use a 32 gal. trash can with a vortex lid on it to collect the big stuff. In my small shop, dust collection is probably near as good as I can make it, and overall, I am pretty happy with my set up, as it works well, and with that flexible hose, with the 48" wand I can add to it, I just suck up shavings after each project on the lathe, which works best for me because of all the machinery. I can reach behind the lathe, move my tablesaw and other equipment because they are on mobile stands and can just vacuum up every thing.

As I mentioned, not perfect, but a lot better than what I see on Reed's Video. BTW, thanks Reed for sharing that information.......you do some nice things to help us in the turning community!

Re: That fitting is Called an ....

robo hippy

Well, I have a 3 hp Oneida system, and the bandsaws are within 20 feet max from the machine, 6 inch ducts and 5 inch drop downs, and true 1800 fpm flow. Air flow is not the problem. The perfect solution will be in having the port in the place where the dust and shavings settle all by themselves. The other part will involve directing the air flow, which will mean cutting off the flow from the upper part of the machine, and around the blade guides so it funnels every thing down to the dust port. It works a lot better than what came on the saw. I have seen dust ports that were down in the bottom of the cabinet, inline with the down moving part of the blade. The dust and shavings only sat there when the middle of the cabinet was plugged up. More work is needed, and I am getting a lot of feedback and ideas, which is part of why I did this video. I don't want to have many open spots on the cabinet, and do have to close them up.

John, for some reason, your comments about a baffle around the underside of the table, which the other video link shows, makes me think about one of the bellows for a fire place or forge.....

Keep the ideas coming...

robo hippy

Re: That fitting is Called an ....

Barry Irby

I am reluctant to suggest it, because I don't like hacking up my machines, but I think it might work to cut a hole in each lower corner to allow in flowing air to create enough turbulence to keep the particles flying. That's why I suggested testing it with the door cracked.

I have a friend who worked in industry building can plants. They trim the end of the aluminum cans before installing the lids. The little shards are "flown" out of the plant in a process like dust collection. Talking to him getting an understanding of the idea that there must be enough energy in the air flow to keep the particles flying helped me thinking about dust collection. Volume of air and velocity are both important.

What happens if you just leave the dust in place? In a way its filling in the dead spots and fairing the curves on its own. Wonder what woudl happen if you filled in the same area with foam?

Re: Bandsaw Dust Ports Do Not Suck

Dick Hines

I have a Jet that I installed a riser block. It made a lot of dust then. The little credit card slot did not work at all. I cut the left side of the door off and built a box that fitted over the slot. I but a 4" pipe fitting in the bottom. it works way better that the stock dust slot.

I also put masking tape over the blade slot on the right side. I was getting a lot of dust and shavings coming out.

The saw is hooked to a 3hp Griz dust collector by 4" heating pipe. That works better than the plastic pipe.

It I could find a way to collect all the dust from a band saw I would be a rich man.

If the idea is to ....

Stuart Johnson

keep the particles in the air until the dust collector can suck them out wouldn't a small blower work? With a small saw an old hairdryer blowing along the bottom might be all you would need to keep the dust moving while it's being removed.

link from a past discussion *LINK*

Steve Criscenzo

This topic has been discussed several times in the past. Here is a link to a response I posted in 2010 with photos of my solution. Since that post, I upgraded to a 3hp DC and it works even better.


http://www.woodcentral.com/woodworking/forum/archives_turning.pl?pro=search;pmd=sread;srchid=11889FXbPMSEmhtsWpww1456257203;spage=6;sanc=229095;sbid=2110;md=read;id=229095#m_229095

Re: Bandsaw Dust Ports Do Not Suck

Ralph Lindberg

After seeing how your band-saws fill up I am not un-happy with the factory dust port (on my square-box Grizzly)

The 4 inch DC port is low, on the right, near the bottom, I have almost no build-up, at least compared to what you get.

Re: Bandsaw Dust Ports Do Not Suck

Biil Jacksonville, NC

Think bandsaw dust collection always a good topic because like Reed said manufacturers make them for cabinet shops.

Have seen various approaches to modifying different band saws trying to improve dust collection over the years.

Procrastination and using my shop vac to clean up what dust collector didn’t get works for me. Have an old Grizzly 14” saw and dust collector does a good job keeping lower wheel clean. Bandsaw table & lower guide bearings do need attention during or after heavy use.