cutting bandsaw door

[John Powers]

what is the best way to cut a hole in the door of a bandsaw for dust collection without making it look it was done by an incompetent chainsaw killer?

[Mort Stevens]

1) Hole saw (best)

2) Jig Saw with circle attachment (good)

3) Free-hand with a tin snips (poor-choice) :)

[Brian Kerley]

I dremelled it. The port was then attached to the outside and covers up the ragged hole.

[Adam Diethrich]

I dremelled it. The port was then attached to the outside and covers up the ragged hole.

And miss out on a perfectly good excuse to go buy another tool - appropriate size hole saw?
Shame on you :)

A.W.D.

[Peter Aeschliman]

After drawing the exact location, I started with an angle grinder to rough out the hole, then moved to a dremel to fine-tune it and relieve the burrs left behind.

It may not be totally perfect, but to the eye, it looks like a true circle. And of course, it's covered by the hose, so it really doesn't matter.

[John Lanciani]

The absolute best way is with a 4" knockout punch. The problem is that you have to know a commercial electrician that has one.

[Myk Rian]

Cutting torch will do it. :D

[Jason White]

It's super easy!

Hold your dust port against the wheel cover and use a Sharpie marker to trace around the inside. Then use a jigsaw with a metal cutting blade and run the jigsaw on it's smoothest setting. If the hole is a bit ragged when you're done it won't matter because you're going to cover it with the dust port. I did this with my old JET bandsaw and it worked great. You won't believe the difference when you connect it to your dust collector.

[bill ward]

Why cut a hole in the door? Can you mount a shop-vac hose under the table at the lower guide assembly?

[John Powers]

I've been doing that. not good enough. far better than nothing but still leaves more sweeping than I'd like. I'd be very interested in yours and others experience.

[Stephen Cherry]

When I had a plasma cutter, I would usually use a jigsaw when I could for the cleaner cut. If you would want to get exotic, you could use a carbide burr in a router with a pattern to refine the hole, but that would be a little extreme.

[Joe Scharle]

A knockout will give you a very clean, round hole. Even a HF knockout will work once!
I also stuck weather stripping all around the lower door and it helped considerably, but am still losing suction under the table. If I never tilt the table or change the blade, I could really seal it up :p