Bandsaw Dust Ports Do Not Suck

[Reed Gray]

Another clip from me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLuRgku_F0w&google_comment_id=z13qdzjaimf0ux4ly23mfpf5owrrsntr e04&google_view_type#gpluscomments

robo hippy

[Adam Wager]

Nice one! Even kiln dries lumber dust isn't going up those 2" ports mounted by the guides, though - that was just poor design.

Ever try mounting a nylon brush somewhere inside the cabinet to clean the long strands out before they go all the way around?

[Reed Gray]

Well, I have thought about putting a foam rubber block in the up part of the bandsaw, but more for restricting the airflow from that part of the saw. With the vent in the door like that, the tribbles are mostly caught.

robo hippy

[John Sincerbeaux]

Hello Reed,
Two ideas: As far as the door not opening all the way, couldn't you just flip the vent so it's towards the right of the door?
Second, I have an Agazzani 20" which has a back dust port like your Laguna, but it also has a 4"port on the right side of the saw just under the table which to me maximizes the "suction" right at the source. I have a 5hp Oneida which allows me to use both ports simultaneously.

[Pat Scott]

Second, I have an Agazzani 20" which has a back dust port like your Laguna, but it also has a 4"port on the right side of the saw just under the table which to me maximizes the "suction" right at the source. I have a 5hp Oneida which allows me to use both ports simultaneously.

Nice to hear of another Agazzani owner! I have a 20" Agazzani also (B20/20), but my Oneida is only 3 hp. Both dust ports on my saw will get plugged up with strands of wood when cutting green blanks because of the "x" crosshair piece that is in the port to prevent big pieces from being sucked up. Think of your drain getting plugged up with strands of hair. I've been tempted to cut out the "x". But in Reed's video he says that cutting it out doesn't help? Do you have this problem with the 5 hp collector?

[Wes Ramsey]

Reed,

I wonder if reducing airflow is part of your problem. I don't have a lot of experience with this, but it would seem that if you restrict airflow where you can you will increase airflow in the areas where you can't, and those aren't necessarily the areas where you need more suction. Have you considered drilling some holes opposite the dust port around the areas where you get the most buildup? That might increase airflow in the right areas and keep things stirred up.

[Don Frank]

I saw a post on some forum where a guy used spray foam to fill the voids where dust always collected. A delta has lots of flat shelves in the metal casting that hold dust. It seemed to make a huge difference by reducing the turbulence in the air flow and eliminated a place for the dust to accumulate.

[Robert Engel]

What if you had an opening on the other side of the cabinet to allow for more air flow?
You have plenty of suction but maybe too much restriction you are not moving dust you are moving strands.
Much more difficult don't fault the machines too much.

[glenn bradley]

Good mods all around. Just to offer another method (bear in mind that I do not saw green material so probably not appropriate for those that do :)); I collect right below the table and only get about a teaspoon of spoil in the lower cabinet per year. I sealed off the lower collection port with a piece of magnetic sheet.

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[Wes Ramsey]

Good mods all around. Just to offer another method (bear in mind that I do not saw green material so probably not appropriate for those that do :)); I collect right below the table and only get about a teaspoon of spoil in the lower cabinet per year. I sealed off the lower collection port with a piece of magnetic sheet.

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I've been pondering a similar contraption to keep the dust from collecting on my lower guides. My Grizzly doesn't have an issue with tribbles in the upper or lower housing, but it does build up on the guides.

[Reed Gray]

I love all the ideas that are coming up here and over at WC, with lots of various solutions. Saw one clip by a guy who had a Hitachi bandsaw. It bought up the point that square bottom cabinets always get a pile in the corners, so he took sheet metal and bent an arc in the bottom, then put in a round port there. Some thing I need to do with both my saws, but may not get around to for a while since they do work okay as they are.

The air flow inside the bandsaws is a problem perhaps mostly because it doesn't funnel into one spot, but pulls/sucks in from a bunch of different points. The baffle around the lower guides really helps. Sealing around the blade guide post on top helps. Another seal in the up side of the saw would probably help too. All of those points are where I was thinking of foam rubber so the blade would not be obstructed, but the air flow would.

We will get this solved eventually. Thanks all...

robo hippy

[Hayes Rutherford]

I helped a friend modify his Laguna but can't remember where we located the new port. I thought it was to the bottom right where the dust piles up but that might not be possible. My 17" grizzly has two ports and seems to work pretty well but must admit that I NEVER turn on my dust collector when sawing wet wood. Just open the door occasionally and pull a bunch out onto the floor with all the other wet debris from the lathe. Why would anyone want to suck up wet debris into a dust collector?

[Wes Ramsey]

I helped a friend modify his Laguna but can't remember where we located the new port. I thought it was to the bottom right where the dust piles up but that might not be possible. My 17" grizzly has two ports and seems to work pretty well but must admit that I NEVER turn on my dust collector when sawing wet wood. Just open the door occasionally and pull a bunch out onto the floor with all the other wet debris from the lathe. Why would anyone want to suck up wet debris into a dust collector?

I have a similar setup, but I built an in-line cyclone-ish chip separator from a 30-gal metal trash can. If I dump it on occasion that wet stuff never makes it to the DC.

[Reed Gray]

Dust collectors are another subject. I do have a 2 stage collector, so cyclone and pleated air filter. The vent gets most of the wood and shavings. Only problem I have had is that the wet shavings can make the cardboard container slightly damp. Since most of the time in my shop, it is on for sanding, the wet and dry kind of equal each other out. Added to that the volume of air flowing over it, no problem. I have found that dry shavings on the floor will stir up a lot of dust when you sweep up. I do let the shavings dry before putting them into plastic bags.

robo hippy

[Gerald Wervey]

Here might be the reason that you don't see a better system on the underside of the table. The thought that I come up with is that the platen can be tilted making difficult to put a dust port in this location. So building the custom port becomes the mother of nessescity

Jerry

[Chris Parks]

You need to make an inlet port the same size as the exhaust port to allow air INTO the cabinet. You can't suck out any more air than what is allowed in, simple really.

[Glenn C Roberts]

Exactly. Otherwise the saw would look like a prune!

[David Utterback]

Great ideas and video! If you want to "sweep" the debris from the bottom of the lower compartment, an opening in the lower right of the compartment would allow supply air to enter with momentum in the correct direction. My 20+ year old Laguna has a slot beneath the lower access door across the entire width with extraction in the lower left corner (similar to the Laguna shown in the video). There is little piling that occurs in the lower right corner but it otherwise remains pretty clean. I have not cut much green wood, though, and am just starting this winter.

[John K Jordan]

You need to make an inlet port the same size as the exhaust port to allow air INTO the cabinet. You can't suck out any more air than what is allowed in, simple really.

I've heard this a lot and on the surface it seems to make sense, but I'm having trouble understanding why my bandsaw never collects dust in the bottom cabinet. The only place I can see where air enters the lower cabinet is where the blade enters and exits the cabinet.

This is an 18" Rikon. There is a 4" DC port at the bottom right of the cabinet directly under where the blade enters the lower cabinet. This seems perfectly placed to pick up everything that enters the lower cabinet. Nothing collects in the lower square left corner either.

I have a 6" duct leading to the bandsaw and split into three 4" ducts at the saw, the one at the bottom, the second at the top of the table to catch skimming dust, and a third just below the lower guides with a little cardboard baffle around the guides to keep dust from spraying out onto the floor. I've never seen more than a pinch or two dust in the lower cabinet. The DC is a 5HP ClearVue cyclone. There is so much suction in the lower cabinet I can barely open the door if the DC is running.

JKJ

[David Utterback]

John,
Your last statement is an indication that the lower cabinet is under negative pressure, i.e. lower air pressure than outside the cabinet, due to insufficient entry points for supply air. You have more than sufficient HP. If you partially close a blast gate in line with the lower connection, you may be able to equalize the pressure. The air flow to the other vents would then increase but more dust may accumulate in the lower area. However, if you are happy with the current collection of dust at all 3 ports, you may not wish to increase the efficiency of your energy usage.

Hope this helps.

[Barry McFadden]

I don't have near the bandsaw that you guy's have (wish I did!) but I have never had an issue with dust collection. I cut a fair bit of green wood and never had any buildup as in the video. I hook up my Rigid shop vac when I'm sawing (don't have a dust collection system). I'm just wondering if the placement of my dust port down at the bottom left of the lower wheel has something to do with it. Maybe it's a better location than in the side of the cabinet?
Anyway...just my observation...I welcome your thoughts on it....

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[Chris Parks]

On my Jet BS I never bothered to put an inlet port into it, just wedged the bottom of the door open when the it was locked and it never collected any noticeable dust in the lower cabinet. Another thing that restricts flow is the grid that saws have in the extraction port and I always remove it. Where to put the inlet port is always a bit of a guess but I think low and opposite the extraction port is good for most. In some saws it might pay to make the existing port the inlet port and make the new one the extraction port. I prefer to put the inlet port in the door if I can as I can take it off to work on it and then get it colour matched and sprayed by someone who knows what they are doing and it all makes for a neater job.

[John K Jordan]

However, if you are happy with the current collection of dust at all 3 ports, you may not wish to increase the efficiency of your energy usage.


Yes, it works well, the air movement in the ducts seems sufficient, and the amperage drawn by the motor with that configuration is acceptable to me the last time I measured it. A cardboard baffle under the table restricts that port. I manually restrict the flow on the floating port on top the table as needed with a piece of flat plastic. (poor man's blast gate)

This bandsaw is at the furthest point from the DC with perhaps 40' of 6' duct with several bends and some flex duct at the saw. If immediately adjacent to the cyclone, balancing the three ports might be higher on my list.

Now to finish the table saw, lathe, second bandsaw, jointer, belt sanders, and other hookups. This hobby provides plenty to do.

JKJ

[Reed Gray]

Barry, your port works probably because it is in line with the wheel rather than around a corner. I find it interesting that a number of people have multiple ports on their bandsaws. I guess I could do that, but don't all the extra hoses around. I am going to ponder/digest all the feedback from this thread and go on to phase 2 when I get-a-round-2-it....

robo hippy

[Chris Parks]

Reed, can you see the need to have an inlet port to supply make up air to the cabinet?