dust collection question for bandsaw

[Bill Kelleher]

Hello
I am researching a large bandsaw preferebly the laguna 18bx, While reading up on the manual i found a dust cfm requirement of 1000. This narrows the field of DC candidates down quite a bit. i had been looking at the 1.5hp pflux (low ceiling garage!). I was wondering if anyone has an 18bx and what do you use for your dust collection/and of course if you are pleased with it. Also I noticed the 18bx/14bx and the 14/12 all have a requirement of 1000 cfm, strange considering the 14/12 only has one dust port. any thoughts

[James Cheever]

I have the Laguna 18BX. I use an Oneida Dust Gorilla Pro for dust collection. It is at the end of a fairly long run in my shop (about 35'). It seems to work just fine.

[Jim Becker]

Band saws are one of "those tools" that are difficult to collect from due to their nature and the more air flow you have to move the dust and chips, the more effective it's going to be within its limitations. Just look at how things are under a band saw table and you'll probably be able to imagine the challenge pretty easily. Some folks will also collect from two points...under the table and from the lower wheel cabinet.

[glenn bradley]

Yep, under the table and at the top of the lower cabinet.

G0513X-DC-mod 003.jpg

I just swapped blades after doing a half a dozen bandsaw boxes and it looks like this.

Lower cab clean.jpg

I have a Grizzly 2HP cyclone rated at 1300+CFM but, I am feeding both collection points on the bandsaw with a 4" hose that wyes to a 4" and a 2-1/2" so probably about a 1/4 of that in actual use. I cover the lower port with a piece of sheet magnet on the inside

G0513X-DC-mod 001.jpg

but, capping from the outside would work too.

[John K Jordan]

I have a different bandsaw, but that is y experience too - with a port under the table and in the bottom of the bottom cabinet no dust accumulates in the cabinet. I did make a shroud to go around the lower bearings under the table to catch some sawdust that was scattered on the floor. I use a third pickup, a piece of 4" flex hose on top the table to catch dust the spreads across the table when I make "skimming" cuts. I fastened a strong magnet to the rim of the hose so I can move and position it as needed.

JKJ

[Doug Dawson]

Hello
I am researching a large bandsaw preferebly the laguna 18bx, While reading up on the manual i found a dust cfm requirement of 1000. This narrows the field of DC candidates down quite a bit. i had been looking at the 1.5hp pflux (low ceiling garage!). I was wondering if anyone has an 18bx and what do you use for your dust collection/and of course if you are pleased with it. any thoughts

I have the 18bx and the 1.5hp pflux (latest model) and they are made for each other. The 1.5hp pflux is a walk-around DC for smaller spaces, if you want something ducted go with the 3hp unit. With direct connection, the 1.5hp is capable of a measured 900cfm 5ft down a straight pipe (there was a video of this somewhere.) I can connect the 6in DC inlet via the 4in splitter directly to both ports on the 18bx via short 4in hoses, and its good to go.

Initial 1000cfm in a large ducted system measures substantially less than that way down the line, due to the inevitable losses in such a system.

Doug

[Robert Hazelwood]

I have the 14bx and use it with a 2hp cyclone. The collection is pretty good but honestly I don't know why they have two ports on the lower cabinet. Assuming the 18bx is a scaled up 14bx, then the upper port looks like it would be good for collecting under the table, but in practice the opening in the top of the lower cabinet is too small to allow much airflow. So both ports are just kind of doing the same thing, and with both of them connected to a DC I think the airflow will suffer from a lack of make-up air into the lower cabinet.

Using the two factory ports, the inside of the saw will stay clean but the area underneath the table with the lower guides will catch a lot of sawdust. What I did was remove the hose from the lower port, leaving it open and with only the upper port connected. Then I fashioned a housing that attaches to the underside of the table with magnets, the second hose attaches to this and keeps the lower guide area clean. The single hose into the lower cabinet does just as well at keeping the inside of the saw clean as using both. With this setup the only dust I have to deal with is what is left on the table.

I don't know how many CFM my dust collector pulls at the tool, but I strongly doubt it is 1000 cfm. IT may not be too far off, given that I have a short run of 6" duct with only one bend before it gets to the saw, which is close to a best case scenario for ductwork. Anyways with this setup 2hp is sufficient for the 14bx, and I suspect would work as well for the 18bx.

[Peter Christensen]

A number of guys in Australia are using three 4” pipes on their bandsaws. One under the table around the guides, the second to the lower cabinet and the last one behind and above the upper guides. All are feeding into a 6” line to the DC. That’s what I plan for mine.

[Art Tripp]

I have the Laguna 18BX and it is a great saw, I highly recommend it. The 18BX was the first major piece of woodworking equipment I purchased when I decided to get into woodworking (I am retired and was looking for something to get into) and while it was over my budget, it had everything I was wanting in a saw and I haven't looked back since putting it in my shop. I bought the 18BX in January and it joined a Craftsman radial arm saw that I have had for a couple dozen years and a less expensive table saw that I had before centering on more active woodworking.

My budget is also the reason my dust collection 'system' consists of a Craftsman shop vac and a Dust Deputy affixed to a five gallon bucket. While it is not an ideal dust collector and I am certain that a larger system would do better, it does a good enough job that I can use the saw without any issues. I have an adapter to a 10' section of 4" hose that connects to a 'Y' to the two dust ports and it does a sufficient job of removing the sawdust and preventing build-up in the saw. I do get some sawdust build-up in the area of the lower guides, but a quick hit in the area with the crevice attachment on the shop vac clears it away.

Ideally I would like a 1,100+ cfm canister type dust collector (Jet, etc.) with a cyclone (Super Dust Deputy, etc.) on a container, but you can get by with less for a while if necessary. My present hope is to find a good deal on a good used system at some point, and the opportunity to purchase a new Dewalt DW735 package (with table extensions and extra set of knives) for $450 on Amazon and a used Grizzly G0490 8" parallelogram jointer for $750 a couple weeks ago has ended my purchasing ability for a while.

[Doug Hepler]

May I re-focus this discussion, please? This discussion seems to be about large particles that you can see, that settle out of the air quickly, and that you can easily sweep or vacuum up. What we usually mean when we say sawdust. While they may be a nuisance or esthetically displeasing, they are not the important issue in dust collection. We all know that, right?

The reason that we want DC is to remove the smaller particles, the ones that stay in the air and get into your lungs. Almost any dust collection system will get the smaller particles produced by a band saw. The real issue here is the filter and what it allows to pass. Whether a DC system can keep the cabinet clean is not a realistic criterion, IMO.

You don't really need enough CFM to keep a BS cabinet clean. I have a Jet 1100 CFM (rated) DC connected to my Laguna 14/12. I run the DC whenever I am using the BS. A lot of "sawdust" collects around the saw. It would take a mighty wind to suck up that sawdust, in my opinion well beyond practicality.

All the best

[John K Jordan]

Yes, the fine particles are important to catch. I run a Dylos particulate counting air quality monitor to see if fines are captured or if they have escaped.

However, my goal with the DC was to collect both the fines and the larger particles. My DC is a 5hp ClearVue with a 6" duct split to three 4" ducts at the saw. The published spec is 1442 CFM but I haven't measured the actual.

After hours of bandsawing thick stock I typically vacuum only a tiny bit of sawdust that skids off the back and right side of the table during skimming cuts, scarcely a few tablespoons, often less. The inside of the cabinet is clean. The floor around my feet used to get covered with sawdust spraying off the guides with any sawing After I built the containment housing/shroud around the lower guides the floor is clean. My saw, an 18" Rikon, has a port just inside the upper right corner of the lower cabinet in a chamber slanted upwards towards the guides. The blade goes through a pair of rubber wipers in the bottom of that chamber, apparently intended to deflect dust that sprays off the blade before it even gets to the lower cabinet. I think that shrouded magic chamber/port catches most of the dust. The one in bottom of the cabinet catches the rest. A brush knocks sawdust off the blade and I can't see where any is carried up and around to the upper guides. As mentioned, I position a piece of flex-hose (the "stay put" type) on top of the table when making skimming cuts. Much of my sawing is preparing turning blanks with 1/2"-3tpi blades and I often make skimming cuts on thick stock, usually 2"-12" thick. When cutting where the blade is embedded in the wood almost nothing escapes the DC.

Before I installed and connected the cyclone to the bandsaw to suit me a regular task was to open both cabinets and vacuum out the accumulated sawdust, vacuum the top of the bandsaw, then vacuum the floor all around. This is no longer needed; life is good.

The Dylos assures me it is picking up the extremely fine dust. The finest dust is supposed to be invisible so without a particle counter I'm not sure how you would know if it is being removed or floating around the air. It's easy to guess or hope the fines are collected.

JKJ

May I re-focus this discussion, please? This discussion seems to be about large particles that you can see, that settle out of the air quickly, and that you can easily sweep or vacuum up. What we usually mean when we say sawdust. While they may be a nuisance or esthetically displeasing, they are not the important issue in dust collection. We all know that, right?

The reason that we want DC is to remove the smaller particles, the ones that stay in the air and get into your lungs. Almost any dust collection system will get the smaller particles produced by a band saw. The real issue here is the filter and what it allows to pass. Whether a DC system can keep the cabinet clean is not a realistic criterion, IMO.

You don't really need enough CFM to keep a BS cabinet clean. I have a Jet 1100 CFM (rated) DC connected to my Laguna 14/12. I run the DC whenever I am using the BS. A lot of "sawdust" collects around the saw. It would take a mighty wind to suck up that sawdust, in my opinion well beyond practicality.

All the best

[Matthew Hills]

The finest dust is supposed to be invisible so without a particle counter I'm not sure how you would know if it is being removed or floating around the air. It's easy to guess or hope the fines are collected.

Do you smell much dust in the air when cutting and the Dylos gives you a low count?

(Good thread, btw -- the bandsaw is a dust creation beast)

Matt

[Robert Engel]

May I re-focus this discussion, please? This discussion seems to be about large particles that you can see, that settle out of the air quickly, and that you can easily sweep or vacuum up. What we usually mean when we say sawdust. While they may be a nuisance or esthetically displeasing, they are not the important issue in dust collection. We all know that, right?

The reason that we want DC is to remove the smaller particles, the ones that stay in the air and get into your lungs. Almost any dust collection system will get the smaller particles produced by a band saw. The real issue here is the filter and what it allows to pass. Whether a DC system can keep the cabinet clean is not a realistic criterion, IMO.

You don't really need enough CFM to keep a BS cabinet clean. I have a Jet 1100 CFM (rated) DC connected to my Laguna 14/12. I run the DC whenever I am using the BS. A lot of "sawdust" collects around the saw. It would take a mighty wind to suck up that sawdust, in my opinion well beyond practicality.

All the best

I generally agree with this^ the issue seems simple for the majority of us: less sweeping up or lung protection? If you want the latter, be prepared to spend a lot of money for a very powerful system.

I don't worry about my DC collecting every speck of dust, I use a respirator, especially with the tablesaw.

My suggestion for the poster (and everyone) is dust masks, fans and air cleaners are a must, even with the best of DC systems.

All but the most elaborate OSHA quality systems are simply not going to do it.

[John K Jordan]

Do you smell much dust in the air when cutting and the Dylos gives you a low count?

(Good thread, btw -- the bandsaw is a dust creation beast)

Matt

I don't know about smelling "much" dust but I can usually smell the wood, especially some species. Not as much as when at the lathe, though. I wondered if some of the smell was from volatiles or chemicals such as the oils in exotics like cocobolo an lignum vitae or wet cherry. I don't think I've ever read anything on the mechanism of wood scent - is it from fine dust or chemicals? Both?

JKJ

[Nick Decker]

I always notice more flies when I'm cutting maple. They must be thinking pancakes.