Band Saw DC

[Sean Troy]

Hello all, I'm going to add a 4" DC port to my band saw and was wondering if I should also use the existing smaller port already there in conjunction with the 4" or cap off the smaller one? Thanks, Sean

[Jim Becker]

Can't hurt if you have enough air flow available to cover both ports. The OEM port, stingy as it may be sometimes, is located a a "point of creation", so even if it only catches some dust, that's better than none, even when you are adding a larger collection point elsewhere on the saw.

[Tyler Howell]

I put a "Y" in my DC hose with a reducer and used them both.
Not pretty but it works.
TJH

[Jimmy Williams]

Not to hijack this thread but this is something that I have been wanting to do as well. Assuming that I continue use the one that came on the bandsaw in conjunction with a 4", where is the ideal location to add the 4" port?

[Sean Troy]

Not to hijack this thread but this is something that I have been wanting to do as well. Assuming that I continue use the one that came on the bandsaw in conjunction with a 4", where is the ideal location to add the 4" port?

I have the Jet 14" and don't have any choice but the front.

[Thom Sturgill]

Not to hijack this thread but this is something that I have been wanting to do as well. Assuming that I continue use the one that came on the bandsaw in conjunction with a 4", where is the ideal location to add the 4" port?

Assuming whoever designed the Craftsman Pro knew what they were doing, on the back near the bottom. The saw also has a brush that keeps some trash from going up the blade to the upper wheel and cleans the lower wheel. I don't know how common these are as I haven't opened many other saws.

[Steve Sawyer]

I too have the Craftsman pro, and the 4" port is on the bottom of the lower wheel housing, on the "back" (away from the operator) and immediately below the guides - right where the dust would tend to collect inside the cabinet. If you have a saw whose lower wheel cover is rounded on the bottom the port should go at the lowest point - again, where the dust is inclined to collect.

Note that the Craftsman Pro has two ports - the 4" port on the back, and a 2 1/2" port right below the lower guide bearings.

Like another poster above, I used a 4"x4"x2 1/2" wye. Plugged the wye directly into the 4" port and ran a short piece of 2 1/2" flex hose to the 2 1/2" port. Seems to get all but just a sprinkling of sawdust.

[Jimmy Williams]

Thanks for the replies.
I just got home and checked my bandsaw (Hitachi CB13F) and the back is cast iron with a sheetmetal lower wheel housing cover. I am not going to attempt making a 4" hole in the cast iron so I guess I'll have to put the 4" in the door.
Sounds like using a 90 degree elbow on the door,to get the hose going towards the left hand side of the saw, followed by a 4"x4"x2 1/2" wye should work.

Thanks for the advice.

[Alan Trout]

I just put a 4" hole in the bottom of the lower door of my Jet 14" band saw. I too had the useless 2 inch connection by the lower guides. I tried mine with a Y connected to the 2 inch and just with the 4" connected. With just the 4" connected the dust collection works just as well so I took the Y off.

Good Luck

Alan

[Joseph N. Myers]

I have a 14" Jet without any DC and hence tons of dust. And I'm really clueless as to what to do!

So any additional information and pictures would really be helpful. In particular, how and where to cut to hole, size of hole, what part to put in the hole for the hose, etc.

TIA, Joe

[John Thompson]

If I were going to put another port on my BS and I don't intend too as my current set-up is quite sufficient, I would simply look in the case and see where the dust accumulates most. And I would be willing to bet that is the lower rear corner.

So... I would cut thhe new port in the bottom rear corner if that indeed is where the most accumlates.

Sarge..

[Alan Trout]

Here are a couple of pics of the dust chute that I installed on my 14" Jet. The DC on it has worked very well. A little is dust is left on the lower guides but that is about it. I hope this helps.

Good Luck

Alan

[Wes Bischel]

Sean,
I have a 4" port on the bottom door as well. I used a toilet closet flange mounted on the door and a 90 degree elbow slightly modified to allow it to rotate in the flange so the hose can attach from either side of the saw. It works surprisingly well.

Wes

[Bill Pentz]

Hello all, I'm going to add a 4" DC port to my band saw and was wondering if I should also use the existing smaller port already there in conjunction with the 4" or cap off the smaller one? Thanks, Sean

Air at typical dust collection pressures is more like water and will barely compress at all. Any small pipe, duct or port kills our needed airflow. The standard 1.25” port that comes with the Delta 14” band saws needs a good powerful shop vacuum to generate the more than ten times higher pressures than a typical dust collector needed for good band saw dust collection. My 1400 CFM cyclone will not move 50 CFM if I try to reduce enough to attach directly to that port.

I personally use the Delta port upgrade similar to that pictured in the SMC thread. A better solution is to use that upgraded adapter plus a wye connection that allows you to also collect from above the blade. That makes it a lot easier to see your cutting line. A blade following brush is also a big help if you don’t already have one built into your saw.

[Sean Troy]

Air at typical dust collection pressures is more like water and will barely compress at all. Any small pipe, duct or port kills our needed airflow. The standard 1.25” port that comes with the Delta 14” band saws needs a good powerful shop vacuum to generate the more than ten times higher pressures than a typical dust collector needed for good band saw dust collection. My 1400 CFM cyclone will not move 50 CFM if I try to reduce enough to attach directly to that port.

I personally use the Delta port upgrade similar to that pictured in the SMC thread. A better solution is to use that upgraded adapter plus a wye connection that allows you to also collect from above the blade. That makes it a lot easier to see your cutting line. A blade following brush is also a big help if you don’t already have one built into your saw.

Good info, thanks Bill. I do cut some green wood with the saw, will the brush still work ok with that application?