I ran across this shop tip in WOOD Magazine. The magazine is in the shop, and I'm not.... otherwise I'd put the credit to whom it belongs on here.....
I thought it was worth posting on here - for those who haven't seen it.
My blast gates always get clogged up with sawdust, making it so they won't close all the way. I have considered getting the self cleaning ones, but they have been low on the list of stuff to get....
So, as I stated, I saw this shop tip and thought I'd give it a try on my planer's blast gate - as it get's clogged all the time.... so it won't seal all the way when I close it.
Simply cut the corners off of your existing blast gate... Worked great! The sawdust that was clogged in there simply fell out and it is now a self cleaning blast gate. I don't think I'll have the clogging problem anymore.