Dust System on 19" Band Saw: Useless?

[Steve H Graham]

I have gotten to a point where the dust from my table saw, planer, jointer, and router table isn't a major problem. That only leaves the band saw and drill press. I think the drill press is a lost cause, but I'm wondering: is there any hope for the band saw?

My saw is a 19" Shop Fox. It has two dust ports on the lower cabinet. One is right under the bearings, and the other is at the bottom. But there's a gap between the cabinet and the table, and it's over 3" high. Seems to me that sucking air from the cabinet ports isn't going to accomplish a whole lot, since a lot of the dust will never get to the lower cabinet.

Am I wrong? I feel like I might as well continue using the shop-vac. Every so often, I open the cabinet and suck out the accumulation.

I feel like I could do a better job suspending some sort of bag around the table so the dust can't get to the floor.

[Tom Trees]

Hello Steve
Theirs a guy on youtube that has done similar to what you say on a laguna bandsaw .
titled ..
#43 - Dust Collection Solutions for your Bandsaw

the guy's username is half-inch shy
Hope it helps
good luck
Tom

[Steve H Graham]

Thanks. That video is pretty interesting. You have to wonder why the manufacturers don't make a couple of plastic parts that fit under saw tables.

On a related note, my insert is horrendous. The hole the blade goes through is now 1/2" wide, which seems excessive to say the least. I am thinking about cutting a new one out of aluminum, but I'm wondering if it will screw up the saw blade if something catches or whatever. I could also order delrin off Ebay. Does anyone here know if aluminum is a bad idea?

The current insert is cheap plastic.

[daryl moses]

h
Seems to me that sucking air from the cabinet ports isn't going to accomplish a whole lot, since a lot of the dust will never get to the lower cabinet

.

You would be surprised at how much sawdust will collect in the bottom cabinet without the dust collector running.
I forgot to open the blast gate on my bandsaw [Rikon] once while resawing. When I opened the lower cabinet sawdust was pilled up past the bottom of the wheel.
Even with the dust collector running I still get a lot of sawdust but it helps a lot.
BTW I make my own table inserts out of thin plywood, I used the original insert as a template.

[Steve H Graham]

I wonder if the answer is to plug the top port, put a shroud under the table, and suck from the bottom port.

[Jamie Buxton]

My bandsaw has that gap under the table too. But if I don't run the DC when I'm sawing, the air quality in the shop goes bad quite quickly. Perhaps you can improve things with shrouds and bags, but at least you should try the OEM collection before you invest time in those attempts.

[Jim Andrew]

My mm16 has a 4" dust port, and does not get all the dust. Been thinking of making a new guard for under the table, and hooking another 4" flange onto it.

[Chris Parks]

Make up air is the key to a BS cabinet. To draw out the dust laden air there has to be a way for the air to be replaced and generally the only way to do that is an inlet port. The saws that have two ports already have one, others have to be modified to provide one. On my Jet I used to crack the door a touch and wedge it open and this worked as well as anything. Laguna a while ago were boasting that they had improved the door sealing in their saws and this is an example of a manufacturer not understanding the problem and doing the exact opposite to what is needed.

[James Baker SD]

A lot of Euro bandsaws really have 120mm ports and a plastic adapter to stop it down to 4" for the U.S. market. I replaced my 4" adapter with a 5" adapter and I am pretty sure I saw an improvement in the dust extraction from within the cabinet.

[Chris Parks]

James, now add an inlet port/vent and watch it improve by a lot.

[Brian W Smith]

Even if you have plastic S&D,metal is the way to go for hoody's because..........you can bend it into whatever shape you want and it takes up WAY less room doing so.Compared to the usual Rube Goldberg'ish assemblies most often displayed,under a BS table.Further,we've had better luck blowing metered air(mini regulator mounted to the side of BS upper frame) via 1/4" refrigeration line,DOWN....through the cut....directed at the blade "port".Versus using overhead DC pickups,it also helps on clearing swarf when cutting abrasive exotics,extending blade life a little......but really,some of these woods are toxic enough that even if it was only the DC side of it,it's worth the effort.Good luck.

[Rod Sheridan]

Steve, I use a high tech small cardboard box connected to the 4 inch hose, attached with a bungee cord under the saw table.

Looks awful, works pretty well............Regards, Rod.

[Frank Drew]

I cut a coffee can to fit and it worked reasonably well.

[Robert LaPlaca]

I find the bandsaw is one of the tools that seems to generate tons of relatively fine dust that is tough to capture, you really need a DC with excellent amount of CFM's to keep up with the tool.. I have a newly installed Oneida Pro 2000 that I find can finally keep up with the volume of dust generated by my MM16..

[James Baker SD]

James, now add an inlet port/vent and watch it improve by a lot.

Chris, I actually did that at the same time. Saw is much less dusty now, both on table top and inside the cabinet. Dylos says the air stays cleaner as well. Like Rod's mine is ugly, but it seems to help.