Keeping bandsaw blade clean?

[Enrico Caruso]

Dan, perhaps you can get a clue on revising the dust port from looking at the new Rikon 10-326 dust port, which is supposedly redesigned for improved dust collection. You can see it in the Rikon video on the 10-326 which describes the model design features.

Rick

[Ron Rutter]

[QUOTE=Dan Forman;2569514]I will look into moving or adding a dust port up above the wheel and see what can be done about channeling the dust away from the wheel. And advice about creating a 4" hole in the steel housing?

A 4" hole saw will work but it is a slow noisy process! For cleaning the blades off the saw just set them in a dish with powdered dish soap & hot water. Soak for 20-30 minutes then swipe with a soft brush. I sure wouldn't use lacquer thinner!

[Paul Gilbert]

To remove sap - gunk - anything originating from wood I use turpentine. It is distilled from Pine trees you know.

[Dan Forman]

I looked at the video of the new 10-326, and they made some nice improvements, but not anything that would help with this particular problem. There is still nothing to prevent the dust from falling onto the wheel and getting caught between it and the blade. They need to move the dust port up so that it catches the dust before it can reach the wheel, and come up with some sort of a zero clearance insert above the wheel like the MM16 has.

I wouldn't mind cleaning the blade after each cutting session, but as it is, I need to clean it after couple of passes with the apple wood.

[Jamie Straw]

I haven't read through the replies so apologies if this has already been suggested, but you might want to try a dry silicone spray. I was drilling Forstner bit holes in some pitch burl the other day (display for wine stoppers), and the first hole just killed the bit -- pitch which hardened in just a minute. After I cleaned the bit, I sprayed some dry silicone lube on it and let it dry, then drilled 3 holes before needing to clean it again, and it was easier to clean. However, this won't help much with keeping any long curlies you get from cutting with the grain (log standing up).

[Dan Forman]

I did have better luck yesterday, I put the narrow attachment on my shop vac to concentrate the suction, and wedged it in place under the saw table, right next to the blade on the left hand side to hopefully pick up most of the debris before it could reach the wheel, and made a zero clearance insert for the table to limit what would fall through. Between the two measures I was able to saw quite a bit of elm and maple into spindle blanks before significant buildup occurred on the teeth of the blade. Unlike yesterday, there was very little stuck to the band portion of the blade, so my efforts paid off to some degree. I still need to clean the blade before using it again, but at least I was able to get a good amount of work done before that became necessary. Next step is to find a way to mount brushes on either side of the blade above the wheel to see if that will prevent buildup on the teeth.

Jamie - I have been thinking of trying either silicon or teflon on the blade, though not sure how long it would stay on due to the abrasiveness of wood. Probably worth a shot.

Dan

[John K Jordan]

Dan, I hesitated to suggest this since some forum safety cop might think it dangerous, but I don't. A random reader can use it or not at his discretion.

On one saw when I got some residue when cutting particularly resinous pine with a wide blade I cleaned it off the sides while the blade was running. I used a length of thin, 1/4" square brass tubing and held it flat on the table and pushed it against the side of the blade (not the teeth). The brass is soft so it cannot accidentally damage the blade even if you run it into the teeth. The tubing was fairly long so my fingers were well away from the blade. The sharp end of the square tubing quickly cleaned up the gunk on side of the blade and let me get back to sawing.

JKJ

[Jeffrey J Smith]

Dan - on my GriZzley 14" saw there was enough room to add a plastic doc port under the table up next to the blade. With a doc splitter that adds a 2-1/2" port and a short length of flexible tubing it collects a lot of the noodles before they get into the lower cabinet. Works pretty well, gets a lot of it, but I still have to clean out after several blanks.

[Jamie Straw]

Hmph! Tried "Reply with Quote, but it doesn't seem to be working. Dan: Sure, it's worth a shot, the stuff I used was CRC Heavy Duty Silicone. Also, check out Reed's BAND SAW DUST PORTS DO NOT SUCK!!! video if you haven't seen it yet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLuRgku_F0w Very impressive, indeed, the improvement after his modifications.