what is the best way to cut a hole in the door of a bandsaw for dust collection without making it look it was done by an incompetent chainsaw killer?
what is the best way to cut a hole in the door of a bandsaw for dust collection without making it look it was done by an incompetent chainsaw killer?
1) Hole saw (best)
2) Jig Saw with circle attachment (good)
3) Free-hand with a tin snips (poor-choice)
I dremelled it. The port was then attached to the outside and covers up the ragged hole.
After drawing the exact location, I started with an angle grinder to rough out the hole, then moved to a dremel to fine-tune it and relieve the burrs left behind.
It may not be totally perfect, but to the eye, it looks like a true circle. And of course, it's covered by the hose, so it really doesn't matter.
The absolute best way is with a 4" knockout punch. The problem is that you have to know a commercial electrician that has one.
Cutting torch will do it.
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It's super easy!
Hold your dust port against the wheel cover and use a Sharpie marker to trace around the inside. Then use a jigsaw with a metal cutting blade and run the jigsaw on it's smoothest setting. If the hole is a bit ragged when you're done it won't matter because you're going to cover it with the dust port. I did this with my old JET bandsaw and it worked great. You won't believe the difference when you connect it to your dust collector.
Last edited by Jason White; 09-24-2013 at 9:50 PM.
Why cut a hole in the door? Can you mount a shop-vac hose under the table at the lower guide assembly?
I've been doing that. not good enough. far better than nothing but still leaves more sweeping than I'd like. I'd be very interested in yours and others experience.
When I had a plasma cutter, I would usually use a jigsaw when I could for the cleaner cut. If you would want to get exotic, you could use a carbide burr in a router with a pattern to refine the hole, but that would be a little extreme.
A knockout will give you a very clean, round hole. Even a HF knockout will work once!
I also stuck weather stripping all around the lower door and it helped considerably, but am still losing suction under the table. If I never tilt the table or change the blade, I could really seal it up