Bandsaw mods

[Doug]

Having seen Terry's ducting post I've been messing with my bandsaw to try to improve the extraction, my machine has two extraction ports the top one goes into a small triangular section inside the saw just under the bottom guides

The open triangular area I thought would benefit from being sealed off so any air going into the port had to be drawn from the slots the blade passes through, to achieve this I fitted a piece of MDF to the top corner of the bottom door & covered this with self adhesive foam.

My reasoning behind doing this was as the slots the blade passess through are quite small & hopefully I could get away with reducing the 4" port down to 1 1/2".
A dig around the stores came up with a some plumbing fittings which was the easiest way I could think of of making a small tee off off the main duct, this is what I came up with.

Turning the extractor on I was disappointed when placing my hand over the triangular opening to feel very little suction presumably the majority of the air was passing through the this port.

I figured reducing this port would would increase suction at the higher outlet but I was conscious of not doing this with anything that could be drawn into the extractor so cut a piece of MDF to a friction fit.

This seems to have done the trick with both ports appearing to have good suction though the test will come latter in the week.

 

[TrimTheKing]

Looks good Doug.

I remember Olly (I think it was Olly anyway) doing an effective mod using 32mm drain pipe that sat under the table and extracted almost at source.

Might also be worth searching for that if you don't have any joy. Was a good few years ago now though...

Cheers
Mark

 

[Wizard9999]

Interesting Doug, very keen to hear the result latter in the week. The level of suction at the top port on mine is equally weak, so if this works for you I may try something similar. The other thought I had today was to block off the top port and use one of those positionable hoses close up to the blade above the table to see how that works.

Terry.

 

[Doug]

Looks good Doug.

I remember Olly (I think it was Olly anyway) doing an effective mod using 32mm drain pipe that sat under the table and extracted almost at source.

Might also be worth searching for that if you don't have any joy. Was a good few years ago now though...

Cheers
Mark

Thanks Mark.

I don't know if Olly did it but I certainly did on my old Record machine I sold Paul Chapman,the blade passed through a saw slot in the pipe so there was extraction all round the blade, it worked very well but unfortunately there isn't enough room on this one to do the same modification.

 

[Doug]

Interesting Doug, very keen to hear the result latter in the week. The level of suction at the top port on mine is equally weak, so if this works for you I may try something similar. The other thought I had today was to block off the top port and use one of those positionable hoses close up to the blade above the table to see how that works.

Terry.

Covering half the bottom outlet really did make a noticeable difference Terry, the extractor is an old Axminster 2200 & even with the fine filter fitted really does give some good suction for a LPHV machine.
I did wonder if as previously extracting with two separate extractors from the same cabinet lead to one extractor being cancelled out hence such poor performance.
As mentioned above there isn't really room on mine to retro fit anything under the table, but it might well be worth you trying if you have the room.

 

[Rod]

I use a square section to round water pipe connector under the table of my old Startrite 352.
The blade runs through it and picks up a lot of waste.

Rod

 

[TrimTheKing]

...I certainly did on my old Record machine I sold Paul Chapman,the blade passed through a saw slot in the pipe so there was extraction all round the blade, it worked very well but unfortunately there isn't enough room on this one to do the same modification.

Haha, maybe it was you I remember then! [emoji15]

Cheers
Mark

 

[Wizard9999]

I'll have a look outside later, I like the idea of the blade running through a slot in an extension to the pipe. But, I have just told my daughter that now the DX is in I will finally get around to her book shelf, so I'll have to be careful she doesn't notice me doing it :lol:

Terry.

 

[Wizard9999]

Interesting Doug, very keen to hear the result latter in the week. The level of suction at the top port on mine is equally weak, so if this works for you I may try something similar.

Have been on the bandsaw a bit today and I am retracting this comment! The suction from that little top hose is brilliant, in fact the whole thing is superb in the cabinet, with almost very spec of dust removed.

But the issue remains that the only dust collected is that which is mechanically pushed / pulled below the table. The suction is nowhere near strong enough to pull anything down into the cabinet from above the table so there is still a fair bit of dust on the table (but it is strong enough to pull it down from the bottom guides once it is below the table). My original thought of a hose above the table directed near the blade is one I will ponder a bit more.

Terry.

 

[Robert]

Your extraction setup is looking good.

I went through a similar process with my bandsaw - making a new extraction take off position and watching where the dust goes around the saw. There comes a point where its not worth messing about any further and you just use it and vacuum up afterwards.

My saw is on wheels. I couldn't do half the things I do with it if it was in one position permanently. Hence my extraction is the best I can do with one flexi hose connection. Hope you don't need to move yours for a job.