| I have been on the lookout for an
easy, cheap and effective dust collection option for my Taiwanese
import 14" generic bandsaw for some time. Searching the web reveals
a few options for modifications which look ok, but some involved
building complex box assemblies to which a 4" hose then connected
to, with some tricky mounting procedures. Others involve cutting
holes in the bandsaw doors or drilling into the saw casting to
attach them. Some used a hose connected down near the bottom wheel
of the saw, and while this works well, I discovered that it doesn't
catch some of the dust that flies out to the right of the saw just
beneath the table.
After a bit of research, it seemed to best place
to place a dust hose is right beneath the table to the right of the
blade, just lateral to the below table blade guides. This would
catch almost all the dust shooting down below into the bottom wheel
area, as well as any dust that shoots out laterally from the table.
It was also logical that, for the most efficient extraction, you
would want a full 4" (or larger hose) sitting pretty close to the
blade, not anything smaller, like some of the small, thin opening
dust attachments you can buy for these saws... they simply don't do
the job.
The problem was, how to attach the hose and keep
it directly under the table next to the blade. I first though
magnets... these would hold the hose strongly, but because the hose
is round and the underside of the table has flat undulations,
getting a good fix was difficult, plus gluing magnets to the hose
would be tricky.
So then the answer came... Ok, so its not the
nicest looking thing, but it costs virtually nothing and it works a
treat for cutting from 0 - 25 degrees or so (see below for
limitations). Simply suspend your 4" hose under the table by using a
small length of tie wire and hang it from the table leveling pin on
the right side edge of the table. I sat the hose underneath and
wrapped some wire around the hose, then around the leveling pin and
twisted it on to lock into place. Like I said, not pretty, but now
the hose opening sits pretty much over the guides and perhaps an
inch or two away from the blade, directly under the table opening
for the blade. Attached to a 1HP extractor (or higher), there is
ample air draw right next to the blade to catch virtually all dust
that falls below the table (which is almost all dust during a
bandsaw cut (the blade drags the dust down).
I am lucky in that I have a small portable 1HP
extractor I use solely for my bandsaw, so I can leave the hose
attached permanently. It is a bit troublesome to remove the hose,
however, if you want to take it off, you can simply take out the
leveling pin and the hose can be removed in a flash, and re-added
just as easily. The hose doesn't weigh a whole lot so there is
minimal load on the leveling pin too, so nothing should break
anytime soon.
After making this 2 cent modification (the
relative cost of a short piece of tie wire), and in under 1 minute,
my bandsaw dust collection problem is solved. No more having to
remove the bottom wheel cover and vacuum it out all the time, and
little dust found around the saw or in any of the small casting rib
areas.
The other advantages are that there are no hoses
sticking out the front of the saw, and it doesn't impede the top
surface of the bandsaw table in any way, plus it actually holds
there quite firmly and doesn't move during use.
The downside: Ok, so nothing is perfect. If
you need to tilt your bandsaw table beyond 20-25 degrees, it will
start squashing the hose, so you may need to reposition it or work
around the problem some other way. I mostly resaw on the bandsaw at
the square 0 degree setting so it's not a problem for me, but your
mileage may vary.
Otherwise, it works great! Try it yourself if you
have one of these 14" generic import bandsaws! |
