One of the most important tools in any shop (after your Clear Vue Cyclone, of course) is the bandsaw. I have a copy of a popular bandsaw book on the making of small boxes, and it is replete with lots of pictures from the author's old reliable Delta bandsaw, and the one thing they all have in common is the incredible amount of fine sawdust that is piled up all over the machine. There is no dust collection evident and the pictures set an incredibly bad example not only from a health standpoint but from the obvious fire hazard too.
I have a 14" Grizzly Tools bandsaw, and like most others like it, it has a 4" dust port molded into the lower wheel housing. It is adequate but far from perfect, even with good air volume, because the lower blade guides are above the housing, and spread sawdust everywhere.
A lot of bandsaw owners come up with different ways to control dust, and this is how I did it, and built it into the new 6" ducting.
The first step is to make some kind of box that will enclose the lower guides of the saw without obstructing them, and adapting that box into the dust collection system. To start, I cut down a piece of PVC pipe that was the correct width, and fitted it with 1/4" plywood ends.
I glued a piece off an old shop-vac wand into the back of the PVC box, and used a piece of flex hose to adapt it into the vacuum system. I later added an additional side piece of 1/4" plywood to each side, that was carefully cut to fit up closely underneath the cast iron table.
I used some light velcro I had to hold it in place. I have since switched to a heavier velcro because it works very well.
I have a 14" Grizzly Tools bandsaw, and like most others like it, it has a 4" dust port molded into the lower wheel housing. It is adequate but far from perfect, even with good air volume, because the lower blade guides are above the housing, and spread sawdust everywhere.
A lot of bandsaw owners come up with different ways to control dust, and this is how I did it, and built it into the new 6" ducting.
The first step is to make some kind of box that will enclose the lower guides of the saw without obstructing them, and adapting that box into the dust collection system. To start, I cut down a piece of PVC pipe that was the correct width, and fitted it with 1/4" plywood ends.
I glued a piece off an old shop-vac wand into the back of the PVC box, and used a piece of flex hose to adapt it into the vacuum system. I later added an additional side piece of 1/4" plywood to each side, that was carefully cut to fit up closely underneath the cast iron table.
I used some light velcro I had to hold it in place. I have since switched to a heavier velcro because it works very well.
