Laguna 14BX Bandsaw - Airflow

M

MarkFerraro

Member
I bought a new Laguna 14BX band saw and have hooked up two 4 inch hose connections. There is not enough air flow from the band saw, as the vacuum from the CV DC sucks the lower door so hard it is impossible to open it. The flex hoses also shrink back under the vacuum. You can hear the DC laboring to get enough air. Should I drill holes in the plate around the blade, which is solid aluminum? Any suggestions or should I not worry about it?
 
Mark,
I drilled holes in the insert for my 14" delta bandsaw and it did very little good. Whatever is being sawed usually covers the holes anyway. The delta covers are open enough that airflow is not restricted. In your case the covers must be really tight and they will restrict airflow. I would try to open up the front of the saw just below the table and where the blade goes thru the lower guides. Good airflow there will do the most to collect dust.
bababrown
 
The Laguna14BX has a plastic insert that straddles the blade below the lower blade guides. I've never seen that on a band saw and I'm wondering if that block (their term) is restricting the airflow. Outside the lower door is a sliding shield that is supposed to cinch up to the bottom of the table to increase dust collection but I don't see how it helps or hinders. I'll have to ponder the problem a bit more. You are right about drilling holes in the throat plate: the work piece covers it up anyways. I might just open another blast gate a bit to add more air to the dust collector stream. Hate the sound of the DC being starved for air.

Thanks for your help.
 
Turn the throat plate around or take it right out. The kerf opening is behind the blade as you are cutting, so the work will push dust in that direction. Having no throat plate allows everything to flow down, with the blade.
Don
 
I have a Rikon 17" bandsaw that was not so good at dust collection. I widened the slot for the bandsaw blade and drilled numerous holes through the plate that supports the table to help get air to the narrow box where the upper 4 inch dust collection outlet is located. I also used some vinyl air curtain strips attached to the lower door and the front of the wheel housing below the table to help corral the dust and channel air to the outlet. This really helped collect dust. I also got an adapter that connects a 6 inch duct to 3 4 inch ducts and ran an additional, positionable duct to above the table. If I can ever figure out how to upload pictures to the gallery site, I'll post them to the dust hoods and pickups section.
 
MarkFerraro said:
You can hear the DC laboring to get enough air.
Click to expand...

Err.. common misconception, that. The DC is not actually laboring here, but simply idling with little effort. This can be confirmed if you like, by measuring the AC current draw with an ammeter. The lowest current draw is when all of the blast gates in the system are closed, and the highest draw (and heaviest motor labor) is when all of the gates are open.

But I do support the effort to get as much airflow as possible through the bandsaw, as that only helps with capturing more material, despite the extra work it gives to the DC. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top