Replies

1. 
   desertmaster | Dec 17, 2005 08:01am | #1

   Mitch,

       I have seen postings on the internet by people who have done it and who recommend it.  Have you checked the Iturra bandsaw catalog?  I seem to remember them selling a dust collector connector and flange kit for those who intend to do what you mention.    Gary

1. 
   PeteMoss | Dec 17, 2005 06:23pm | #2

   Gary,

   No I haven't heard of that catalog before. I will try to locate their website.

   Thanks,

   Mitch

1. 
   DP | Dec 18, 2005 06:52pm | #7

   Iturra doesn't hanve a website but they advertise in FWW where they list an 800 number.

1. 
   EdHarrow | Dec 19, 2005 03:31am | #8

   Iturra is the best.  Louis' catalog is (was) free, and a wealth of information for which others charge real money.

   http://home.comcast.net/~ed.harrow/shop_and_tools1.htm

   There are some pictures here showing how I adapted my ancient Delta for dust collection.  Not perfect, but much better.

1. 
   Elcoholic | Dec 28, 2005 02:37am | #14

   Ed,

   I have almost the same saw circa '47.  It has the 6" riser, 2 speed reduction gear and a 4 step pulley for metal cutting duty.  I have a DC flange for 2" hose on the lower cover @ 6:00, cut-off tooth brushes on each wheel and the fuzzy half of velcro in the bottom of the blade guard to wipe the blade.  I'd give it a 80 - 85% DC effectiveness rating.  When I bought it it had an ancient laminated 1/2 horse motor which I've replaced with 1 1/2 hp motor.  I also have the Fastrack fence.  With a fresh PS low tension swedish steel blade it does a pretty decent job of resawing 10" walnut, but I'd sure like a 20" Minimax or Laguna for serious resawing of harder wood.John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking

   The more things change ...

   We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized.  I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.

   Petronious Arbiter, 210 BC

2. 
   EdHarrow | Dec 28, 2005 07:18am | #15

   John, all I know is that this puppy is ancient, possibly pre WWII (it has no serial number, the top wheel is a disc).  The son of the original owner gave it to me, pretty much as built.  It had the original induction/repulsion motor (the switch was broken), and the fence was missing.  I was loath to butcher it by adding a port onto the lower cover.  I'd cobbled a couple of different attempts, but finally I saw the technique I'm using now and, imatation being the sincerest form of flattery, I copied it!

   Currently I'm using a little Fein vac as the collector, but today I took delievery of a proper JDS collector...  :-)

2. 
   forestgirl | Dec 24, 2005 09:24am | #10

   Iturra doesn't have a web site, but if you own a band saw you must (IMHO) have their catalog!  Phone number is 1-888-722-7078.

   This catalog is a great read, as it has extensive info in it, not just stuff for sale.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

1. 
   PeteMoss | Dec 27, 2005 08:23pm | #13

   Thanks, I called them and asked them to send me one. I am anxiously awaiting it.

    

   Mitch

3. 
   kstyer | Jan 10, 2006 07:27pm | #20

   Mitch,I just called Louis Iturra for his bandsaw catalog.
   The no. is: 1-888-722-7078. This was right after
   Christmas and they hadn't received the 2006 catalog
   from the printers yet. There is no cost for the catalog
   and they'll ship it out as soon as they receive them.
   I don't believe Iturra has a website.Ken

2. 
   DennisS | Dec 17, 2005 06:54pm | #3

   Mitch -

   I have the same saw with a shop built enclosed base. I cut a 4" diameter hole in the bottom door and made a sleeve onto which I could attach a piece of flexible 4" hose to then attach to the DC ducting. This gathers quite a bit of the dust but unfortunately I did this before seeing how the newer saws deal with dust collection in the bottom housing. I cut my hole near the lower bearing guides whereas it would have been better to have placed it at or much nearer the bottom of the door.

   Better still, and what I intend to do in the near future is to cut a slot along the bottom portion of the lower door and fabrictate a chute through the base somewhat like the arrangement on a cabinet saw.

1. 
   PeteMoss | Dec 17, 2005 07:21pm | #4

   Thanks Dennis,

   That is kind of what I was thinking too. I have the factory metal cabinet, but it is the kind with a solid top. So I think I would have to cut out the bottom of the lower door and then cut a corosponding hole through the top of the cabinet. Then I will either have to fabricate some type of chute that runs over to the side of the cabinet where I will have to cut an exit hole, or just maybe attach a piece of hose to the underside of the hole in the cabinet top somehow. Metal fabrication is not my strong point, so it is rather daunting to me. I do have some family members who do metal ductwork for heating and ac. They might be able to help me construct a chute.

   Mitch

1. 
   DennisS | Dec 18, 2005 06:01am | #5

   Mitch -If you have 'relations' that do sheetmetal work, yer on the right track. If you look at the newer saws, this is the approach they've taken. And if you look at how and where the waste accumulates in the bottom of the saw it's easy to understand why.Right now my shop is sub freezing temps while I work on the heat exchanger for the wood stove in order to heat the in-floor heat tubing. As a result most shop activities have been, shall we say, subdued. Once I get all that straightened out I'll address things like dust collection on my bandsaw.I might ask - if you have the factory metal base then I'm assuming yours is the 1hp model as opposed to my 3/4hp. Do you find it adequately powered? I'm leaning to upgrading the motor on mine to at least 1hp if not more. Do you (or anyone following this thread) know if there's a problem such as overpowering this saw with something like a 1 1/2 or 2hp motor.

1. 
   PeteMoss | Dec 18, 2005 06:21am | #6

   I actually bought this saw used. It was pretty well full featured, I thought. It has the factory cabinet stand, mobile base, six inch riser, ball bearing upper guides, and a 1 1/2 hp motor. Dust collection never entered my mind when I bought it.

   As far as power goes, the 1 1/2 hp seems to be pretty powerful. I don't really have a frame of reference though as this is my first experience with a band saw. I have been able to cut stock out of a section of 10" diameter cherry log. It didn't bog down from the thickness at all, but when the blade gets in a bind, like from the stock twisting when being fed through, then it will bog down and actually trip the household breaker to my garage.

   I could really say for sure about upgrading the motor on one. This one doesn't really look different to the Delta saws with a smaller motor. At least on the ones that I have looked at, the frames and such appear to be the same. My guess is that Delta uses pretty much the same framework on all of them so that the can offer different models without having to retool their assembly process very much.

3. 
   rod | Dec 19, 2005 04:55am | #9

   Within the last two years there was an article by Michael Fortune in FWW about adding dust collection, brushes to keep sawdust off the rubber tires and a discussion of bandsaw blades and tensioning. On the basis of that article I bought a male flange for a 2and1/2 inch connection,
   cut a hole in the bottom of the bottom door of the saw and added two brushes one for each wheel. It improved the dust collection quite a bit and now the tires are clean. You can buy the lower brush from Iturra. As I recall, I drilled a series of holes and then with a piece of hack saw blade cut the hole out, bolted the flange over the hole and connected to my saw dust collector. Sorry, but I can't give a reference.
   Rod

4. 
   Pop | Dec 27, 2005 02:08pm | #11

       Hi Pete,

   I also have a Delta 14" band saw, I just got it out of storage, 2 years. I have installed two brushes to the wheels and for the dust removal duct under the table, I found and old flexable radator hose from some auto, with a bend, I just love the way the hose flex's, and fits the plastic tube of the machine. I have not done any resawing, as yet, but it will be done in time. I also have seen recently in some mag. about installing another suction duct at the bottom of the door. But I will say again, the flexable radiator hose with a bend, is a great addition!

   good luck  Pop

1. 
   PeteMoss | Dec 27, 2005 08:22pm | #12

   Hey Pop,

   Thats a great idea about he radiator hose going to the under table port. I will have to try that. Also, if you happen to remember where you saw the article about adding the dust port to then bottom of the housing, please let me know.

   I did get me one of those little carter products tire brushes for Christmas. I installed it yesterday, and it actually seems to work pretty good. I was suprised. Also got a new Timber Wolf blade. Very nice.

   Thanks again.

5. 
   PeteMoss | Dec 28, 2005 05:30pm | #16

   Thanks everyone for the replys. This is what I found this morning.

   http://www.tools-for-woodworking.com/library/bandsawdustcontrol.pdf

   I think I will try something like this. Probably easier than trying to cut through the base.

   Mitch

    

1. 
   Dazz | Jan 05, 2006 10:47pm | #17

   I also have a Delta 14" saw, about 10 years old.  Some time ago I cut a 4" port in the bottom of the lower door, as has been discussed here. It worked fairly well, but I wasn't fully satisfied. The problem with that setup is, the dust falling down still gets trapped between the blade and the lower wheel tire before it gets to the suction port, and then gets compressed and sticks to the tire.

   I wanted to catch all the dust right below the table, before it ever got to the lower housing. So, I made a "zero-clearance" baffle out of a piece of masonite, and attached it to the lower door, near the spring latch. It mounts horizontally, and has a saw kerf in it, such that when I open/close the lower door, the blade enters/leaves the kerf. In operation, the blade is passing down thru it at about the height of the original cheesy dust port.  This helps catch the dust that drops on both sides of the blade. In combination with the zero-clearance plate, I also replaced the original small dust port with a cobbled up large dust port made out of a rectangular sheet metal heat register from Home Depot (I believe it's about 4" x 8" or so); it has a 4" round take-off that my dc hose connects to. I mounted a short section of old piano hinge to that, and drilled/tapped a couple holes in the cast iron frame of the saw below the table, mounted the hinge there. That assembly replaces the original small dust port; being hinged, it swings out of the way when I need to access the lower blade guides, etc. I keep it closed with a bungee cord.  It's mounted vertically, ie, the 8" length is the vertical dimension. Being tucked up under the table close to the lower guides, it captures most of the dust (which also gets blocked by the zero-clearance plate) before the dust goes into the lower wheel housing.  Also, it does not interfere with dropping the table to 45 degrees.

   With this setup, I no longer use the 4" port I cut into the lower door. I don't have wheel brushes yet, and I do get a small amount of dust on the lower wheel still, but it's not significant.  My next go-round with this will be to modify the dust port to also capture dust that falls down thru the table kerf. I get a lot of that when cutting turning blanks out of logs, but at least it's on the floor and not in the wheel housing.

2. 
   360guy | Jan 10, 2006 12:54am | #18

   I saw the link you pointed out and used the design on my bandsaw last weekend.  I really like it .  It gets most of the dust.

   One modification I did was to put some 1/2" fence wire just inside the plastic adaptor opening.  I epoxied it in place after I bent it to fit.  This was to protect any accidental fingers reaching in where they shouldn't be.  I use a portable dust collector and switch it from one machine to another as needed. But, there are times when I do a very small quick job on the bandsaw and I might not take the time to hook up the dust collector hose.  It is for that reason that I saw the need to add the protective wire in front of the bandsaw wheel spokes.  ( my skin crawls at the thought of 4" of unprotected areaand what could happen).  

   Good Luck to you!     

6. 
   jquinn | Jan 10, 2006 05:25am | #19

   I cut a 2.5" hole on the bottom of the lower blade door and installed a 2.5" dust port I bought from Oneida.  I had to cut off part of the flange on the dust port, otherwise it would overhang the bottom of the door.  I connect it and a short hose coming off the small dust port right below the table with a wye connecter.  no special tools required, just a 2.5" hole/saw drill bit, a hacksaw to saw the flange, and some files to clean up the flange.  I used nuts and bolts to attach rather than sheet metal screws, as I didn't want anything with a jagged edge protruding into the saw.  (The nuts are on the outside)

   It does better than it used to, but I have a undersized/underpowedered Delta dust collector right now - 1/2 HP I think.  I'm sure it would do better if and when I get a more powerful dust collector.