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I am installing a Clear Vue dust collector and want to improve the collection on my 14" Delta Bandsaw. It only has a 4" connection on the cast iron body. I have a 6" drop (~800cfm) and a 4" drop (~350cfm) for use (both of these come out a a 7" main line yielding about ~1150 cfm total). I'm looking for ideas to capture as much fine dust as possible.

If it made sense, I could divide the 6" into 4" and 5" giving me 3 collection points ( 4", 4" and 5") instead of 2 (6" and 4").

Pictures would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ed

Nice set up Todd.
Congrats on the Clear Vue Ed! Serious suckatude. I met Ed Morgano and his son back in 2006 and was mighty impressed with his product. We lived very close by while my wife attended Grad School at Clempson (sic Go Heels!).
I have an 18" Rikon Bandsaw connected to my 6" main with 2, 4" hoses off a wye connected to the factory dust ports (one under the arbor from the front and one attached to the lower wheel housing). When I'm sawing noxious wood I also run a Fein vac with HEPA with the hose connected to a kludged together piece of scrap with a piece of coat hanger wire holding the hose and a bar magnet attached. I try to get the vac hose as close as I can get it to the back side of the blade behind the top thrust bearing. Not 100% perfect but I'm not as Orange when resawing Cocobolo as I was prior.

Todd,

Thanks much for pics and help. Yes, I bought some shims from Iturra. Without blade tension load, my upper wheel showed that it needed to be shimmed out a little less than 1/8" to be coplanar using a 36" Stew Mac straight edge. But under the full tension load a of 1/2" blade it showed almost no need for shimming. Is this typical? I took the shim back out since it was coplanar under load and tracking well.

I have already taken the grate out of the cast 4" dust port - saw no need for it and a waste of SP loss.

If I add a 4" to the lower door and put a 4" on the lower cast dust port, would it also make sense to put a 5" under the table somewhat like you have? That would give me three collection points. Or I could put 6" on the lower door, block up the 4" cast dust port and put 4" under the table giving me two collection points. Any thoughts from your experience?

Thanks,
Ed

Putting one 6" on the lower door (~800cfm) would pull more than the two 4" ducts (4" on cast port and 4" on door ~700cfm) and it is also, as the two ports option, pulling from below. I also wonder if the two ports on the same lower wheel could possibly fight one another to some degree? (I don't have enough experience to know if that is an erroneous thought.) I assume I could just not use the cast port (cover it) and just use a 6" on the door with seals around the door and be ahead of game. Where is my thinking flawed?

I am surprised that some additional collection below the table and/or above the table would not have been useful. Again, where is my thinking flawed? I have the extra air available to use and want to put it to best use to eliminate the fine dust, whether that is one, two, or three collection ports.

I am not challenging your suggestions, but just looking for clarification of your thinking and experience against other possibilities. Your help is greatly appreciated since you have the experience with the Delta saw. I really like your addition on the door.

Ed

Where is the makeup air coming from on the lower wheel housing for a 6" DC hose? Unless you have a large opening somewhere my old 14" Delta didn't have, fresh air supply is only coming in through small openings below the trunion (where the blade enters the lower housing) and on the other side where the blade exits. The type of fan you have can't pull a large enough negative pressure to overcome the resistance those narrow openings create. You will just loose that potential airflow. It's not like using a shop vac where you can pull a lot of negative pressure. You can only pull out the air that's freely available.
I would concentrate the majority of your cfm around the trunion area. where the dust first is presented under the table and makeup air is freely available. You have the best chance of capturing it there. Once it's in the lower wheel housing it's trapped for the most part and you're just needing to keep it from piling up.

Todd, I have the cheezy 4" sheetmetal thing. When you got rid of it did you do anything to that area to help control the dust, other than putting the port in the door?