Ellis bandsaw DIY air jet

[slodat]

Ellis bandsaws are dry and they don’t recommend coolant. They offer an air blast setup, but it’s $300 + shipping and taxes. I decided to roll my own. All parts come from Automation Direct. Drilled and tapped one hole to mount the air nozzle and two to mount the solenoid valve. The saw has a receptacle for this purpose so the wiring was zero effort. The air line slipped behind things and is out of the way. The needle valve allows you to dial in air flow. About a 15 minute project. Works great! I had the 1/4” airline and supply fittings already on hand. Cost was about $65.

[VaughnT]

Very neat. I've got an Ellis, but never thought about running air to help cool the blade and evacuate chips.

[Lis2323]

Hey I did the same Slodat. Mine is an older model so all homemade parts and not as nice as yours








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[Lis2323]

Oh and I plumbed in an air hose with blowgun for cleanup...





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[slodat]

Yours inspired me to make my own. I’m still sorting out how I want to do the blowgun.

[Lis2323]

Here's a tip for you Ellis owners. The trashed Ellis I bought had the rubber worn off the tires. I can't remember how much replacement wheels were but I know I almost had a stroke. Plus you must remember I require shipping to Canada with its inherent extra costs and hassle.

The recommendation is to replace the worn wheels with OEM units which have vulcanized rubber wheels. So instead....

I removed the vulcanizing, polished the wheel circumference and and installed new rubber "bands". No mean feat even when you follow directions.

HOWEVER They slipped as they are designed for wood saws. With a little bit of fooling around I managed to reinstall them using 3M spray adhesive.

I think the bands came from Bandsaw Direct eBay store.


Anyhow all's well that ends well and I saved a swack of money.






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[12V71]

I have a big Jet saw and run dry, I have used air from a hand held gun at the front end of the cut and it seems to work well, I'm just wondering what is the benefit of air after the cut? An air blast works well with hole saws too.

[slodat]

Nice work! Ordered the parts for a blow gun. Thanks for the inspiration!

[davec]

I have been very pleased with Automation Direct as a supplier for my small projects too. Nice work on that!

[Lis2323]

I have a big Jet saw and run dry, I have used air from a hand held gun at the front end of the cut and it seems to work well, I'm just wondering what is the benefit of air after the cut? An air blast works well with hole saws too.

Air after the cut helps clear the swarf. More critical with the Ellis rubber wheel but perhaps not a deal breaker for your steel wheel.


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[Lis2323]

I have been very pleased with Automation Direct as a supplier for my small projects too. Nice work on that!

I will need to look them up. Thanks for the recommendation guys


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[slodat]

I have been very pleased with Automation Direct as a supplier for my small projects too. Nice work on that!

They are great. I’m on my third cnc control retrofit. Automation Direct is a great resource for all that sort of thing. Free 2 day shipping on $50 orders, too.

This is what I used on my bandsaw:

[12V71]

Air after the cut helps clear the swarf. More critical with the Ellis rubber wheel but perhaps not a deal breaker for your steel wheel.


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Ah, got it.

[psacustomcreations]

Thanks for the parts listing. I want to do this to my saw, but wasn't sure what the parts numbers were or what they were called when I looked on their website.

[BD1]

That's a great idea.
I was thinking about an ELLIS for awhile. Finally bought one a few years ago. I should not have hesitated.
Now that I have it, it saved so much time and it's great for cutting cylinders into bells. That's all Pats fault.
PSAcustomcreations. 😂 Thank You Pat for your inspiration and help.
As for ideas, here's what I made for cutting short materials,in case you haven't seen it .
[ATTACH=CONFIG]1722350

[slodat]

I like that! I’ll need to pickup a chunk of pipe to make one.

Added the blow gun. Considering this finished. Very happy with how it turned out.

[Lis2323]

I like that! I’ll need to pickup a chunk of pipe to make one.

Added the blow gun. Considering this finished. Very happy with how it turned out.

Looks PRO!


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[psacustomcreations]

Thank you to Slodat for the info and pics. I used this as the basis for my air jet. If anyone else uses his parts list above as a basis, I suggest adding the 1/8"NPT to 1/4 air hose adapter and then the 1/8"NPT to 1/4"NPT pipe nipple to your list. My local Home Depot had straight and elbow 1/8NPT to 1/4 hose adapters in stock and I elected to use the elbow. I also decided to use a male QD fitting on the inbound end so the air is not always connected. My air supply is about 6 feet away so I will just connect the saw when needed. That is also the reason I decided not to add an air gun or blower since it is right there anyway.

[tapwelder]

As long as you got air might as well suck instead of just blow. https://guardair.com/products/gun-vac

I have had one for a couple years. Very convenient.

[Lis2323]

Here's a few pics of mine for anyone else going the DIY route.

Homemade nozzle. No comment on what I drew inspiration from lol...






Swivel air joint to allow for free movement of hose when head is lifted or swiveled.



110V power on - valve open solenoid. eBay purchase.



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[Lis2323]

As long as you got air might as well suck instead of just blow. https://guardair.com/products/gun-vac

I have had one for a couple years. Very convenient.

I like mine for cleaning up around the lathe.




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[ronsii]

I like mine for cleaning up around the lathe.




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It always sucks when I have to clean up my lathes....

[slodat]

Thank you to Slodat for the info and pics. I used this as the basis for my air jet...

That’s awesome! I’m glad the info was useful.

[psacustomcreations]

I used it for the first time today.
I think it will be very helpful to cool the blade when I cut the thick aluminum scuba tanks.



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[davec]

Air isn't the best for heat transfer, but it certainly should help. If you find you need even more cooling, then add a vortex air cooler to the circuit and you will be blowing very cold air on it.