Bandsaw chip brush, roll on the side or under the blade?

[Ken from ontario]

I have seen many mods that use the brass wire wheel rotating from under the blade, it is easy enough to do it that way but something in my head keeps telling me to install the wheel rolling on the blade from the side.
Wouldn't it be more efficient in removing chips if installed from the side? . what is your opinion? do you prefer one mod over the other?


I have already made the wheel holder (bearing, 1/4" arbor in a block of aluminum) but there's not much room around the sides of the blade (unless I use a 1" wheel instead of 2"), plenty of room if installed from under but if I go from side, I will be limiting the adjustment of the roller guides.
These two pics are not mine but show the two types of installation.

 

[Flyinfool]

Both pics look like the wire wheel is mounted running on the bottom of the blade, the one is the second pic is just angled to utilize the full width of the wire wheel. The first pic is parallel to the blade and will only contact in a narrow line quickly becoming useless.

 

[SLK001]

I would think that mounting on the side would be the better option. From the side, the bristles would be trying to push the metal particles out of the gullets, while from underneath, the bristles would just be pushing the particles more into the gullets. Gummy metals like aluminum need to be pushed out of the gullets, not into them. Also, lubrication oils will tend to stick the particles to the blade, so side brushing should be more efficient in removing them.

 

[Ken from ontario]

lubrication oils will tend to stick the particles to the blade, so side brushing should be more efficient in removing them.

I see your point on lubrication oils.

 

[Flyinfool]

With the brush at an angle to the blade you will have sideways wiping action to push chips out of the gullets. I do not think any of the brush methods will do much for wiping off oil stiction of chips. ANd side mounted will only hit one side of the blade. It will not take long before there are a lot of chips in the brush, it is quite realistic that the brush could deposit chips from a previous cut in a differant material onto the blade. The oils will make this worse.

 

[projectnut]

I have a Startrite H175 horizontal/vertical saw in my shop and a friend has an Ellis 1600 saw in his. Both machines have the wire wheel style brush on the side of the blade. Here's a link to the Ellis 1600 parts manual:

http://www.ellissaw.com/wp-content/uploads/parts_catalog_2h_Pages2b_c-11.pdf

The location of the chip brush is shown on page 3.

Here's a link to a Startrite sales brochure:

https://www.sterlingmachinery.com/media/brochures1/file/startrite-horizontal-band-cut-off-machines-brochure.pdf

All their smaller saws use an wheel style angled brush. It's under a guard just to the right of and below the right side blade guide. The largest machines use a pair of straight brushes angled toward the blade inside the right blade guide assembly as shown on page 11.

 

[Ken from ontario]

It's good to know the side mounted version is what's used by bigger manufacturers.
I'm working on similar mount as Eliis1600, (Thanks Projectnut) only because I'm half way there but if I had more room on the sides of the blade I would use two wheels like Startrite on page 11.
Thank you all for confirming what made more sense.

 

[mikey]

Ken, the best way to answer this question is to test it. I did exactly that and ended up with the brush in-line with the blade. I tested one brush vs two, side vs head on, static vs ball bearing supported and wound up with a ball bearing supported wheel in line with the blade under the lower blade guide. I use a 1" fine wire wheel and it has lasted over 10 years at this point and has not worn significantly or needed replacement.

There is not a lot of definitive information on bandsaw brushes on the net. Lots of opinions but rather than rely on that, I tested it myself. I use only stick wax on my saw so I do not know how using oil or coolant would affect performance, nor do I intend to find out because I find the wax sufficient for my needs. What is most important to me is that my blades last a long time; my current Lenox Die-master 2 blade is going on to its 6th year and is still going strong and I believe much of that has to do with the chip brush.

As to how well it works, this crappy picture is Delrin. Sorry for the quality but that blade is running. Note that the right side above the Delrin bar is nearly clear of any debris.



That is what the chip brush does. So, in my opinion, a single rotating in-line brush works well and seems to significantly extend the life of the blade. It is cheap and simple to make and has a very good service life. I have a write up on this that I intended to post but haven't gotten around to it.

Anyway, hope this helps.

 

[aliva]

I just converted a wood band saw to metal and also put a brush on the blade. I mounted mine under the table before the blade contacts the wheel. I angled mine to intersect the blade at about 45'. Works great. Although some members suggested this was a waste of time and not worth it. I totally disagree. For 4$ the brush may prevent contamination of the wheel tiers.

 

[DavidR8]

I just converted a wood band saw to metal and also put a brush on the blade. I mounted mine under the table before the blade contacts the wheel. I angled mine to intersect the blade at about 45'. Works great. Although some members suggested this was a waste of time and not worth it. I totally disagree. For 4$ the brush may prevent contamination of the wheel tiers.

At the risk of hijacking this thread, @aliva can you share a pic of your setup?