Porter Cable Dust Blower upgraded with Air Pump.

[IBMer]

Hello,  I recently bought my first scroll saw.   It's just a Porter Cable from Lowes, but hey, it's my first, and I'm just learning.    Anyhow, I wasn't impressed with the dust blower that came with the saw.   It's basically a small rubber ball that is squeezed each time the upper arm comes up.   It works ok when the saw is turned up to a high speed, but hardly does anything at lower blade speeds.


So today, I decided to buy a Tetra Whisper Deepwater Air Pump, Model 150 and hooked it up in place of my stock bellows.   I pulled the stock hose out of the Stock Flexible blower, and pushed the new air line back into it, all the way to the very tip.     I noticed a tiny little bit of air blowing back out, so I dabbed a little silicone to stop any chance of leaks.

I drilled a hole into the cover that originally held the bellows and ran the new air line through the cover.   Then, I zip tied the the line off to the side and to the rear of the saw where I placed the Air Pump.     It looks almost stock.

Anyhow, my first impression is that it blows 3 times more air than the stock set-up and doesn't care if the blade speed is high or low.  I can actually feel the air blowing on my hand and it keeps my patterns clear of dust without causing a Hurricane.   The air pump is designed to work in a 150 gallon aquarium and it has the power to push 2 liters per minute of air down to 8 feet into the water.  It came with a lifetime warranty and is nearly silent.   According to the manufacturer, the air pump reaches it peak capabilities after a few hours of use, so I'm thinking the pressure will only get better as it breaks-in.    I'll try to post some pics, but there isn't much to see besides the new air line running down the side of the machine.  

I'm sure my Girlfriend will appreciate me not asking her to please blow the dust off my work piece, since I'm wearing a dust mask and can't do it myself while cutting.   She doesn't mind, since she likes to watch me cut, but I think the new pump will be really nice for us both....

[Mainewoods]

John,  I was satisfied with the airflow on my Porter Cable, until the bellows cracked!  Then, like you, I added a fish tank air pump, and all was well again.  I hooked mine into my foot switch, so when I turned on my saw, the pump came on too. 

That PC saw is a very capable saw!  I upgraded to the Delta 40-690 when Woodcraft put them on sale for $350, but if they hadn't, I'd still be using my PC saw.  I would make one suggestion though.  Order a set (or 2) of the thumbscrews for a DeWalt 788.  They will fit the PC clamps, and you'll find they hold the blade better.  Especially if you use spirals!  I wrote up a post explaining the difference in the thumbscrews.  I'll look and see if I can find it.

Glen

[Billy in Va]

Im with you on the air flow from the bellows.  I used a nebulizer (breathing machine) instead of an aquarium pump and it works great. I liked it so much that I moved it when I upgraded to a Dewalt 788. I just brought the airline up and zippy tied it to the saw and ran it dwon the existing air tube.  I did it that way to avoid  mdoifying the saw. Also if the air pu,p goes south, I still have some air form the bellows I also hooked it in to the foot switch. Oh I found the nebuliaer at a yard sale.
 

[king310]

I own a porter cable scrollsaw. (Lowes) So far it is working well except for a few minor problems. I purchased a two year extended warranty with it. So if I have that type of problem I will return it and upgrade. You should not have to put up with defective equipment. Lowes has been good about taking defective items back.