Air Filtration?

I have been doing lots of digging around on the internet about filtration ever sense I got sick. I am finding that the off the shelf, hang off the ceiling unit is no better than a box fan with a furnace filter. I saw comparisons and the box fan did almost as good as a 300 dollar unit. I also saw that the homemade unit is with a wood box and squirrel cage and filters is quieter and more efficient than the off the shelf unit. So my question is has anyone on here made one, and if so how good does it work. I don't mind spending the money for one but seeing how the filters are cheaper on a shop made one and also right down the street at home depot then I am thinking that I can whip one up pretty easy. Thoughts?

Yes, totally agree. Squirrel cage fans are inefficient and loud for the quantity of air they move. I have built several air filtration systems, and been happy with all. I have used standard air filters, industrial HEPA filters, and am currently using a large carbon cannister filter. Using ducting to circulate the whole shop rather than just an area is a good idea. Also, consider a downdraft table that doubles as a standalone air filter unit, I designed and built mine, am very happy with it. Removing dust immeditely at the source is important too.

All of the air filtration systems I have seen for sale are very expensive for what they do. After building my own, I will probably never look back. I installed one of the small box type filters with a squirrel cage, like the JET types. It was about 20" x 18" x 20 and had a deep pocket type filter. It really didn't help too much compared with the system I run now.

When my Jet dust collector motor went down, so did my shop. Unfortunately, WMG didn't have the 3hp motor in stock & had to ship it from China ( or Taiwan). I brought in a cyclone and set it up faster than the motor trip, so the motor now resides in my resaw.

Proper dust collection is required in my shop, as are masks (one for dust & a separate one for vapor). The only time neither is used is during glue up, or engraving, basically.

Air filters catch what's in the air. What are you using to catch it at the source?

Aaron

Aaron is onto it. Don't let the dust get into the air in the first place.

I'm going to do a major upgrade on my horribly inadequate dust collection in a few months. I need at least a 7 1/2 hp system to keep up with my wide belt sander; I'd love to have good collection on the band saws and table saw; the potter's wheel disc sander is a real dust cloud machine, etc.

Anyone want a project CNC machine cheap? 1993 Digital Tool Co. Two heads. working envelope of about 3' by 4' It's in my way.

I have a box fan with a good filter; nice to hear that it compares well to the "store bought" ones That plus a big shop vac I connect to whichever machine I'm using. And I wear those disposable dust masks if I'm doing something particularly dusty. If it's warm out though, I just open the windows and run a fan (that works best).

I have just used a shop-vac and now I am setting up a complete system. I am going with a cyclone type system with a 30 gal chip holding. I an looking at powering it with the CAN-FAN and also looking at using the charcoal filter. Sense I am starting from scratch I am able to do what I want. I am looking and reading all I can so I make it right the first time. I am also looking at building a sanding table that is on casters and can be used as air filtration as well. With all internal and some storage in it for tools. I want it to be safe and right so I wont have problems again. Thanks for all the help and suggestions.

The can fan does not have sufficient pressure to pull wood chips, it is not good for a standard dust collection system. Along the same lines, it has greater pressure than standard squirrel cage fans, and is also more energy efficient. This is why the can fan is better for air FILTRATION and generally moving air through ducts.

The fans used for dust collectors move high volumes of air, at pretty decent pressure. If you are looking for one, there is an old taken apart dust collector in the spare parts storage of the shop next door. I have spent time around it when it was fully intact, and it is a great unit, I think 2HP totally TEFC motor with ducting for dust collection. You would need to provide the filter/ separation units/pieces. It is a great suction unit. PM me if you want it, I will check if it is available for sale.

The CANFAN is for air filtration. When designing any sort of air moving system, remember that you are dealing with the physics of fluid mechanics, and the 'rules' are not always as obvious as one might think. I spent some time at a machine shop that built racing motors. One day in the head porting room, one of the engineers showed me some stuff about airflow, in question form. I answered incorrectly to every question

For the question of removing dust at the source, check out the festool tools, and their dust collection units. This is the concept. Then look at every dust producing tool in your shop, look at how much dust gets poast the existing dust collection, and then how to reduce it. Time well spent.

Just in case it isn't clear to some of the readers.....
There are two topics here. One is that of air filtration and the other of dust collection. The box units with squirrel cage blowers or off the shelf box units are to remove the small visible and non visible dust particles that are not eliminated through the dust collector at the source of the dust. The dust collectors that have piping running to each tool is to suck up the big dust as we make our cuts, routs etc.

I made an air filtration box with furnace blower and mounted it to the ceiling above my work bench. It works pretty darn good. If I'm sanding with an orbital sander etc. it pulls those small dust particles up and it doesn't take long and I need to clean the filters. I have a jet dust collector and have yet to properly build a piping network. I'm still using plastic hose that is always connected to the table saw and radial arm saw but I have to move hose around to the thickness sander, planer, jointer and band saw. One of these days I will get around to setting it up right.

Rick,
I had a Digital, 5x10 table, that I bought out of a bankruptcy back in 2000. Sold it just a few years ago. They seem to be worth more as parts machines than actual routers.

I found Dan's dust solution to be interesting but I questioned how much heat or AC would be forced out of the building.

Fine Woodworking published very good article on dust collection last year that I recommend if you are thinking about buying a system of one sort or the other. It really is an important health issue especially if you are lucky enough to spend as much time in the shop as we would all like to.


http://www.finewoodworking.com/ToolGuide/ToolGuidePDF.aspx?id=34367

A Revolution in Dust Collection
The industry gets serious about the subject, with safer products for every budget

by Asa Christiana

The trouble with wood dust is that the most dangerous particles—the very fine ones—are the most difficult to collect. Under 10 microns in size, they hang longest in the air, penetrate deepest into the lungs, and are the hardest for the body to eject. Our corner of the woodworking world has been slow to tackle the problem of adequate dust collection, but more and more manufacturers are getting serious about the subject, and effective solutions are now available for every size shop. Learn the differences among the cyclone, the single-stage dust collector, and the shop vacuum, how to choose the right filter, and how to use a dust separator to make your system the best it can be.

From Fine Woodworking #223