and back to work again... This is still a work in progress. I wish I had about 6 months to do nothing but dial in my shop, but... I do it as I can. The opening in the face of the unit is for a drawer to hold routers, other tools. There will be an air manifold above for sanders, polishers, and for the pencil grinder. The fan is built in under the drawer.
The air is sucked through the work surface, filtered, and exhausted through a flue in the back. The V-bank filters are accessed though panels in the sides. I have not needed to pull them out yet, the pre-filter works great.
Here is the ULPA filter that will go directly above the work area. ULPA is a step beyond HEPA in efficiency. Most woodworking filters get the nuisance dust, if that, but the really nasty stuff, most of them do not touch that size dust. It basically stays in suspension in the shop 24-7, especially with any agitation. Some of the nastiest of the small particles are fragments from fancy abrasives like Abralon, and Trizact. super micro, and sharp, and probably slow to break down in the lungs, if at all.
Still lots of work to do..
This table works great. Sanding dust does not escape. It is quiet, because of the amount of damping material in it, and because of the design of the air passages. It is like standing in a gentle, clean, wind. When it is complete, it will not work as well as a whole shop filter, which is the reason for the other unit that will be the table saw outfeed table. That one will be ducted on the ceiling above all the work stations, HEPA air curtains above all the tools, work spaces, with blast gates to be more specific with where the clean air goes. And yes, collecting dust at the source is the first step. In my experience though, I have never seen a straight up dust COLLECTION system that can manage all the dust created in a wood shop. I also have a large spray booth fan that can evacuate my entire shop, separate from my spray booth. When major milling operations are happening, that fan runs, as well as when I sweep the shop, or blow everything down.