After Two Years And A Couple Of Miscues...

[coolidge]

What are your thoughts on this Bill...one thing that concerns me having a smaller confined space shop is using abrasives in the same environment as machine tools. So surface grinder, flap disk cleaning when welding, isn't there a risk of abrasive grit damaging the machine ways?

 

[JimDawson]

What are your thoughts on this Bill...one thing that concerns me having a smaller confined space shop is using abrasives in the same environment as machine tools. So surface grinder, flap disk cleaning when welding, isn't there a risk of abrasive grit damaging the machine ways?

The grit from a surface grinder is pretty easy to control because you keep it wet when grinding. Also you are going to set the machines so the discharge points away from other machines. The grit drops out very fast, even grinding dry.

Bench grinders discharge should be channeled downward. If you wanted to go to the trouble the discharge could be terminated in a bucket of water. Hand grinding can be done so the discharge is aimed towards non-critical surfaces, like you, or out the door. Or if needed, take the project outside.

My biggest problem is controlling the dust from my blast cabinet. I can't use it in the central area of the shop, I wheel it over by the door or actually out the door sometimes. I have an old shop-vac mounted on the side, and a discharge hose that I run out the door and point it at the neighbors place.

 

[kvt]

Small space, I do my hand grinding out side if possible or aimed down and 180 away from equipment. you still get some so afterward, I always lightly blow off the machine and clean ways etc, with the damp oil rag. It does help, Sand blast I do outside, but it limits when I can do it, Badly since we have had all the rain this year. In fact in a flood watch until Thurs again.

 

[wrmiller]

As Jim said, the surface grinder really wouldn't be a problem. My friend the pistolsmith was in a smaller space than I have in the early days and had his surface grinder literally right next to his big mill. We didn't have any problems that I recall.

I do have a bench grinder, buffer, and a 2" belt grinder that throws most of the particulates but they throw most at the floor right below themselves. The only hand grinding I do is with a goose neck dremmel and it doesn't generate much of a mess unless I'm using carbide burrs, but those spit nasty little slivers and not oxide dust. One of the reasons I keep my lathes and mills covered when not in use is to control dust/particulates.

One of my biggest concerns about welding is the small space I'm in and the fact that welding is dirty and spits off fumes and hot stuff that can cause fires and such. So I'm not real comfortable doing this in an attached garage with bedrooms right above. Now if I had a nice welding table, say 4'x4' with side and back shields 3' high and a down-draft or something similar that sucked up the fumes/smoke I 'might' attempt it. Maybe. I'm not even sure something like that exists. As I said, I don't know enough about it yet.

 

[Duker]

The grit from a surface grinder is pretty easy to control because you keep it wet when grinding. Also you are going to set the machines so the discharge points away from other machines. The grit drops out very fast, even grinding dry.

Bench grinders discharge should be channeled downward. If you wanted to go to the trouble the discharge could be terminated in a bucket of water. Hand grinding can be done so the discharge is aimed towards non-critical surfaces, like you, or out the door. Or if needed, take the project outside.

My biggest problem is controlling the dust from my blast cabinet. I can't use it in the central area of the shop, I wheel it over by the door or actually out the door sometimes. I have an old shop-vac mounted on the side, and a discharge hose that I run out the door and point it at the neighbors place.

Jim, I had the same issue with my blast cabinet. I added a simple water filter which is nothing more than a 5 gallon bucket with water and hoses attached between the cabinet and the vacuum. It now captures about 95% of the dust and the vacuum catches the rest. It has cut dust down dramatically and also has saved me replacing my vac filters as often.

This is where I got the idea and my version is very close.
http://www.thegaragegazette.com/index.php?topic=65.0