first time on the woodworking section; so, this may have been already discussed. at this time i have a Rickon 400 air cleaner mounted overhead. i see that there air cleaners for large rooms that are portable. such as Idylis brand that are sold at Lowes. doea anyone have any thoughts as to what might give me the cleanest air (looking for sawdust and wood sanding removal) quiet would be a plus also.
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shop air cleaner
- Thread starter porthos
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I had a commercial woodworking shop for 20 years and went through the whole process of getting the shop as dust free as possible. The overhead "Air cleaners" do work somewhat but the best strategy is to have good dust collection at the source. A properly sized and installed cyclone type separator with after filter will drastically reduce or possibly even eliminate, the need for an air cleaner.
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You will need to know a few things first. Straight away, hardwoods and many common rot resistant woods such as western red cedar, redwood, walnut, etc. are well-known carcinogens, leading to nasal and throat cancer in people who have spent long careers in the wood shop. You wanna fight that more than just addressing housekeeping or fire fuel load. In order to move sawdust (or welding fume or any other particulate) you need to meet critical volume and velocity. Capture velocity, or the air speed needed to entrain a particle into the air stream, typically needs to be around 100 linear feet per minute at the source. Transport velocity is what is required to keep particles from settling out of the airstream and accumulating in the ducts. Transport velocity is on the order of 4,000 linear feet per minute. The volume you need is dependent on the machines you are running. With proper dust collection shrouds, a table saw needs 645 cfm, a hobby-sized band saw needs 700 cfm, a 6" belt sander needs 440 cfm, a router needs 350 to 800 cfm, and a 20-inch planer needs 785 cfm. I can help you make a specific recommendation if you give me the details of your installation and the equipment you plan to evacuate wood dust from.
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- Dec 20, 2012
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Have a look at this. I don't work with wood that much so this box fan thing plus a Jet dust collector/Super Dust Deputy does me fine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQCEPNFFpy8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQCEPNFFpy8
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- Nov 15, 2016
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Two great sites that I came across when looking into dust collection are:
http://www.floweringelbow.org/projects/the-cyclone-dust-separator/resources-and-references/ and
Bill Pentz site in particular has loads of information about dust, its hazards, what to look for in a collection system, how to size and most important for us how to build.
http://www.floweringelbow.org/projects/the-cyclone-dust-separator/resources-and-references/ and
Dust Collection Research - Home
This site is all about dust collection and protection. It shares the risks from fine dust exposure, how to measure your risks and how to effectively protect yourself and those close to you from airborne dust hazards. Fine dust is so extensively studied that researchers call it PM short for...
billpentz.com
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- Jun 22, 2012
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- 1,552
I made my own air cleaner with a furnace squirrel cage fan and motor, you can easily salvage one of these or check with a heating and cooling company and I'm sure you can score one from them. The design is really simple, just a 3/4" plywood box to house the fan and motor. I made a slot big enough to hold 2 furnace filters that just happen to be the same size as my house furnace filters, i always have them on hand and buy the better ones in bulk pacs. Then I cut a square hole for the exhaust side and screwed an air grate to that. It works great!!! If the fan can recirculate the air in you house many times an hour how fast do you think it will clear the air in your shop? Real quick I can say. Here's some pics
Just a simple on off switch.
Here you can see the exhaust side.
Here you can see how I double stack the filters. I can rotate them as needed. When the front one becomes plugged and I can't clean it with the shop vac anymore I discard it and put the back filter in the front and a new filter in the rear.
Here you can see how the squirrel fan mounts inside the box.
Here's a pic of the filter slot, all made out of scrap 3/4" plywood screwed and glued together.
You can put the air cleaner anywhere, I just put it under the work bench and it circulates the air in the shop well and I don't hit my head on it, lol.
This thing really works amazing, better than I expected it to work. It was supper cheap and easy to make. Guys you should make one of these instead of spending big bucks on a store bought one. I have 2 dust collectors in my shop and this and it works very well, especially if I'm sanding on the work bench above.
Just a simple on off switch.
Here you can see the exhaust side.
Here you can see how I double stack the filters. I can rotate them as needed. When the front one becomes plugged and I can't clean it with the shop vac anymore I discard it and put the back filter in the front and a new filter in the rear.
Here you can see how the squirrel fan mounts inside the box.
Here's a pic of the filter slot, all made out of scrap 3/4" plywood screwed and glued together.
You can put the air cleaner anywhere, I just put it under the work bench and it circulates the air in the shop well and I don't hit my head on it, lol.
This thing really works amazing, better than I expected it to work. It was supper cheap and easy to make. Guys you should make one of these instead of spending big bucks on a store bought one. I have 2 dust collectors in my shop and this and it works very well, especially if I'm sanding on the work bench above.
Good advice here. In addition to collecting at the source (which includes a downdraft table that could have its own fan/blower or just hook up to your DC via hose), I would suggest two ceiling-mounted air cleaners. Orient them to create a "current" in the shop so that more air is being cleaned than just what is immediately near the air cleaner's input. Angle them slightly towards the wall to encourage the air to move where you want it to:
Zayd
Zayd