Air cleaning - can ANY MORE be done?

[Mike Minto]

Although not directly related to turning, my primary wood interest in round things, so I'm posting here. Now that (THANK GOD) I've gotten over my bout with whatever was causing me so much pain in my throat and difficulty swallowing (spalted wood and too much other wood dust), I've tried to max out the air cleaning possibilities in my little shop. Ceiling dust collector which I've had for a while being used all the time, 3 shop made air cleaners ($15 box fans and $16 high-end furnace filters at the source - instead of store bought units for $100+ each). I'm conscientiously wearing my RespORator, as well. Any suggestions?

[Joseph M Lary]

I would move the lathe in front of the door . it looks like it is right next too it, put a fan and blow air out the door. when wheather permits.

I have a fan above my head blowing passed my face to help keep dust away and i wearing my 3M resporator with cem filters. in the summer i put a blower in the window behind my lathe and draw the dust out the window. sanding is when its the worst.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Looks pretty good to me Mike. The only difference is I use a DC or like Joseph I open my big door and blow the dust out.

[Steve Harder]

Mike - I finally figured out what was really bothering me when I sanded - it's getting dust in my eyes. I had gone the mask route for breathing protection but still didn't look forward to sanding - I'd gotten a couple of styes when I'd worked a long project.

I didn't really have the bucks to go for the Trend style helmet so I took a look at what sandblasters wear.

I took a faceshield and taped nylon ripstop fabric around it to create a headdress that looks a lot like a nun's wimple. Then ran a length of plastic sump pump hose from a small squirrel cage fan located beyond the shop wall where it gets fresh air. The hose dangles from the ceiling and comes up my back to push air into my 'outfit'.

I now wear it whenever I'm sanding, even if it's just a couple of minutes worth. It works great, I can't even smell thinner if I'm wiping down a bowl to check for final finish.

I do put a box fan with furnace filter near the lathe to grab the dust as it comes off.

I can honestly say I now kind of look forward to sanding on a bowl.

[Rick Gibson]

I've done mostly pens and other small stuff. I found a shop vac using a hepa filter with the hose inlet a couple inches from where I am sanding does a great job of keeping the dust out of the air. Catch it as close to the source as possible.

[Bill Bulloch]

I have really been struggling with the dusk problem this Winter, what with the closed up shop and all. I got a bargan on some Padauk awhile back and when I saw, turn and sand it it makes a real mess, dusk covers everything. My gray hair turns orange and I can just imagine what my lungs look like.

I have a dust collector (that doesn't do that great of a job), two fans with filters attached on them to draw the dust from the air. I have a respirator, but with it you really have to suck hard to draw air. And, the throw-away type respirators fog up my glasses.

Now that Spring is here and I can open the windows and doors, I got two new floor fans (without filters) to push the dust away from my face and out the door.

[Jeff Fagen]

Mike I will be adopting your idea as I have been suffering the same problem.Thanks...can't quit turning.

[Richard Madison]

Mike, your fans are nicer than mine, which were free from the county dump. Might consider a small (1 hp.) DC with 1 micron canister filter, but still quite a few $$ for some of us. Mine serves the tablesaw, 6x48 belt sander, and bandsaw, closely grouped near the DC. Just the fan behind the lathe spindle like yours. I do use one of the better grade A/C filters as a "prefilter" in front of my A/C/Heater unit, and sometimes set the unit to just run the fan on "high" fot a bit of air filtration.

Edit: Trying to visualize Bill B. with orange hair.

[Nathan Hawkes]

Mike, I share your feelings on keeping the dust out of my lungs. In warm weather, I have a 40" industrial exhaust fan that really moves some air out of the shop! I wear a 3M 6000 series (not the powered one) respirator with N95 cartridges whenever I'm sanding. In addition, I have a homemade sanding dust collector constructed from a furnace blower and an Oneida-Air retrofit "plenum cartridge", which is basically a fancy name for a huge 39" long 1 micron HEPA filter. It was NOT cheap; between the filter and the 8" hose it was around $400, but a lot cheaper than a full dust collector, and about the same as a good air cleaner. It's cleanable, has a convenient collection pan at the bottom, and is very economical to run. A "squirrel cage" furnace blower uses only a few amps of current versus even a 1.5HP dust collector's 15+ amps running constantly. It'll more than pay for itself in a years time in energy savings alone. Not that I'd run the dust collector all the time that I'm in the shop, but this way it lets me keep it running while I'm sanding for hours at a time, and use a fraction of the energy. Also, its pretty quiet compared to a cyclone collector, and there's no dust bypassing the cartridge at all.

[Mike Minto]

thanks for the replies, guys. i knew i was not the only one with a dust problem, but wanted to see what some of you all do and i could possibly adapt to my shop-let. i do have a Jet DC, but use it primarily for my bandsaw, occasionally for other duties. the recent bout i have had with throat pain and swelling is hopefully past, and i hope i haven't done any permanent damage to myself by breathing too much dust over the past 4 years - LOML was constantly on me about it, but i'm a hammer head and don't listen too well . I see an Airstream on my XMAS list. if some of my ideas helped anyone, i'm glad.

[Michael Mills]

If your shop is in an out-building and it would not mess up the aesthetics, you could add inexpensive aluminum windows for about $50 each at each lathe and pump the dust outside.
For your filters on the fans, use the cheap blue filters in front of the expensive ones. The expensive one will last much much longer.
You may want to check with a local Heating/AC shop for more powerful fans. I have a whole house circulator fan (squirrel cage) and a fan from the outside unit in a window. Many have a pile "outback" awaiting disposal that you can pick up cheap. These will probably require 220v.
Mike

[Mike Minto]

Michael, I think you are right about the windows being a really great addition do ridding dust from the workshop. I'm just afraid of giving potential theives greater access to my shop and expensive tools. I mean, I live in a nice neighborhood, but anything can happen anywhere. I may just do that, though.

[Edward Bartimmo]

I have a dust collector with a hood around the backside of workpiece to pull the dust away as I turn. Additionally, I have a passive/ambient air filter on the ceiling...the only caution is make certain that align unit so that the exhaust from fan is not causing conflicting air flow in shop.

I bought a Triton respirator (helmet with enclosed face shield) The filter is on a belt behid you so it is away from the workpiece. I am always amazed in the difference when I use it. No sawdust in nose or lungs, no dust in eyes, no alergies or congestion. Worth every penny. I have a couple of good scratches on the shield because I forgot I had it on and then leaned to close to the workpiece.

One other observation is that the majority of dust (other than when sanding) occurs when rough turning a piece that includes bark. Unless I plan to incorporate the bark into the final piece, I remove the bark using a heavy-duty paint scraper to pry the bark away from the wood.

[Joshua Dinerstein]

Mike I saw a video on U-Tube that was pretty interesting when I was looking to stop messing up my shop every time I turned and sanded anything. I swear I had at least a 1/2 and inch on every flat service in the garage.

This video had 2 parts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHsApnZ01N4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MTk8zBHioQ

The creator used an attic fan to draw a greal deal of air which should in turn draw a great deal of dust with it, and then combined that with a box of a pretty good shape. He talks a great deal about the creation of low-pressure zones and so on. I don't have much understanding of fluid dynamics at that level but he seems to make his point in his demonstration.

I know it doesn't fully answer your question about what can be done but it is an interesting idea. I haven't built one but I have thought about altering the idea just a bit for the creation of some air scrubbers like the one in your photo. Just kind of an ambient air cleaner.

I did copy some of the ideas for the dust hood I made directly for the lathe for use with my DC unit rather than a built-in fan. I made something of a similar box in order to try and draw in as much of the dust laden air as possible. When I sand properly I can see a heavy stream of dust heading straight down into the pipe.

So while I can't prove it I think that the 3 sides that surround the object I am turning do cause more air to pass over and around the turning catching more of the dust. As I said above, I then find that when I sand properly the dust is caught extremely well. If I was looking at a bowl from the tail stock end of the lathe I now sand near the 7 o'clock point. It seems that as a result the sanding dust leaves the surface at about the 3 o'clock position. When I reverse the direction of the lathe I tend to sand at about 11 o'clock and it has the same effect. Depending on the shape of a bowl and/or other object when I sand the inside I pretty much always seem to find a spot that works.

However when I get it wrong I do tend to get a snoot full of dust. It seems to escape the drag of the air and come straight up into my face. And once it escapes it just seems to continue to escape.

Joshua

[Gary DeWitt]

I couldn't afford one of those ceiling mounted scrubbers and had been wanting one for the longest time. Fortunately, I saw an HVAC contractor replacing a furnace at a neighbors' house, asked for the blower and squirrel cage, and he was happy I took it off his hands, it would have gone to the dump. Now these furnace units are designed for circulating air to a 2,000 square foot building, so in a two car garage, it will recycle all the air in just minutes. I built a box similar to the commercial versions, equipping it with a three stage filter, two cheap fiberglass ones and a more expensive hepa 1 micron one. Also put on a speed selector switch (motor is capable of 3 speeds) and a timer switch so it will stay on for awhile after I leave. Total cost, less than $30. This would also work well directly behind the lathe, but my shop isn't big enough to do that. Been very happy with the result.
I also use a 1 micron cannister type DC with the hose right at the turning.