Airborne dust

[Greg Peterson]

Certain activities cause the numbers jump into the hundreds for a short while. My collection at the source is still a work in progress. Some activities are extremely challenging to implement DC on, such as routing. Dadoes, rabbets, cutting tenons on the table saw cause pretty good spikes on the meter as I have yet to find a good above table DC solution for these cuts.

The particle count quickly returns to acceptable levels during work (50~ or lower). I can live with the occasional spike in particle counts.

I don't like my work space to get cluttered with debris, so I vacuum frequently during my shop time. Despite my efforts, some activities simply defy dust collection.

[Jim Neeley]

Sounds encouraging, Greg... FWIW this spring, with a winter's worth of fine dust accumulation in the nooks and crevises, it was time for spring cleaning. I've got a pretty good size (5hp I-R) compressor with a Typhoon nozzle but I noticed that while it blew the dust off well, there wasn't a large enough "tube" of moving air and it didn't move far enough to really clean the way I wanted. A friend loaned me his electric leaf blower and, with a mask dawned and about 20 minutes the place was pretty darned clean. My compressor gets frequent use but for deep cleaning it's tough to beat a leaf blower.

Well, unless I was to disconnect the discharge on my DC fan.. Hmm... <eg>

[Greg Peterson]

Jim - I hook the vacuum hose up to the exhaust port on my shop vac to get a nice wide stream of air. Between the air compressor and shop vac, I can visit all the wonderful places dust likes to settle down and call home. Once I get it airborne I can capture most of it.

You will quickly find yourself constantly shooting a quick glance at the Dylos to see your levels. Kind of addictive. And definitely necessary to gauge DC solutions you may implement.

I consider the Dylos unit as important as any of my setup/calibration tools. Engineer squares, 3-2-1 blocks, dial indicator, master plate, straight edge. Life in the shop would be a whole lot less productive without these.