Venting Laser Exhaust - Must solve this problem. IDEAS?

[Kirk Quesnelle]

Looking to get your opinions on venting laser smoke.

We recently moved our shop home to our home workshop because 95% of our orders are online and it didn't make sense for retail store overhead.
So now we are venting directly outside our home with no filtration. This is in a residential area.
We do mostly wood, leather products.

This has worked good in the winter because nobody is outside. However, as the warmer weather approaches us here in Canada,
more and more of our neighbors will be outside enjoying the weather. This will quickly become a problem.

I don't want to lease another space because of crazy overhead. We have a great setup here
and I would LOVE to figure out a solution to stay here for the time being.

What do you guys suggest?

I've come up with a few ideas.

1.) Buy a filtration unit that does not vent outside and possibly need a lot of filter changes (because of wood).
2.) Continue to vent out side but run through activated carbon filter - or array of carbon filters? Not sure if this would do much given the amount of smoke?

Also note: I'm willing to spend a fair amount to make this problem go away... considering leasing a building would be an easy $1,500 per month CAD.
Just need something that will work...

Has anyone any experience with doing filtration units and wood and how often you would have to change filters and costs involved?

any ideas?

Thanks
Kirk

[Keith Downing]

A high quality filtration system will definitely do the trick if that's the route you want to go. At the NBM show there were about 20 lasers running at the same time and not a hint of oder anywhere. Filter changes will be necessary, but not a noticeable cost if you're getting paid for your work.

There is also a tutorial here on how to build a DIY air filtration system with filters and activated carbon. I think it's a sticky post but if not the link is easy to find via search.

Finally, you could simply add a small box with one or more filters to your current exhaust line and continue to vent outside. it would greatly reduce the smell but wouldn't need to be perfectly safe for you in closed space.

Many, many people have units inside with no negative effects.

[Joe Pelonio]

I'm working from home now too, and on the second floor bonus room over the garage. So far it has never been a problem in 8 years but we are on a corner with a 12,000 sf lot and the vent faces a side street, no houses. When in a retail/light industrial area the fire department came several times due to burning plastic smell reports from my neighboring businesses. You might be Ok by just venting up above the roof, but you can get a good filtration system for less than one month rent.

[Kirk Quesnelle]

Hey guys,

Thanks a ton for your responses.

Joe, I had to laugh a bit since the same thing happened to us in our retail location. Not fire dept. But complaints of burning smell.
And I did think about venting up to the roof. I'm still considering that.

Keith, I'm leaning to a high quality filtration system I think. We do a lot of wood engraving though. I'll have to look into the costs associated with
filter changes. When you say high quality filtration, what brands are you thinking.. a friend on the ELF group mentioned BOFA units America?

thanks

[Kev Williams]

Just build yourself a 'low quality' system. As Keith mentioned there's a tutorial (or two) on how to build one, Dan Hintz authored one I believe--

As for expensive activated charcoal- Try generic store-brand charcoal BBQ briquettes. Activated charcoal is 'medical' charcoal made with non-toxic ingredients. It's oxidized (activated) by high temp steam or air that makes it porous, which gives it more surface area than regular charcoal. Briquettes are are toxic to eat but they're still charcoal and will absorb odors just like activated charcoal. Want more surface area? Just drive your truck over the bag of briquettes to bust them up into little pieces

'high quality' laser exhaust systems can cost more than the laser. I've been exhausting outdoors for 15 years, only complaint I've had was when the blower motor bearing started squealing. But then, I don't cut leather all day every day either, so there's that...

[Michael Henriksen]

I've been cutting ram's horn lately. Now there is something that smokes/smells!!

I should think that a large container filled with charcoal or briquettes would work. You may need an extra fan so you have a push-pull system to overcome back pressure.

[Gary Hair]

Since you'd be venting outside, you don't need to remove all of the smell and all of the bad stuff in the exhaust. A BOFA or similar unit will cost you several thou and a fortune for filters. Spend that money instead on building one yourself and including a high power blower. As long as you remove the worst of the smell it's unlikely that your neighbors will have anything to complain about. With several layers of pre-filters you should reduce the amount of solids hitting the charcoal so it should last a long time.

[Bert Kemp]

Personalty I think the 4 or 6 inch stove pipe 3 feet above the roof line is the best and cheapest way to go. Wood stoves, coal stove and incinerators all vent above the roof line and work fine. Most all the odor will be blown away.Nobody should complain then

[John Lifer]

I agree with Bert, if you really can smell anything outside, just buy several sections of duct piping and vent it vertically. I would run it up 9 ot 10 feet depending on your sections and put a raincap on it and call it good.

[Kev Williams]

There's one caveat to venting vertically- If you live in a dry area (Like me & Bert) many homes have roof mounted swamp coolers, and when they're running, they'll find your exhaust fumes. My BIL engraves wood almost exclusively, and most of that is cedar. When he first moved into his last house, he ran a tall pipe up an outside wall, and when summer came around he had neighbors asking around about the wood-burning smell. What he did was lose the tall pipe, got a large, clear storage container, cut a hole in opposite sides for exhaust in and out, and put 3 (or so) good furnace filters in the middle. It sat in a basement window well and exhausted at ground level. The filters catch much of the smoke and cut the smell way down. That was like 8 years ago, no complaints since.

[Kirk Quesnelle]

Hey Kev..

That's interesting. I've thought about doing something like that... so just regular filters eh?

I think it's time I do some research

[Pieter Swart]

Is it possible for someone to post a link to the filter box tutorials?

[Keith Downing]

This is the DIY air filter tutorial Dan Hintz put together. It's for building a full unit, but if you just wanted a pre-filter type box you could definitely adapt.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...nit-for-lt-200

[Pieter Swart]

That is the Bees knees!! Thank you!!

[Mike Lysov]

I have never rented a shop for my business and I was doing it from home for almost 9 years. The shops with a lot of people traffic costs ridiculous amount of money to rent here in Australia and renting just a workshop space does not make sense when you have a lot of space in your own double garage.

Only once some new neighbors complained and two persons from my council showed up telling me to shut down. I could not because I was running a big job and told them I would turn it off once finished. However in the process of speaking to them I understood that they basically could not do anything to stop me from what I was doing. I was completelly within my rights to run that type of business from my home and complied with all council requirements for home based business. So at the end of our conversation with the council persons they just asked me(this time very politely) to move my exhaust pipe at the top of the house roof(double story house) from a garage roof which just a single story. They were also trying to blame me that I was polluting as well to which I just explained to them that the laser produces only fraction of a smoke comparing to wood burners used in almost every house. Thy did not have anything to say to that as it is true.
And at the end I did not even moved the pipe because it would cost me well over $1500 to do and it would just look very ugly from outside.

So if I was you I would check with your local council what are requirements to do something like this from home. And I would not worry about the smoke from cutting wood. It is just a tiny amount of it and it is possible that a single cigarette makes more smoke than 4-5 minutes of cutting.