Any woodworking use for a furnace fan?

[Jon Nuckles]

Hi all. In the course of a home remodel, I replaced a furnace that was less than 10 years old and working fine because I needed something larger and wanted something more efficient. Before the old one is hauled off for scrap, can anyone suggest a creative re-use for furnace parts? I have a dust collector and an air cleaner, although having a second air cleaner probably wouldn't hurt anything other than my electric bill. Would the fan and motor be usable for spray booth ventilation or would that be an explosion risk? Anything else? Thanks for your suggestions.

[Matt Day]

What hp and rpm?

[Ted Reischl]

Not sure about being "explosion" proof? What comes to mind is that when you are evacuating that much air there probably is not enough flammable matter to cause an "explosion". But, you could more than likely check it out. Most anyone would tell you that you definitely need an explosion proof motor because no one wants to be the person that caused you to get blown up. Everyone errors on the side of safety. Something to think about.

BTW, doing a little checking on the internet also has articles that explosion proof motors and fans should be used to exhaust dust. Guess all those guys using 20 inch box fans with a furnace filter have not gotten the memo yet.

I just looked at my dust collector and ceiling unit, no where on them does it say "explosion proof". The ceiling unit uses a squirrel cage blower similar to a furnace blower.

[Bill Jobe]

I've recently bought a bigger lathe but do not have a dust removal system in place. It sits in my attached garage and there are times I can get away with turning something by opening the overhead door as well as a walk in door on the opposite end of the garage and using several fans to blow the dust out the overhead door. In the right conditions it works well.
Perhaps you could suppliment your current system with the blower, pulling dust away rather than blowing it the lathe.
My furnace is a little older than yours but it is DC and, though I've never checked it out, the installer said it could run continuously and keep the house air cleaner and more even during heating and cooling weather this way, and that the DC motor would only cost about $30 a year to run nonstop.
As I said, though, I've never tried to determine the cost and heat have been stretching the number to make a piont, but I would probably hang on to the blower if you have room. Other ideas may come to you.
But, then, I have trouble throwing anything away. Seems if I do I soon wish I had it back. If I don't it is always in my road.

[Von Bickley]

The best fan I have in my shop is a squirrel cage blower that came from a HVAC unit. .

[Bob Coates]

Took the old fan-motor combo from furnace and put it in a closed box(open on two ends ). Put three layers of filters on the intake side, washable to catch some, next a cheaper filter, and last near fan is high filtration. Suspended box from ceiling and use it sometimes, at least I have had to clean the filter. Works well to circulate the air when is really cold. I hopefully made it work using different switches to control the three speeds, it is hard to tell if the three speeds really are working correctly.

[Mac McQuinn]

I replaced a old school furnace (10) years ago and the motor was only a year old. I pulled it and sold on C/L for $35.00. Phone was ringing off the hook(LL). Everyone who called, wanted it for moving air through a home made DC or AC system.
Mac

[Malcolm McLeod]

If you still have the heater core (air-to-air heat exchanger), you could build a make-up air heat recovery system for the shop...??? i.e. blow warm air out and it will (partially) heat the incoming air, saving (a little) on your heating bill - - just in case your shop is hermetically sealed.

Not as sexy as a new tool, but it is just a fan after all...

[Jon Nuckles]

Thanks for the suggestions. To answer a couple of questions that were asked:
I do still have the entire furnace, including the heater core.
I couldn't see anything on or in the furnace with the hp or rpm ratings. According to a repair parts place online, the blower motor is 1/4 HP, 1075 RPM, 1 speed. There is also a 1/50 hp motor in it.

Is this size blower motor big enough to use for an exhaust fan or air cleaner? I like working wood, not so much working metal. Would converting the motor and fan to one of those uses require sheet metal skills or much knowledge of electronics?

Looking at the cost for replacement parts, maybe I should just part this one out for the $10,000 it appears to be worth in pieces!

[George Makra]

Its most likely a 3 speed motor and probably about 1500 cfm at .5 inches of static pressure.
You could make it into a air filtration unit build a box and draw the air through a filter then into the motor.

[Ole Anderson]

Downdraft table?

[David Eisenhauer]

IMG_0587.jpgShop fan from old squirrel cage and 1/4 hp motor.

[jerry cousins]

i built one into a down draft sanding table that also works as an outfeed table for the ts.
jerry

[Bill Dufour]

Could use it to vent the attic in summer. or crawlspace in spring?
Bill

[Jon Nuckles]

The downdraft table is an interesting use I had not considered. Thanks for all the suggestions, folks!