Ambient Air Cleaning through vertical duct?

[Benjamin King]

Hello...!
New to the forums, novice-ish woodworker.

I have a garage to work in, 20 x 15 or so. I just got a Delta DC (single stage 650 CFM), and am wondering about ambient filtration. I am wearing a respirator.

During construction of the house I had an 8" duct put in the cornerof the workspace, that goes to the roof one story up. I'm wondering if I could construct my own AFS using a ventilation fan (see the fantech fans, like the FG8XL http://www.fantech.net/fg.htm here, about 500ish CFM ). Would this get some of the lung searing MDF dust up and out?? I wonder if I would need any kind of filter at all, or maybe a trap of some kind?

thanks for any guidance.

Ben

[Tom Veatch]

The only reason I can imagine that you would need any kind of filter would be if you plan on recirculating the air. If you're simply going to exhaust it and allow makeup air to enter from the outside, no filtration would be needed. That's assuming there are no prohibitive local ordinances or covenants and the neighbors don't complain. Be advised using that method will cause a increase in your workshop's heating/cooling load - sort of equivalent to leaving your front door open during a blizzard.

Do be cautious of one thing. If you have any gas or oil fired heating units, either fireplaces, space heaters, water heaters, or any other interior combustion sources that exhaust through a flue/chimney to the outside, forcibly exhausting air from inside could very likely cause a back draft through those flues and draw combustion products from those sources into your living area. If your garage/workshop is isolated from those areas, you're probably OK but filling your home with smoke and carbon monoxide could annoy your spouse and spoil your whole week.

[Benjamin King]

thanks Tom.

the furnace is in an adjacent room, behind a closed door, I think it will be OK.

here in CA it is mild enough the having the garage door open most of the time wouldnt be a big deal.... there is not heat supply to the area anyway.

I need to learn how to run duct... .is it hard? maybe just tedious.

Ben

[Gene Michael]

All that dust has to go somewhere. Even if you're out in the country, exhausting dust in the vicinity of your home is likely to end up with the dust being tracked inside. We live in a rural area and I empty the dust at least 150 feet from the house. On windy days, further.

[Benjamin King]

Gene... I'm using a Delta DC for the bulk stuff.... I'm only talking about the left over floating dust that settles after an hour or two, covering everything in a fine layer. I know I can get it all out, but maybe some?

Ben