Air Quality

[pamjmayo]

I am not as technical as most here but I'm having a major problem with air quality. I was carving Corian the other day and put on my mask (cheap ones bought at Home Epot) before I went in. I vacuumed the powder which was all over and left the shed (8X10). As soon as I was done, I noticed my nose was running and I was coughing all day. After rinsing my nose out with saline, today is better but still my nose is running constantly. So, I have an 8 X 12 Tuff Shed with A/C and I have my shop vac attached to the CC and running when the machine does. Anyone have any other suggestions? I read the posts on the equipment that others have built for this problem but I don't have those abilities. Is there a product out there that I could buy?

[DocWheeler]

Pam,

The materials that create fine dust are difficult it seems. A shop-vac is usually not adequate as it doesn't pull enough air through the machine to catch it, plus it often is not caught in the filter which puts it right back into the air in your shed. A powerful downdraft table would help a lot providing that the filter catches the very fine particles.
I think that a full sized DC system would be overkill for you.
A reply to your direct question would be something like you would find here http://www.rockler.com/search_results.cfm?filter=air+cleaner

[Jeff_Birt]

Pam, I just bought/installed a dust collectort from Grizzly.com you can see it in this post http://www.carvewright.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3704. There is also a post with a goodlink here: http://www.carvewright.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3673&highlight=shope. I've only had the DC system a few weeks now and it is wonderful, wish I had bought one years ago....

[Vashon]

Dust collection is a huge can o' worms.

To me, it's a question of degree of protection, and value for the money and hassle. I went with a beat-up old used grizzly 2-bag DC that I picked up off CL for $100, and replaced the standard 30-micron polyester bags with really nice heavy-gauge 3-micron needle-felt bags. Theory being, it's the bags (filter-media) that actually do all the work.

There's some heated debate on whether needle-felt bags or pleated cannister filters do the better job of filtering, but when you throw price into the mix, needle-felt is a bargain. I got a sweet deal on Ebay for the bags, brand new, custom made, for $50.

That old dust collector is a BEAST, a major power draw, and a fuse blower of the first degree. But it really moves the air and chips.

Beyond that, I also bought an ambient air-filter ($175) like the ones in the Rockler link. This is just a small squirrel-cage fan in a box, pulling air steadily (and relatively quietly) through a pair of filters. I could've built one for half of that, but the small one I bought works just fine.

These two products do vastly different jobs, so it's not the belt and suspenders deal you might think it is. You really do need both. Even a good dust collector set-up misses a lot of fine dust spewed off at the cutter, or in various gaps in the tool shrouding. The ambient filter picks that off in good time.

And beyond all THAT, you stiil need a good shop-vac.... Just for convenince sake. Spot jobs, quick pick-ups, and I use mine (Fein Turbo II with autostart) with my circular saw, and sanders. Very effective. I spent almost as much on the shop vac and hoses as I did on everything else combined.

So $300 shop vac, $150 DC and $175 ambient filter later, I'm quite pleased with the way everything works. I could easily drop another $2-300 on pipes, hoses, drops and blast gates for the DC, but that's mainly a convenience.

[Gman_Ind]

Ambient air filtration along with chip removal system is IMHO a must unless you spend your time wearing a dust mask.
I know it is an expense some people see as an option but I believe my long term health is worth the cost. If you carve redwood or MDf or cedar you know right away if there is fine dust in the air your breathing I do anyway.

[pamjmayo]

Jeff, I decided to go along with you and purchase a grizzly dust collector. I have a small shed 8 X 10, do I need a 2HP or should I just use a 1 HP??? Do you buy the bags separately,,,,,and, if I'm carving Corian, how many microns should I buy (for the bags) Thanks in advance but I don't want to buy the wrong one.

Pam

[Jeff_Birt]

Pam, the 2hp unit is a great deal, I though it was the best bang for the buck. It comes with a 2.5 micron filter bag. You will also need to get some flex hose, (I went with a 20' section of the cheaper hose), and a few fittings and hose clamps. I also bought on of the floor collectors, a small hood the sets on the floor, at the end of the day you sweep your floor over towards it and it sucks everythign up.

[Vashon]

That 2HP Grizz is the beastie I've got. It's a big-boy hunk of machinery, and might be over-kill if the CW is all you're doing. But if you plan to hook up other tools on a system of pipes and drops, then definitely, it's got the power you'll need. It's great that they include the 2.5 Micron bag now. Just keep the cat away from the intake, or bye-bye kittie...=).

Edit to add: They've got a good ambient filter on sale for $179 as well...

[Vashon]

Given your tiny 8X12 shop, and the fact you seem to be running just a CW, I would recommend the smallest dust collector and ambient filter combination I could find. I would start with the DC, and then add the ambient if you decide you need it.

The problem with dust collection pictures in tool catalogs is, without scale, they all look pretty much the same. A couple bags tied to a gizmo.

In fact, the Grizz 1HP is just a little bigger than 1X2X5, say 14 cubic feet altogether. The 2HP model is just a little smaller than 2X3X7, say 36 cubic feet. Basically, it's the size of a refrigerator. Almost three times bigger, almost twice as heavy, moving three times the air.

The 1HP moves 500 CFM, the 2HP 1500 CFM. Assuming an 8' ceiling, your entire shop is 800 CF. Even allowing for sloppy air circulation, and volume losses to friction in the hoses, the small 1-HP should still circulate the entire volume of your shop in 3-5 minutes. The beast will do it in 60-90 seconds... Or less.

There are still two reasons to recommend an ambient (which filters roughly 500-1000 CFM, adjustable). One is quiet and less power draw, and two, you can position and aim them to best effect. You mount them up on the ceiling (I keep mine on top of a 6' high shelving unit), about 3/4 of the way along one of the long walls. You want to orient them to exhaust filtered air towards the corner of the room. This gets a little circular mojo going around the room that scrubs most everything out of my 24X20 shop in 2-3 minutes.

Edit to add: On looking at the Grizz catalog, I notice the 2-HP is 220v ONLY now. My old one is 110/220v, but it really taxes a 110 circuit.

[pamjmayo]

Thank you each and everyone. I've got my shopping to do and plan on purchasing both the DC and the air filter right away. This was great of you all to help. Pam