Cleaning air on a small workshop

[escpg]

Hello,

I am considering the purchase of a small room for my hobby, woodworking activity. It is a nice place, I really like its location and it is of the right size. I am very doubtful because it has just one small window located in the bathroom. Of course I do produce some wood dust during sanding. And at any rate I would need to have air circulating in the room. What is your opinion? Do you think it is just not feasible for woodworking? Even for a hobbyist? Or there is a way of cleaning the air? Either by an air filtration system or, better some kind of big exhaust fan?

Thank you,

Enrico

 

[SVB]

Enrico,

Not sure where to start to answer this helpfully really.

Depends what you are making, if you plan to use machines and even type of timber.

Are you at ground level - if so could you site something outside? This helps mitigate noise in a small room but will suck any heat out (maybe less of an issue in Italy than the UK though!)

If inside, noise of an extractor can be an issue.

For small hand sanding / tools look at the shop vacs (Henry type vac through to festool if your feeling rich). Also worth looking at arbranet (sp?) hand sanding set up if dust is a real concern.

Next step up (and probably only really reqd if you use machines) is a dedicated dust / chip extractor. Note - they are different. The cheap ones with a cotton type bag on the top are only designed to collect chips, not dust. For dust you are really looking at something that filters to approx 0.5 micron particle size.

Also you may want to consider an airt filter, many people including Jet and Microclean make these in a variety of sizes.

Hope the above useful introduction but as I said at the start, without quite a bit more info it is difficult to be too perscriptive.

Simon

 

[escpg]

Hello Simon,

thanks for your reply. I realize I should have been a bit more precise.

I cannot work outside the room.

I only make small projects. Almost no machinery. Just some wood dust coming from hand sanding, sawing, using a rasp and so on. I have a small bandsaw connected to a nice Mirka extractor. Sometimes I use a router and a drill press. But I use these just occasionally.

So I need to clean the air from vapors (coming from glues and so on) other then from wood dust.

I think the answer is to have circulating air inside the room. Maybe something connected to an exhaust fan that discharges to the small window. But I don't even know if such a system is practical, too expensive, too noisy, consumes a lot of power or whatever.

You see, if I keep working on the inside and do not have a system to change air, that is no good.

I have also considered the Jet air cleaning devices, but I am afraid that I am going to use too many filters so frequently that would be too expensive.

So, in short, I am not going to make a lot of pollution, but I need to clean the air of the room somehow.

Thanks Enrico

 

[Alexam]

This is one of the items I have, which can be moved to where you are workiong, or hung up over a certain area. Works very well . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7RbEdZghRk

In addition, it is important to wear a mask to protect your lungs from the very fin dust that you cannot se, I use a Trend Airace half mask, which is very comfortable to wear and does not steam up glasses if you wera them, whereas, many other masks do steam up your glasses.

 

[DennisCA]

This is the one I will be building, once I source a suitable filter:
https://woodgears.ca/dust/air_cleaner.html

 

[custard]

I guess it can be done. I close all the doors and windows in winter and a Jet cleaner keeps everything reasonably clean and breathable.

Good luck!

 

[Benchwayze]

I guess it can be done. I close all the doors and windows in winter and a Jet cleaner keeps everything reasonably clean and breathable.

Good luck!

Custard.

Would this be the one you mention?

http://www.axminster.co.uk/jet-afs-500- ... on-system/

It's time I got something along these lines. I wouldn't have to work with the doors open, which in the winter isn't so pleasant; bearable but not pleasant!


Thanks

 

[sunnybob]

This is the one I will be building, once I source a suitable filter:
https://woodgears.ca/dust/air_cleaner.html

I really enjoy mathias' videos, but he has that wrong. To mount an air cleaner over a work bench is the worst possible place. The air flow is straight past your nose before the dust gets to the cleaner.

Air direction is more important than filtering (but only just)
If the air flow is away from you, thats over half the battle.

A suction system away from your face, and then through a small cyclone before entering the vacuum cleaner is the best. The cyclone allows you to leave the bag off the cleaner, giving you much greater air flow and much longer times between cleaning the cleaner.

 

[DennisCA]

You misunderstand what this cleaner does. It does not suck up air from the workbench, infact it blows air down, well until he added a baffle and directed the air towards the rest of the workshop.

It's not a localized suction system, it's a system that excites the air around the entire shop, it mixes it up and makes it move and brings dust and particles in the air with it to the filter and the overall particle content of the entire shop air decreases over a longer time period. It's meant to run for long periods even when not there.

 

[custard]

Would this be the one you mention?

Hello John, yes that's the one. It's been running continually every day now for three or four years, although I've probably jinxed it by saying that!

 

[sunnybob]

You misunderstand what this cleaner does. It does not suck up air from the workbench, infact it blows air down, well until he added a baffle and directed the air towards the rest of the workshop.

It's not a localized suction system, it's a system that excites the air around the entire shop, it mixes it up and makes it move and brings dust and particles in the air with it to the filter and the overall particle content of the entire shop air decreases over a longer time period. It's meant to run for long periods even when not there.

To quote directly from his calculations;
With the chute in place, and the Dylos meter in different positions, I found that the air cleaner will take about half the dust out of the air every six or seven minutes,
So every 7 minutes, the dust decreases by half. Thats 14 minutes to get 75%, 21 minutes to get 87.5% . And thats assuming no more dust is made.
I am certainly not prepared to work in that much dust for that much time. I wear a mask of this style http://www.protectivemasksdirect.co.uk/ ... s-76-p.asp and the vacuum draws the rest away from me and the tools.

 

[DennisCA]

It's not meant to replace masks or be a stand alone solution, it's a complimentary one in addition to things like dust collectors, vacuums and whatnot.

 

[Benchwayze]

Would this be the one you mention?

Hello John, yes that's the one. It's been running continually every day now for three or four years, although I've probably jinxed it by saying that!

Thanks Custard.

It's payday next week, so maybe I can look at this.

I've seen a set-up on the 'Tube' made from a blower, and a filter, mounted in a box. I suppose that would work, but I wondered about the design differences between blowers and extractors. I appreciate they both move air, but a blower might have trouble sucking in air through a filter, especially when the filter needs changing. So I thought that on balance, I might as well buy the real thing. My shop is 17 x 8.5 x 10 high; approx. 1150 cu/ft., so if the JET is up to the job, I will settle for that.

Thanks again.

 

[escpg]

I thank you all guys. You have been very nice.

Two questions. How expensive is to change filters to these devices? how often do they need to be replaced? Lets's say that I build one, how do I know that my air is clean? Is there a way to test it?

Hey John, just one question. Your profile is a handplane which I purchased one identical on ebay a couple of months ago. Could you tell me a bit more about it? I did not pay it much, but despite the fact that it is quite heavy and seems to work ok, it is all crooked. I cannot identify it in terms of qualiy. I still do not know if it was a bargain.

 

[sunnybob]

I am amazed. I had no idea there was censorship on this site. Thats the second post of mine that has been removed without explanation. Neither were insulting or inflamatory.
maybe this will be number three.

 

[Benchwayze]

Hey John, just one question. Your profile is a handplane which I purchased one identical on ebay a couple of months ago. Could you tell me a bit more about it? I did not pay it much, but despite the fact that it is quite heavy and seems to work ok, it is all crooked. I cannot identify it in terms of qualiy. I still do not know if it was a bargain.

Hi Escpg,

That plane was a Spiers. I bought it for £10.00 about 20 years ago at an antiques fair. It was knocked about a little, but I cleaned it up and it proved to be a handy smoother; and held a good edge for some time. I sold it to someone who took a fancy to it. I let it go because the handle was too small. My hands are not exactly huge, but I still found that Spiers to be uncomfortable in use. In fact I used to 'bark' my knuckles on the front of the grip.

I suppose I could have enlarged the handle, but it seemed not the right thing to do!

HTH.

 

[Doris]

I hate to hijack this thread but I too am looking for a small dust extractor for when I power carver or turn on my lathe. I only have a little 7x7 shed which I work in and am after something I can sit on my bench that will suck some of the dust away from me (I wear a dust mask anyway, it am looking for something to minimise the dust around the shed).

I don't have enough money to go and buy one of these filtration units but have seen some little "dust extractors" in eBay and wondered if this would be enough? Or do I need a lot of space for them to work?

I'm quite happy to build something too if required as I know I am asking for not much money. So if anyone has any ideas or suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sunnybob]

I have been amazed how good the cyclone is for separating dust from the vacuum cleaner bag. i paid £30 on ebay, didnt think it was big enough when it arrived, but its very good. Something like a henry hoover through a cyclone will keep most of your dust safely in the box under the cyclone.