Anti-static?

Aloha to the awesome sways community,

I’ve transitioned from outside shaping to inside shaping, pics to follow. I actually have a shaping room with lights, stands, compressed air, etc. No more rain, leaves, dog hair, mosquitos, dirt, and all the rest of outside shaping.

The only downside is the eps dust from planing is sticking to the walls and just about everything else. Do any of you have any tricks for minimizing the static cling on the walls? I was thinking I could spray the walls with pledge or use an anti static potion that is used for computer equipment.

I know some of you that have shaped thousands of boards might have a trick or two. Either that or thats just how it is.

Mahalo

dryer sheet coveralls?

aluminum foil hat and metal chain shackled to your ankle and attached to

a grounding rod driven at least 10 feet into the ground…

seriously though, i’m interested in this too. 'cause those little white balls get everywhere!

That’s funny! I can actually picture myself looking like the tinman.

It just seems that there has got to be a way to have that flat paint repel the foam dust instead of attracting it. I watch in amazement as the foam thats ejected from the planer sticks to the wall like glue. The planer is obviously giving the dust some kind of charge. I guess that’s why people have vacuum systems. It would be great to give the floor some kind of charge and have the foam stick to that instead.

A big faraday cage attached to a 12v battery?

Moisture stops static electricity. If the wall surface can take it, a fine mist with a spray bottle of water. But for me, I keep a shop vac running, hose to the power plane, and vacuum the sureform clean when it fills up.

alright I’ll bightye.

spray bottle with some water soluble 1$ bottle of hair conditioner sparingly mixed in …or some static cling laundry goop mixed in. Spray on wall.

If that fails, buy a whisk broom and a feather duster.

My hypothesis: I think the static charge is in the foam bits, not the wall, hence why it sticks to everything (and not just the wall). Id imagine, just like you can charge a piece of EPS by rubbing a balloon on it, the action of the planer or surform is causing charge to build up in the foam. So your problem is more neutralizing the charge on the foam. Or you could so something along the lines of a 12V faraday cage as mentioned above to charge your walls to the same charge as the foam, then the foam wont even have a chance to stick to the walls.

When I sweep the floors, I sweep the walls, too. It gets enough off to satisfy me. Then, when I flip the place over to glass, I just shop vac the whole place, walls and all, with the widest carpet attachment available. My shop is small, so I do the I try to stay away from the chemicals, sprays, water bottles… just more expense and clutter in an already cluttered space.