Hey guys,
I’ve finally got my new shaping bay all framed up and getting ready for walls and roofs soon, and am in the process of thinking what i want to do for dust collection. My last bay had no air circulation, and was pretty small so it got really hot and sanding boards was a pain with a cloud of dust being present after the first pass. Now, as i need this to be my glass bay as well, I want to keep the dust down a bit better than in my previous bay.
I’m thinking of doing a simple air tunnel, by having 2 fans at one end, 1 up high pointing air down on 45 degree angle and the other low pointing along the ground, and then at the other end, a box exhuast fan down low, venting outside the shed into a pillow case (or some other type of breathable bag) to capture the dust. Simple and cheap, but should work for sanding dust.
Do you think this type of system will be enough to also cope with shaping/foam dust? In my old bay, I had the planer hooked up to a shop vac, but the noise, the heat it generated, and the hose getting in my way really annoyed me, so i’d like to not have to worry about the planer vacuum hose hook up. What do you guys think? i dont mind a little foam dust, just dont want to be knee deep in the shit.
Any more tips?
Two exhaust fans down low, at one end. No fan needed at the intake end. Have the intake about six inches higher than the racks. Air will sweep down the length of the board, and take the dust with it. Intake opening about half the area as the exhaust opening. Will make for good air velocity.
Pirate,
once you go vac., you don’t go back.
Lots of quiet vac, units out there.
Shop vacs are so noisy.
Look for a can unit with motor inside.
I can’t stand a stale air shaping room.
Exhaust is a must.
I have a small fan on the ceiling shooting out an existing roof vent.
One of the best rooms I’ve ever had is my old storage shed I had built.
You know those companies that custom build nice wooden storage sheds.
Since I had options, I had a small window at end end wall installed.
Just above the racks in height.
Put a small window fan over it set a slow speed.
The other end was the door.
With door left open, it was a slow breeze flowing past me and over the board.
Worked with no mask!
It was bitchin’.
Pretty much the same set-up as Bill talked about.
thanks guys, i should be able to manage that.
bill, what sized exhaust fans would you use in that kind of setup?
Pirate,
You could do the setup I described with two good sizes box fans. It’s the setup I had at Surf Systems, only then I used a squirrel cage blower. You could sand with no mask, if you wanted to. The dust never got more than 8 inches off the board surface.
Bill
Thanks Bill,
That sounds like a big improvement to my last sanding conditions!
For clarity, do you just connect a breathable bag to the hole in the wall/some duct outside of the fan, ie the dust goes through the fan, or do you need to deflect it and catch it before it goes through the fan?
With box fans The dust will probably have to pass through the fans. the fans, of necessity, will be expendable. For my surf shop industrial use, the squirrel cage blower used a remote motor, out of the dust path. On a onesy/twosy surfboard basis, blowing dust out of the fan motor frequently, will extend fan life.
I’m setting up my first shaping/sanding room and want to use the method described above for ventilation and keeping the dust down in the room. But, because of the proximity of other housing near my shop I’ll need to find a way to catch most of the dust. I can’t just blow it out into the air.
Has anyone found a good way to deal with catching sanding dust so it’s not spewing out into the air?
never mind, i found my answers here:
http://www.swaylocks.com/forums/airborne-dust-collection-sanding-room
