As promised: What is the best Air Filter system?

[whit richardson]

So now having dust under control we have to worry about all those small particles of exotic wood floating around ready to wreak havoc in our lungs. So who makes the better filtration system or is it just by shop size and spec?

One on my woodworking neighbors has a Jet and he's saying now that he should add another one to his garage shop. Hmmmmm?

Bring it on!

:rolleyes:

[Jim Becker]

IMHO, the air filtration systems are nice to have to help reduce settling of fines in the shop, but they really don't do much for your personal health since you'll have already breathed the air before it's filtered. I only use mine when I'm spraying water borne finishes at this point exactly for that purpose...helping to remove the suspended material in the air so my shop stays a "little" cleaner. Efficient dust collection at the source remains key to reducing exposure to dust in our lungs.

[whit richardson]

..., but they really don't do much for your personal health since you'll have already breathed the air before it's filtered. I Efficient dust collection at the source remains key to reducing exposure to dust in our lungs.

Soooo then when working with woods that produce possible bad stuff for your lungs should I be thinking dust mask first while cutting and keep the DC going? As far as helping keep the shop better that would help us garage folks from having dusty cars, rakes and bikes then.

[Andrew Joiner]

Yes,dust mask is the best defense and protection. Think about it. Dust is produced 2 to 3' in front of your face. Even if the air filter is between your face and the dust source (not practical) it only gets a small part of the dust.

[whit richardson]

Andy you didn't see my 10,000,000 word long DC thread. I've opted for holding my breath during hazardous dusty operations then running back insidethe house to get more coffee and exhaling inside. ;-)

[Dale Morris]

Hi guys,
As a new woodworker who has lost 53% of lung function in an industrial accident, I have been studying the dust control issue a lot. I just became disabled from the accident, but now I have the time, for the first time in my life to have a wood shop then the dust might keep me from using it!!!!! I bought a used 5hp. cyclone and put it outside, the fines are blown outside (we live in the country). My next step was to make an air filter to filter out all the fine floating dust. I shop made it for cheapfrom a blower and motor out of an electric furnace. I built it into a cabinet that alsxo became my downdraft sanding table, I put removable rollers on the cab. top to use as an outfeed table for my table saw, and put 4 drawers in the cabinet and a lon through storage shelf for longer table saw accessories. It will a timer on it so I leave it on for a few hours after I close the shop. I now have no fine dust when I come in the morning, The filter is quiet so I leave it running anytime I'm making dust, so far next to my router table its the most useful thig I have made for my shop.



Dale

[Sonny Edmonds]

No, YOU have to worry about it.
I don't worry about anything. I'm more apt to get shot or run over by an illegal than to die from my shops wood dust. :p

But I have 3 levels of dust management in my shop. Main cyclonic collection, a shop vac system, and an air filter.
It's nice to have a relatively clean shop to play in. When the air is dusty, I can turn on the air filter and see a difference in a few minutes. The pre-filter I have added to mine tells the story that it is collecting something, which is much better than nothing.

Here is an old page I wrote in the last century about air cleaners. (http://home.earthlink.net/~pie/dust_collection/air.htm) ;)

[glenn bradley]

My dad bought the JDS-750 based on a few reviews and reasonably controlled environment tests. Ambient cleaners are cleaning air you are already breathing so a respirator is good practice. They do clean it so you don't keep breathing it.

My shop made one captures a surprising amount of stuff. The JDS wins the bake-offs for that size of box. Two or three others were very close to it. Many with similar specs did very poorly so I guess this is one case where the review really helped sort through the herd.

[Thomas Marr]

My next step was to make an air filter to filter out all the fine floating dust. I shop made it for cheapfrom a blower and motor out of an electric furnace. I built it into a cabinet that alsxo became my downdraft sanding table, ...

Sounds awesome. Any pictures?

[Jim Becker]

Soooo then when working with woods that produce possible bad stuff for your lungs should I be thinking dust mask first while cutting and keep the DC going? As far as helping keep the shop better that would help us garage folks from having dusty cars, rakes and bikes then.

Exactamundo...personal protection is still suggested when doing operations that tend to generate dust...like hand-sanding. Or machine sanding if there is no vac hooked up to the sander. Etc.

[Gary Lange]

Hi guys,
My next step was to make an air filter to filter out all the fine floating dust. I shop made it for cheapfrom a blower and motor out of an electric furnace. I built it into a cabinet that alsxo became my downdraft sanding table, I put removable rollers on the cab. top to use as an outfeed table for my table saw, and put 4 drawers in the cabinet and a lon through storage shelf for longer table saw accessories. It will a timer on it so I leave it on for a few hours after I close the shop. I now have no fine dust when I come in the morning, The filter is quiet so I leave it running anytime I'm making dust, so far next to my router table its the most useful thig I have made for my shop.



Dale

Dale this is the most innovative and well thought out piece of equipment I have seen mentioned on Sawmill Creek. Would love to see how it was built and some pictures. It sounds like something a lot of us here could use.

[whit richardson]

See even posts on hashed out subjects bring new stuff into the light. So yea Dale what's up with that thing you made?

BTW thanks Mr. Becker for the affirmations. Thanks too to glenn confirming the JDS is a good pick.

Has anyone ripped a hole in the Space-time continuum and connected a flex hose to see how that works? :rolleyes:

[Lee Koepke]

Dale this is the most innovative and well thought out piece of equipment I have seen mentioned on Sawmill Creek. Would love to see how it was built and some pictures. It sounds like something a lot of us here could use.
now you really started something Dale ... you are gonna have to take pics and let us take a peek.

[Jim Becker]

Has anyone ripped a hole in the Space-time continuum and connected a flex hose to see how that works?


Undoubtedly, someone in the 30K+ registered members at SMC has at least tried to do that... :p

[Sonny Edmonds]

Respirators are a major PITA.
They don't seal well enough to offer the level of protection you really need. How many of you have annual fit testing?
And ultimately, they really suck when you have to remove it to swig your beer, then put it back in place. I just hate that about respirators!

[Dale Morris]

Hi Gary, thanks for the compliment, I am really happy with the filter/ downdraft table/outfeed table/ storage table. I'm really new to the creek, how do i post a picure on here. I've got several step by step pics of the project. I'd love to share them if you can tell me how.

Dale

[Gary Lange]

I use photobucket as a host to present my photos on the web. It is a very easy to navigate site. I bring my photos up onto photobucket and then put them into folders so that I can easily find what I want. I do this before putting them on the web so I don't change the URL. It is then just a case of copy and paste. The bottom line says image code. When you left click that it copies it and then you can right click and paste it into your thread wherever you want it. This works on most sites other then those that have their own host that they want you to use.

http://photobucket.com/

[Dale Morris]

105946

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Here are a few pics, i thought I had more but I will run out to the shop and show you what it looks like finished.

Dale

[Dale Morris]

Just went to the shop and took a few more. I'ts not quite finished yet but you can see what it looks like. The rollers for the outfeed come out when it's being used as a downdraft sanding table. The filters filter out alergens, pollen, mold, as well as fine dust less than 1 micron.


Dale :)

[John Schreiber]

. . . Has anyone ripped a hole in the Space-time continuum and connected a flex hose to see how that works? :rolleyes: . . .
That may explain where some of our members have disappeared to.

[whit richardson]

Undoubtedly, someone in the 30K+ registered members at SMC has at least tried to do that... :p

Probably so, that could be why Global warming is now cooling. Somebody didn't seal it good enough.

Dale neat dealie thing you got there...and cheaper to do too.

You know folks if I didn't need a WHOLE LOT of more skill in hand tools I'd just use hand tools and forget all this dust, particle, micron, filter, beer mask, breath holding stuff. Maybe I'll just work with pine and poplar, stain and paint everything I make and deal with it?

[whit richardson]

So are we still waiting (I am) to see more pics of Dales filter system?

For me I have my new Grizzly 2HP dust sucker with some connections, shopping for a heater (Farenheat or Hot Dawg), good dust masks, then either make or buy a air filter/blower. Hmmm.. what's missing? Wood! I need a project and some wood! :rolleyes:

[Boyd Gathwright]

....So where's the pics? We're still waiting :p?

[Larry Edgerton]

IMHO, the air filtration systems are nice to have to help reduce settling of fines in the shop, but they really don't do much for your personal health since you'll have already breathed the air before it's filtered. I only use mine when I'm spraying water borne finishes at this point exactly for that purpose...helping to remove the suspended material in the air so my shop stays a "little" cleaner. Efficient dust collection at the source remains key to reducing exposure to dust in our lungs.

I really have to strongly disagree with you on this one Jim. I do think the little tinkertoy ones that are for sale are useless as they don't move enough air, and have nowhere enough filter capacity.

Pictured is a unit in my shop that turns on with the lights, so it runs all the time anyone is in the shop. It is a bit larger than the photo suggests as my ceilings are 15'. It has 8 common 20"x25" filters and I pull the air through at slow speed so the filters are very effective.

Without this unit running I can not breath in my shop, and everything will be very dusty in a week. I have a portable filter unit I use where I am working and I always use a collector, but there will always be floating dust in a shop. This unit cleans the air continually, and will stall the motor out in about 2 weeks of working in the shop, clogged with very fine dust. I vacuum it once to save money and change out the filters the next time I hear the fan pulling down. this unit will totally clean the air in a 500+ foot shop in about 5 minutes.

All of this very fine dust is dust I would have been breathing, dust that would have been kicked up many times over as material and tools were used, so it is saving me from breathing dust. It is not a single point filter, but it certianly makes my shop a better enviroment to live/work.

So...... I see your point that it is not the total solution, but I strongly disagree that they are no help to your health.

Wait till you see my new one! :)

I can't attach the picture as it was already in "Dust filtration experiment" earlier. Don't know how to link to that. Computor illegitimate, I mean illiterate....