Jeff Sudmeier
02-14-2005, 8:35 PM
Everyone,
From my posts, you can see that my main focus lately has been dust collection. My quest for better dust collection is partly due to the health risks and partly because I was sick of my shop being so full of sawdust.
Anyone who has thought about getting an air cleaner, should stop thinking about it and get one, they are great!
About 6 months ago I told a friend of mine that the next time that he took out a used furnace with a multi-speed blower that was in great shape, to let me know. Not asking much right!??! Well it took about 5 months, but he found me one that was only about 2 years old.
Basically, all there is to it is building a 20x20x24 box. I Built mine out of 1/2" B/C plywood. To join the plywood sides to the top, I cut 2x2's to length and screwed it together.
At the exhaust end, I screwed in cleats to hold a cheap 50 cent filter, to quiet down the exhaust, I don't know for sure if it did any good, but it does make it look better.
http://www.woodworkersweb.com/modules/gallery/albums/albut49/100_7826.sized.jpg
At the intake end, I screwed in a series of cleats, that provide a 3/4" space between each filter. First is a 50 cent cheapo filter. Next is a 5 dollar filter that is 80% effiecient at particles 1 micron and smaller, finally there is a $15 filter that is 95% effiecient.
The Switches you can see in the picture above are what control the blower. The blower has three speed, but I only used two. The first switch is a standard on/off switch, the power comes into this switch and out to the other switch, a three way switch. The three way switch has the wires for two of the speeds hooked to it, along with the input power. This way I can switch from High to medium speeds.
I am thinking of re-wiring the switches so that I can use High and Low speeds. The difference between the High and Medium speeds, just isn't enough, so I don't switch.
In this picture you can see the filter "door" and cleats.
http://www.woodworkersweb.com/modules/gallery/albums/albut49/100_7827.sized.jpg
So, How well does it work. Well if you look closely, you can see that the "bright" blue filter on the intake side is no longer bright blue. The second filter has quite a lot of dust on it. The final filter, has some dust in it but not too much. The blower, really has a TON of power. When I fired it up the first time, it blew out the exhaust filter! :) I adjusted my cleats and it hasn't done it again. Also, when I was testing the blower it was blowing dust out of my shop and into the street. My shop is about 30 feet from the street.
When I was sanding some oak I stood so that the dust would be pulled away from me. It was amazing to see the dust float up and over to the filter. After shutting off the sander it didn't take a minute to clear the air.
Overall, I am very happy with this addition to my shop. Anyone that does not have an air cleaner, should build one, they are great!
From my posts, you can see that my main focus lately has been dust collection. My quest for better dust collection is partly due to the health risks and partly because I was sick of my shop being so full of sawdust.
Anyone who has thought about getting an air cleaner, should stop thinking about it and get one, they are great!
About 6 months ago I told a friend of mine that the next time that he took out a used furnace with a multi-speed blower that was in great shape, to let me know. Not asking much right!??! Well it took about 5 months, but he found me one that was only about 2 years old.
Basically, all there is to it is building a 20x20x24 box. I Built mine out of 1/2" B/C plywood. To join the plywood sides to the top, I cut 2x2's to length and screwed it together.
At the exhaust end, I screwed in cleats to hold a cheap 50 cent filter, to quiet down the exhaust, I don't know for sure if it did any good, but it does make it look better.
http://www.woodworkersweb.com/modules/gallery/albums/albut49/100_7826.sized.jpg
At the intake end, I screwed in a series of cleats, that provide a 3/4" space between each filter. First is a 50 cent cheapo filter. Next is a 5 dollar filter that is 80% effiecient at particles 1 micron and smaller, finally there is a $15 filter that is 95% effiecient.
The Switches you can see in the picture above are what control the blower. The blower has three speed, but I only used two. The first switch is a standard on/off switch, the power comes into this switch and out to the other switch, a three way switch. The three way switch has the wires for two of the speeds hooked to it, along with the input power. This way I can switch from High to medium speeds.
I am thinking of re-wiring the switches so that I can use High and Low speeds. The difference between the High and Medium speeds, just isn't enough, so I don't switch.
In this picture you can see the filter "door" and cleats.
http://www.woodworkersweb.com/modules/gallery/albums/albut49/100_7827.sized.jpg
So, How well does it work. Well if you look closely, you can see that the "bright" blue filter on the intake side is no longer bright blue. The second filter has quite a lot of dust on it. The final filter, has some dust in it but not too much. The blower, really has a TON of power. When I fired it up the first time, it blew out the exhaust filter! :) I adjusted my cleats and it hasn't done it again. Also, when I was testing the blower it was blowing dust out of my shop and into the street. My shop is about 30 feet from the street.
When I was sanding some oak I stood so that the dust would be pulled away from me. It was amazing to see the dust float up and over to the filter. After shutting off the sander it didn't take a minute to clear the air.
Overall, I am very happy with this addition to my shop. Anyone that does not have an air cleaner, should build one, they are great!