exhaust blower

[Joe Hillmann]

The blower that I use for the exhaust on my lasers was never powerful enough to do its job by the time it got to the last laser on the ventilation system 50 feet or so from the blower. This weekend I came across this beast that in its previous life was use to spread lime and is way overkill for my needs
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But I couldn't pass up for $25.

Other than to brag about the great deal I got I am also posting this because at the same sale I came across an electric leaf blower and it got me to thinking that that might work for an exhaust blower. I am just wondering if anyone has tried using a leaf blower as an exhaust fan?

[Richard Rumancik]

I don't know if anyone has tried but I really don't think it would be a good idea for many reasons. One of which is that you will probably not be able to get any performance specs on a leaf blower. What is the duty cycle of a leaf blower - and can you run it 10 hours straight? One or two thousand hours per year? They are probably designed to run 10 or 20 hours a year so you could put a year's life on it in a few days on the laser.

If you are going to substitute I would suggest staying with dust collectors. At least they have pressure/flow ratings and are designed for continuous operation, as well as for shop use.

Also, if you have a fire, any off-label use of equipment might not help your insurance claim.

[Mike Null]

The noise will drive you crazy. I don't think they can run for long periods without overheating.

[ray hampton]

I use a electric leaf blower to blow the lint out of my dryer vent , if this count as a exhaust fan

[Darren Weir]

I have a dust collector blower from Harbor Freight (about $100) on one machine and a "Penn State" dust collector (retails closer to $300, but got mine used) on the other. Both work great and noise is minimal. I started out with an ancient shop-vac motor, but it was way loud for a home based business.