I Grew Tired of Chasing Curlies!

[John Altberg]

Since my turning space is in my garage with all of the usual suspects, I was forever picking curlies out of all of the nooks and crannies. Turned the lathe perpendicular to the wall so that I can turn off of the end, now, and enclosed the whole space with a series of suspended shower curtains. Too tired and hot to give it a test run; hopefully I won't be sending shavings OVER the curtain!

[Hayes Rutherford]

John, that looks good. Way nicer than my blue tarp.

[Rick Markham]

Very nice John. My solution to my curlies problem was a gas leaf blower... cleans everything out that isn't put away!

[David C. Roseman]

Very nice John. My solution to my curlies problem was a gas leaf blower... cleans everything out that isn't put away!

That'll work, Rick! Reminds me of a departed friend who used to move the vacuum hose on his 16 gal shop vac to the "blower" discharge port and go after the outliers that way. Took quite awhile for the clouds of dust to settle, but his shop was eventually clean. :)

David

[Dan Forman]

Looks good John, but I don't see how you can turn anything with that glaring lack of clutter. :)

Dan

[Mike Cruz]

Eventually, I think we all end up with some sort of this set up. It works really nicely. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised, and unless you are actually trying to launch over the curtain, I think you'll find it won't be a problem. Looks very well executed.

[John Altberg]

Looks good John, but I don't see how you can turn anything with that glaring lack of clutter. :)

Dan

Oh, Dan - trust me the clutter is there! It is just conveniently shielded from the eye of the camera!

[Ryan Baker]

You will definitely shoot curlies over the curtains. I do that all the time. But they do catch most of it. It helps the cleanup time a lot.

I sure wish I had that kind of space around my lathe though. :)

[robert baccus]

That clean is disgusting---makes me nervous!!

[Thom Sturgill]

Been thinking about doing that. I have a 20x30 shop and curlies get everywhere, but then I get them around the drill press, and sawdust at areas that i do not have dust collection yet. . . Looks nice! Is that steel pipe?

[Mike Cruz]

Thom brings up a good point about dust collection. I don't see an air filter. A really good way to collect the dust that escapes your dust collection when sanding, and the dust you create when you are not running the dust collector (maybe when finish turning with the DC off), is to have an air filter hanging above your lathe. It will both keep you from creating a dust cloud inside your curtained area, but will also create a draw away from you, so you keep getting fresh air. Might want to consider hanging one right above the lathe...

[John Altberg]

Been thinking about doing that. I have a 20x30 shop and curlies get everywhere, but then I get them around the drill press, and sawdust at areas that i do not have dust collection yet. . . Looks nice! Is that steel pipe?

Thom,

Those are actually curtain rods that I got from Ikea AND they were available for shipping! (most of their inventory is not) They were inexpensive and are VERY light. They expand from around 80" to 152". I have pretty much gotten dust collection arranged for all of my tools. Everything is mobile, so I just have to move whatever tool I need into the "collection zone" and I am good to go! I am actually getting close to getting cars back into the garage, much to my wife's pleasure.

[Mike Cruz]

Not sure on the price, John, but I used 1" EMT pipe from the BORG. That way, you can bend them at the corners. IIRC, 3/4" pvc fits into the holes quite nicely as a coupling that will not obstruct the flow of the curtain hangers (normal couplings are external, and prohibit the flow of the hangers to pass them). The curtain rod idea is great, though. Does the whole thing swing a lot when you move the curtains? I have my EMT fastened to the wall at one end so it doesn't move as the curtains are pulled/moved.

[Richard Jones]

I also have clear curtains (heavy duty from Lowe's) around my lathe. I do shoot some over the top when I get aggressive (who, me?), but contain the vast majority. One thing to try if anyone is interested; just tie up the curtains at first until you get the configuration you want, then do the pipe, whatever. That way you can experiment a bit.

Nice set up, now fill it up.............

[John Altberg]

Thom brings up a good point about dust collection. I don't see an air filter. A really good way to collect the dust that escapes your dust collection when sanding, and the dust you create when you are not running the dust collector (maybe when finish turning with the DC off), is to have an air filter hanging above your lathe. It will both keep you from creating a dust cloud inside your curtained area, but will also create a draw away from you, so you keep getting fresh air. Might want to consider hanging one right above the lathe...

The big flourescent light hanging there is a a 2'x4' filter for a an industrial clean room setting that I got for free off of craigslist. There is a 6" thick hepa filter between the lights and the air handler that I will never be able to afford to replace ($600-$700 according to the manufacturer) so the air is pre-filtered with a double stack of ac filters on the top intake. Can't remember the details now, but I seem to remember calculating that this unit will move all of the volume of air in my large garage in about 5 minutes!

[John Altberg]

Not sure on the price, John, but I used 1" EMT pipe from the BORG. That way, you can bend them at the corners. IIRC, 3/4" pvc fits into the holes quite nicely as a coupling that will not obstruct the flow of the curtain hangers (normal couplings are external, and prohibit the flow of the hangers to pass them). The curtain rod idea is great, though. Does the whole thing swing a lot when you move the curtains? I have my EMT fastened to the wall at one end so it doesn't move as the curtains are pulled/moved.

It stays pretty well put when I move the curtains. I originally wanted flex track for the ceiling that I could shape into an oval, but by the time one got the track and the special fittings, the over length curtain and the extension chains to reach the curtain, it was well over $400! This was done for right around $100.

[Thomas Canfield]

That is a nice setup. I have found that you can get bigger shower curtains from Amazon and currently am using 7'H in my 8' ceiling shop. I had used some 8'H curtains in my old sop and still could throw a few curlies over the top, but the curtains do drop about 95% or so of the curlies.

[Mike Cruz]

The curtain behind me is at almost 10 feet (8' curtain, I don't throw low curlies...), and the one on the other side of the lathe is at about 8-8 1/2'. I don't throw much, if any, over mine. But then again, I don't try to...

[Rick Markham]

Definitely a much neater idea than mine. I guess I have turned into a reformed shop slob. Now that I have room I don't like it to be messy. Heck there isn't even a single turning tool/object/reject sitting on my table saw anymore :eek: I'm not saying I would pass the John Keeton white glove test :p;), but I think I would probably get a B+ (maybe an A-) :D

For me I've spoiled myself with a Patton air circulator hung from the ceiling that points right down the lathe, a curtain system would make it too hot for me. (I'm a wuss, I would melt in Kathy's shop... or only turn at night):cool:

[Thomas Canfield]

The curtain behind me is at almost 10 feet (8' curtain, I don't throw low curlies...), and the one on the other side of the lathe is at about 8-8 1/2'. I don't throw much, if any, over mine. But then again, I don't try to...

Mike, I like my curtain to touch the floor to help contain the curlies and that is the reason to go with the taller curtains. Amazon has a wide range of curtains. I keep looking at some of the privacy curtains that are used by hospitals that have the net mesh at the top and fabric at bottom but have not checked on a source.

[Mike Cruz]

Thomas, you've got 10 foot curtains? I couldn't find those. 8' is as tall as I found. Behind me is a bench. I just didn't want all the curlies all over the top of the bench. I don't care about under it. Besides, curlies basically hit the curtain and fall straight down. If the curtain were to the floor, I'd be afraid, not concerned would be a better word, of stepping on the curtain and either ripping it down or falling. It allows for air movement, too. Different strokes...