Technology in the Shop

[Andy Hoyt]

Seems like I keep seeing photos of and/or reading about folks who have TVs, DVDs, VCRs and such in the shop. I don't. But my office is carved out of one corner of it. It's fully partitioned and the door to it is a weatherstripped exterior one. I also have a good DC system from Oneida.

So here's my dilemma/question. How do you guys keep sawdust from wrecking your equipment that's IN the shop. And how do I keep the sawdust OUT of my office?

I'm mostly religious about using the DC and closing the door; but I always have a layer of dust all over the place in here and it's driving me crazy. In addition to evil and invisible infiltration, I'm also guessing that when I open the door to the office I'm causing a mighty dust laden wind to enter the space with me. I just opened up my PC tower and vacuumed out a huge amount of dust. But couldn't get it all as some it was heat-fused in place. Yup, I'll be needing a new PC someday, too.

I'm thinking about one of those air cleaners by JDS; and chopping a hole in the wall and mounting it between the two spaces, but am vacillating on which way to point the thing. Blow into the office to create positive air pressure or blow out of the office to extract whatever is leaking in. Both directions have obvious pros and cons. Or is this concept all wrong and I should do something else. Sorry, no room available to relocate shop or office anywhere else.

Need help, suggestions, and a new can of Endust. Thanks.

[John Hart]

Andy,
I have a computer in my filthy shop that I do cad work, check email, keep up on SMC and I also have a satelite feed into it so I can watch TV or listen to music. I keep the Computer in an enclosed cabinet but the monitor is exposed to everything. I have no DC...just a shop Vac. I do preventive maintenance regularly and I've had no problems. The computer has been in there for 4 years.

[Don Baer]

Andy;
I don't have the luxury of a seperate shop and office so my computer, printer,fax,TV, sterio, suround sound system are exposed to the eliments. I just give them a good blow job from time to time. The air filtration system seems like a good idea but i'd just use it in the room not between the rooms if I had the luxury of having such a space.

IMHO

[Brett Baldwin]

I suspect your idea for positive pressure would lessen the amount of dust in your office but it won't get rid of it all. Even my computer inside the house gathers dust like a magnet. I think it is the electrical charge that it has that attracts the airborne dust. If the expense of the aircleaner isn't an issue, I doubt it could hurt to try it, except maybe the hole in the wall. Is there a window you can put it in to test the theory before you hack up the wall?

[Chris Barton]

Hi Andy,

I have DC, a jet air cleaner/filtration system and shop vac to boot and still have a 1/32" layer of wood dust on everything in my basement. AT first I thought I just needed better DC but, realized that was not the solution and that I may not be able to completely eliminate the problem. First, I have the standard 30 micron bags on my DC that should be replaced with 1 micron bags. But better yet, a DC system should be completely contained in a exterior venting room. Then, the air filtration system should be much better and should directly vent outside. The filtration systems that I have seen and own are nice but not really adequately designed to do a really good job of air scrubbing. So, bottom line is that a real dust solution is very nearly a shop redesign for most of us. Or, we can just live with the dust...

[Michael Stafford]

I don't have a dust collector. I use vacuum cleaners for that but my main dust control measures are high velocity fans positioned in the windows exhausting out all the air in the shop as the dust is made. I have most of my dust making operations positioned strategically near a high velocity fan. I know that breathing dust is dangerous but that is what I do. It must work as I do not have the residual dust layer that you guys are describing unless I don't run the fans. Shop clean up is done the same way. I just turn on all my high velocity fans and blow down everything in the shop and let the fans clear the air. Crude but effective....now you can laugh....:o

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

I'm not laughing...when it's time for 'dusting', that's exactly what I do. Big door open, big fan pointed that way from the opposite corner, and air hose in tow. :D

KC

[Bob Wilkerson]

Positive pressure is what we used in PCBoard manufacturing. Clean incoming air will help keep the office clean by reducing infiltration. Of course we also used air locks to minimize the effects of opening doors as well.

In my case do what many others do: Just blow it outside periodically. The few electronics I keep in the shop just get compressed air and an anti-static spray to help keep them clean. If I ran a computer out there I'd probably set it in a filtered box just to keep it's fans from sucking in as much dust.....

Bob

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I asked the same question and got many responses to the effect that there would be no problems. I keep the TV and stereo setup blown out ocassionally and so far [after 4 months] there's not a problem.

I have a DC but it isn't plumbed to the machinery yet. Over the Christmas vacation (actually it's just a lack of work), I plan to plumb it and build a new cabinet for both the BS and the other router table.

[John Bailey]

Andy,

Would it be too simplistic to hook the Onieda up to your office space for a solution. There's probably a good reason it won't work, but it sounds like, from your description, any dust that gets in there stays in there. Maybe having the dust collector hooked-up to your room would draw it out.

I have a decent stereo in my shop. All I've done is take one of those plastic covers that cheap blankets come in, from Wall-Mart, and place it over the tuner and CD player. Those units stay pretty clean because the dust has to find its way up through the open bottom. Because it sits relatively high, I can reach up and in to work any of the controls. I do have to lift the cover to put in new CD's, but it holds five, and because I have my favourites in there, I don't change them often. The speakers, however, sit in the open. I keep the dust covers on them and clean them periodically. I should say, I do mostly hand work, and in general, don't create a lot of dust.

John

[Lee DeRaud]

I don't have a dust collector. I use vacuum cleaners for that but my main dust control measures are high velocity fans positioned in the windows exhausting out all the air in the shop as the dust is made. I have most of my dust making operations positioned strategically near a high velocity fan. I know that breathing dust is dangerous but that is what I do. It must work as I do not have the residual dust layer that you guys are describing unless I don't run the fans. Shop clean up is done the same way. I just turn on all my high velocity fans and blow down everything in the shop and let the fans clear the air. Crude but effective....now you can laugh....:oOh yeah, I'm laughing...not at how you keep your shop clean, but at the mental image of the look I'd see on my neighbor's face if I did that. He'd stroke out on the spot.:p :D :cool:

[Andy Hoyt]

Geez, maybe I should have asked that only guys who live on the northen tributary of the creek post answers:D.

The trouble is, it's about -5° right now and rumor has it that heat is expensive, so I tend to batten down the hatches in the winter.

Mike - In the summer, that's pretty much what I do - along with a leaf blower during major cleanups.

And it's not just the computer that's getting dusty. All the horizontal surfaces in here get a fine layer.

Maybe some of you guys who have one of these air filter machines would care to respond?

Thanks.

[Charlie Velasquez]

Auto body friend says to filter outside air into your office to create positive air pressure. That is how they keep contaminents from inside their paint booth.

[Jim Becker]

The trouble is, it's about -5° right now and rumor has it that heat is expensive, so I tend to batten down the hatches in the winter.

That calls for the REAL audiophile equipment...tubes...so you can also heat your shop at the same time. :)

I have a receiver in the shop mounted up near the ceiling. I just hit it with some air about twice a year...wearing a mask, of course, so I don't swallow the "stuff" that I blow off of it.