john lawson
04-12-2006, 6:46 PM
I have a question, or perhaps a dilema, and would like some opinions from the experts. The question is this; What kind or brand of random orbit air sander is used that incorporates dust control/pickup? Do you hook it up to your dust collector or does it work off of a venturi from the air line?
Some background: I just went from being a hobbyist to a professional. I have teamed up with a fellow in our guild who has an existing shop with 4000 square feet. We have complimentary skills and equipment. I do mostly furniture, he does cabinetry. We decided to go in together and do upscale cabinetry and some furniture, mostly through designers. The shop is very well laid out. He has a dust collector on his side of the shop, I just installed my cyclone on my side.
I am concerned about sanding dust, and use a vacuum or the dust collector on all my machines. He uses the dust collector on his larger machines but uses nothing on the air sander, a Porter Cable unit that does a great job. I approached him today about the sander, about my concern for breathing sanding dust. He is a bit reluctant and somewhat skeptical about the health hazards. He uses the dust collector as more of a house keeping tool than a safety tool and he keeps a good shop.
He is reasonable and open to suggestions. I told him I did not worry too much about sawdust made by the tablesaw or jointer, just the sander. So, I will approach him somewhat diplomatically, but I feel strongly that I want a solution.
So, based on your experiences, what are the best solutions? Low cost is always good, but if that is not feasible what are the high cost solutions?
thanks for your thoughts and replies
john lawson
Some background: I just went from being a hobbyist to a professional. I have teamed up with a fellow in our guild who has an existing shop with 4000 square feet. We have complimentary skills and equipment. I do mostly furniture, he does cabinetry. We decided to go in together and do upscale cabinetry and some furniture, mostly through designers. The shop is very well laid out. He has a dust collector on his side of the shop, I just installed my cyclone on my side.
I am concerned about sanding dust, and use a vacuum or the dust collector on all my machines. He uses the dust collector on his larger machines but uses nothing on the air sander, a Porter Cable unit that does a great job. I approached him today about the sander, about my concern for breathing sanding dust. He is a bit reluctant and somewhat skeptical about the health hazards. He uses the dust collector as more of a house keeping tool than a safety tool and he keeps a good shop.
He is reasonable and open to suggestions. I told him I did not worry too much about sawdust made by the tablesaw or jointer, just the sander. So, I will approach him somewhat diplomatically, but I feel strongly that I want a solution.
So, based on your experiences, what are the best solutions? Low cost is always good, but if that is not feasible what are the high cost solutions?
thanks for your thoughts and replies
john lawson