I do have a nice dust collection system that I use most of the time when sanding bust I still end up with dust here and there in my 20 by 20 foot garage. Most of the garage is dedicated to my wood working but the wife is slowing trying to take some of the space back. In an effort to try and keep things a little more dust free I was wondering how effective the hanging type air filtration systems are. I am also wonder what size I would need as far as CFM. In the summer my garage door is open most of the time. It was 106 here is Texas today and my garage is not cooled. It is heated for the winter. So I was wondering if it even does any good to run it with the door open. If you do use a system which one do you use? Just looking for a little help in deciding what to do. Thanks Harold
My current shop/studio is a 14'x 20' utility shed [uninsulated] and I use a Jet 400 cfm overhead air cleaner, and run my dust collector when sanding. I would recommend if you have the ability to place a good size fan to blow the dust out the open door while sanding that it would help a lot. It might require moving your lathe or another tool, but well worth the effort for moving dust away from you. Dust can cause cancer with long term exposure, and I also protect myself with a PAPR respirator helmet -Trend Airshield Pro. Available through Woodcraft, Amazon, etc.
My shop is got a/c but I still run a dust collection system at the machine and use the powermax dust filtration system mounted near the ceiling seems to keep the air clear.
One of my longer term projects is to make a decent air filtration system that I would probably hang from the ceiling. I do have a dust collector that I use when I'm sanding that uses a Thien baffle and exhausts outside. I also have a box fan that I hang from the ceiling behind me pointed towards the back of my head. It has a furnace filter. It may not be very high tech or particularly efficient, but the filter does require getting blown out regularly, so it must be doing something. I've also toyed with the idea of getting a Trend Airshield but I'm dragging my feet a bit because of the cost.
At some point, when I'm moved into a new shop, I plan on upgrading to something even better than the Trend-ASP. Perhaps a 3-M Versaflow or maybe the Sundstrum SR-500. The Trend does a good job, but it is not the absolute best, which would be HEPPA filtration. The Trend is just a step under HEPPA, and something like THP-2, which is a British/European standard.
I use a Laguna C]Flux 1.5 micron cyclone. It works quite well, but some dust does get in the air, especially when sanding. I have a dust port with hood right next to the head of the lathe, but it's not perfect. Rick
I saw a video with "Robo Hippy" where he used a large polyethylene drum wrapped around his chuck. It seemed like a really good idea. The shape of it allowed it to catch the vast majority of the dust. It also seems like it would be more effective that using the "big gulp".
When I'm sanding on the lathe, I have a homemade contraption sort of like the big gulp that catches most of the sanding dust. I have it hooked up to a 1.5 hp Jet DC with a flex hose. I also have a 1000 cfm Jet air filtration box bolted to the ceiling near my lathe. It does a good job of getting the fine particles out of the air. I wear a dust M99 dust mask while sanding but not while turning. It's not a perfect solution but I have noticed the layer of dust in my shop is less than it was before I started trying to mitigate the dust.
