Air Cleaners ??

[Angus Hines]

Ok so I'm lost in this department and the more I read on here the loster I get.

Build my own or purchase ready made?

How much cleaning do I need for a 35x25 shop with a 10' ceiling?

Who makes the best off the shelf model?

Can I use the Air Cleaners that they sell at the BORGS for home use or do they not create enough air flow/cleaning power?

If I build my own Whats the best filter material to use?

Got pictures/designs of one you have built?

[Don Bullock]

Great questions. I'm hoping to see a lot of input on this one because I'm lost on this topic too.

[David G Baker]

If I remember correctly there are several threads that cover DIY air filtration units. I plan on building my own using one of the ideas that was in one of those threads if I can find the thread when I get ready to build the filter.
I purchased 4 cases of the pleated furnace filters at a garage sale at a very cheap price, this is what I plan on using for filter material.
At one time I processed film for TV news, the film processor had a large squirrel cage fan that was used to dry the film. The filters used for the air blowing on the film was tightly woven fiberglass material. There were 5 filters stacked on the air intake side of the fan. I would check the filters daily for contamination. When the outside filter started showing sighs of dust, I would remove it and add a new filter at the bottom of the stack. This system worked extremely well and I never had a dust or dirt problem on the surface of the film in the 15 years that I worked in the lab. If this system worked for film it surely should work in a wood shop.

[Angus Hines]

So the wife asked me what I wanted for Xmas and I told her possibly an Air Cleaner.

She looks at me with a puzzled look and says you smoke 3 packs of Camels a day what good is an air cleaner gonna do you?

Now she has a good point....Should I even bother?

[Tom Veatch]

...
How much cleaning do I need for a 35x25 shop with a 10' ceiling?
...

As I recall, the recommendations are that the air cleaner should do 6 to 8 air exchanges per hour. Your shop has a volume of 8750 cu.ft which is very nearly the same volume as mine. 6 to 8 air changes per hour converts to an airflow of 875 to 1200 cu.ft./minute. I use a couple of Jet AFS-1000 units hung from the ceiling adjacent to the long walls and about 1/3 the length of the wall from the corner. Intake side is closest to the corner and units are on opposite sides of the shop.

When I can remember to turn them on, they do a pretty fair job of keeping the air clean. I suggest making sure you can turn it on with a wall switch at a "normal" height or having a remote control switch.

[Maurice Ungaro]

So the wife asked me what I wanted for Xmas and I told her possibly an Air Cleaner.

She looks at me with a puzzled look and says you smoke 3 packs of Camels a day what good is an air cleaner gonna do you?

Now she has a good point....Should I even bother?

I think this is information that could have been helpful!

Seriously, as far as the workshop air is concerned, an air filtration unit is very nice to have. I operate mine when I am in the shop and cutting or sanding a good bit. Other than that, I turn it on when I leave for the night, and turn it off in the morning. It does a great job of getting the little nasties out of the air. The air just feels better after running all night.

JDS make a fine one. I've got the big Delta model with 3 speeds and a remote (it was a scratch & dent that I got for $110 - there was NO way I was passing that up), but Jet, Grizzly and many others have ready made ones available. A good one will recirculate the air in 24 x 24 space about 8 time an hour. I can tell you that on high speed, the flag on my wall flutters a bit from the air flow.

[Bryan Rocker]

I am looking at building one as well, to me an air cleaner is nothing more than a box with a squirrel cage and filters, why should you spend upwards of $500 when you could make one from probably less than $100 and do just as well. Some of the new furnace filters now filter down to the 1 micron level. As to the variable speed take an old fan and use its switch. Come to think of it I wonder if you could modify a with a squirrel cage and get good results?

[Mike Schueler]

So the wife asked me what I wanted for Xmas and I told her possibly an Air Cleaner.

She looks at me with a puzzled look and says you smoke 3 packs of Camels a day what good is an air cleaner gonna do you?

Now she has a good point....Should I even bother?

Either she is trying to make a point, or she has a big life insurance policy on you.

Seriously, though, consider:
Wood Dust + Tobacco Smoke -- really, really bad for the lungs
Tobacco Smoke without wood dust -- Better than BOTH for sure
No tobacco and no wood dust -- Maybe quit smoking AND get filtration?

[Dan Friedrichs]

While ingenuity is always praiseworthy, using a switch from an old fan to make a different fan/blower "variable speed" is stupid and/or possibly dangerous. You can't just go grabbing parts here and there, slapping them together, and expecting the finished result to be safe and effective. It might work for awhile, but what if your blower draws more current than that switch can handle? I don't think I could fall asleep knowing something built like that was running in my shop.

I like the basic idea of building an air cleaner, though - a good quality filter media with a squirrel cage blower and an appropriately sized motor speed control would be all you need.

[Dan Friedrichs]

So the wife asked me what I wanted for Xmas and I told her possibly an Air Cleaner.

She looks at me with a puzzled look and says you smoke 3 packs of Camels a day what good is an air cleaner gonna do you?

Now she has a good point....Should I even bother?

Probably not. You'll be dead from smoking long before the sawdust affects you.

[Bryan Rocker]

I would imagine if your ingenious enough to build one of these you are probably smart enough to look at the switch to make sure it is rated at the load you are attempting to put it through.......I am willing to bet 3 speed switches at the BORG are less than $20......

[Don Bullock]

...
She looks at me with a puzzled look and says you smoke 3 packs of Camels a day what good is an air cleaner gonna do you?

Now she has a good point....Should I even bother?

If you stop smoking the Camels you'll save more than enough to buy your own air cleaner.

[Bill McDermott]

While you're dithering about the proper solution, grab a $15 box fan at the discount store and tape a $1 furnace filter to the front of it. Hang it up and see how much crud it collects. Not even close to the right solution, but it is a big step in the right direction. I am particularly happy with it when I set it on the bench, a foot or two from something I am sanding. Maybe use it while you are building the keeper.

[Steve Kohn]

I have a homebuilt unit and a Jet AFS-1000 in my shop.

At first I built the homemade one with scrap plywood, BORG furnace filters, a 3 micron pocket filter from McMaster, and 3 surplus 200 CFM muffin fans. Variable speed was accomplished by turning on one, two, or three of the muffin fans. Switching was done with 3 different pull cords.

The Jet unit was bought when I moved into my new shop. The ceilings are over 11 feet, so the wireless remote became necessary.

Both work fine for collecting dust. I use air filtration whenever I am in the shop. However there is a side benefit with having a running air filter hanging from the ceiling. They do a great job of pulling the heated air off the ceiling and distributing in around the shop.

[Dave Verstraete]

So the wife asked me what I wanted for Xmas and I told her possibly an Air Cleaner.

She looks at me with a puzzled look and says you smoke 3 packs of Camels a day what good is an air cleaner gonna do you?

Now she has a good point....Should I even bother?

Angus

It has been 6 years and 4 months for me (2,312 days to be exact) since I quit. I smoked about 1 and a half packs a day. At $5 a pack in Michigan that is $17,340.00 that I have as "extra cash". If an air cleaner costs (I haven't checked prices) about $250, I could have bought 70 of them by now.

Quitting now gives you more time and money to spend on your real hobbies.