Dust Extraction Yes or No?

[Mapster]

Right now I am turning in my garage and opening the garage door for my "safety" ventilation. With door closed it is about 80 degrees, open it is about 100 degrees, so I like it closed. Few questions:

1. Is it dangerous to have no dust collection, but an open garage door?

2. Is it dangerous to have dust collection, but a closed space?

3. Is dust collection worth the hefty investment?

4. What is the best means of dust collection within a budget?

 

[alphageek]

Yes, No (did you mean to say no dust collection?), Yes and what do you consider a budget.

I have a relatively low cost 1 micron collector.. Best thing I ever did as a woodworker, and should have done it even when just a hobbyist! (oh, wait.. I'm still a hobbyist! )

 

[bbuis]

I turn in the garage also. The only "dust collection" I use when turning is the vacuum when I drill out my blank. The dust collector is used more for the things that are done on the table saw and such. If there is a danger here nobody told me. No I dont open the door either .. but set a fan up near the door from the house to pull out some cool air.

 

[PTownSubbie]

I turn in the garage also. The only "dust collection" I use when turning is the vacuum when I drill out my blank. The dust collector is used more for the things that are done on the table saw and such. If there is a danger here nobody told me. No I dont open the door either .. but set a fan up near the door from the house to pull out some cool air.

I hate to be the first to tell you...it is not the best thing for you. It depends on how long and prosperous you want to live. The small particles that are created when turning wood that are not visible are the most dangerous ones. Those are the ones that enter your lungs and never come back out.

If you are turning often or doing any type of woodworking without a dust collection system, you are likely shortening your life due to clogging your lungs with small micron dust particles.

I would HIGHLY recommend you do some research on the internet on the dangers of small micron dust inhalation and make your own determination on how much your well being is worth. It is a small investment when you see what could happen with prolonged use unprotected.

Ok. I am stepping down off the soap box....

 

[RussFairfield]

Dust IS a health problem. I will invite anyone who doesn't think that dust collection is a good thing to come back in 20-years and tell me again that it isn't.

 

[Rick_G]

If you are on a really tight budget I would suggest at the very least a good shop vac with a hepa filter. When turning the main dust you have to worry about is the fine stuff produced by sanding unless you are turning spalted woods. I keep the inlet on mine about an inch from where I am sanding. I also added an oneida cyclone for the shop vac. Really cuts down on cleaning or changing the filter. For my other work I have a 1 hp dust collector with a 1 micron filter that I move from machine to machine and an air filter that gets turned on when I enter the shop.

It basically comes down to two choices pay now and get some dust collection or pay later with health problems and medical bills.

 

[PenMan1]

Dust from some exotic woods can kill you dead! I have to turn cocobolo in long sleeves with a dust mask, long sleeves, face shield, air filter and dust collector running. I still have to take a shower immediately after turning it.

Dust IS A SERIOUS HEALTH CONCERN FOR MANY. When you figure out you are allergic or have a problem, it may be too late.

I read somewhere that the hobby woodworker has much greater health risks because professional shops are equipped to handle dust. DO NOT TAKE DUST COLLECTION LIGHTLY!

 

[Mapster]

Thanks for the input, looks like I need to take this a little more seriously. What would you recommend out of these. A few from PSI.

Destroyer: http://www.pennstateind.com/store/DC2V3.html?mybuyscid=5367663849

Lathe Package: http://www.pennstateind.com/store/DCMLPAK.html?mybuyscid=5367663849

1 horsepower: http://www.pennstateind.com/store/DC1BXL-1M.html

Economy: http://www.pennstateind.com/store/DC660P.html?mybuyscid=5367663849

Or something else in about the same price range or less. I will only use this with my lathe. I drill on my lathe also

 

[Rick_G]

Dust from some exotic woods can kill you dead!

It's not just exotics. I'm one of those lucky people I have zero allergies, a friend wanted some of my walnut for a scroll saw project. I cut it up and planed it to 1/4" thickness and he took it home. His son helped him unload the car. When he came back for the second load his arms had already broken out into a serious rash where the wood contacted his skin. Consider what might have happened if the son had not helped unload and his dad started sanding that stuff and the son came in and sucked in a lungful of walnut sanding dust.

If your budget will not allow dust collection equipment at the very least get a good quality dust mask with replaceable filters and I don't mean one of those paper things they are useless.

 

[Rick_G]

Thanks for the input, looks like I need to take this a little more seriously. What would you recommend out of these. A few from PSI.

Destroyer: http://www.pennstateind.com/store/DC2V3.html?mybuyscid=5367663849

Lathe Package: http://www.pennstateind.com/store/DCMLPAK.html?mybuyscid=5367663849

1 horsepower: http://www.pennstateind.com/store/DC1BXL-1M.html

Economy: http://www.pennstateind.com/store/DC660P.html?mybuyscid=5367663849

Or something else in about the same price range or less. I will only use this with my lathe. I drill on my lathe also

With those as my only choice I would go with the first one, but the one at the bottom of that page with the canister filter. The canister filters are easier to keep clean and working properly. The bag filter on top tends to clog and cuts down on airflow to the point where it hardly moves any air. I just replaced my bag filter with a canister for that reason and I couldn't believe the difference in suction.

 

[Mapster]

Would an oneida system with a shop vac work well enough also, or does that not remove all of the fine particles these other systems do? All input is much appreciated.

 

[Daniel]

No dust collection is a bad thing. Sort of like smoking though, you never really know it is happening until it is to late. An open garage door is not dust collection, not unless there is a 60mph wind blowing in and still it is not good dust collection.
The idea with good dust collection is to capture and clean the air before you breath it. so air cleaners are not good either but they are a good addition.

Don't leave a respirator in a shop full of dust. next time you put it on it has just saved all that dust for you with your first breath.

It is the small stuff that does the most damage. a dust collector with a cheap bag is just blowing the dust back into the air making the problem actually worse.

I listed the above as preparation to saying.

Yes it is worth the expense, and if you are going to go cheap, save your money for the future medical bills. or the new hobby you will have to find.

Just food for thought in how well a good dust collector needs to be able to move air. Try to put out the flame on a match by sucking through a straw. blowing air is far more effective than sucked air. It takes a ton of air being moved to actually capture the dust you are after. You are not concerned with the stuff that is so heavy it falls to the floor. you are after that very fine stuff that stays floating around for hours. all the fluff that you see in the air when the sun is shining through the window. That is the stuff that will kill you. it not only gets very deep into your lungs, it is toxic and can start infections simply because it is abrasive and irritating.

 

[michelle]

I call it my Darth Vader getup...

I have pretty bad asthma, but still contracted the woodturning bug. A friend suggested the Resp-o-rator and it does a wonderful job. Sometimes when you are breathing you can make it sound like the Star Wars guy. The hepa filters are behind you, so they are pulling in decent air that they then filter more.

I use it when I'm turning, drilling, sawing, etc. When I'm done, I have a shop-vac with a 1 micron filter that I clean up the shop with. So far, this setup is working for me.

http://www.resp-o-rator.com/ror/

Michelle

 

[sbwertz]

Long before I got into turning, I made a simple, but effective, dust collector for the workshop. I simply took a 24" box fan and mounted a high quality washable furnace filter on it on the intake side. I live in AZ and turned my carport into a workshop. I put in a 10' roll up door with a window beside it instead of a double garage door. In the window I mounted a large window air conditioning unit. The headstock of the lathe is about four feet from the ac unit, and it blows everything away toward the tailstock. The fan sits right the end of the lathe and collects all the dust blown there by the ac. (In the winter I just run the fan portion of the ac.) I was pleasantly surprised to find that the ac only added about 30 dollars a month to my electric bill, and it runs almost every single day, all day, since we are both retired and woodworking is our primary pastime. We have a Jet dust collector that picks up sawdust from most of the power tools, but airborne dust gets collected up by the fan/filter. There is a workbench just off the tailstock of the lathe where we do sanding and other "dusty" activities. In addition, I wear a dust mask.

 

[Rick_G]

Would an oneida system with a shop vac work well enough also, or does that not remove all of the fine particles these other systems do? All input is much appreciated.

All the oneida does is collect most of the dust and larger debris to keep it from clogging the shop vac filter. Anything less than a hepa filter on the shop vac and you are just pumping the real fine stuff back into the air.

Like Daniel said if your system doesn't collect it you are breathing it. I use the air cleaner because my shop is in the basement and I prefer to keep anything that does make it into the air out of the rest of the house.

 

[ToddMR]

I know I am not the only one who doesn't have a collection system in place. I know in a perfect world I would use one and a respirator. Well I can at least get the respirator and go from there. I have been seeing many with the toxic dust filtering. Would something like this be sufficient in helping with the fine particles? If not can someone direct me to a proper one?

Thanks!

http://www.woodcraft.com/Catalog/Pr...=2026&ss=5f2977fe-6044-43fe-a3dc-9d5213b6ff05

 

[bradh]

Some published info on wood dust safety limits:

Wood dust limits
Q. How much airborne wood dust is too much?
A. The highest acceptable OSHA limit for airborne wood dust is 5 mg/m3,
though certain types of wood have a lower limit. What does that mean in everyday terms? Consider the following. If you take the amount of fine wood dust (similar in particle size to flour) that would fit into the volume of one U.S. dime and evenly spread that dust out into the air in
a room that is 10 feet by 10 feet with an 8-foot ceiling, you have just put that room at the maximum limit for airborne wood dust.

From:
Dennis Rayon, President, Denray Machine Inc,
The PRODUCTIVITY TIPS series is presented by the Wood Machinery Manufacturers of America (www.wmma.org) in partnership with Wood & Wood Products and Custom Woodworking Business (www.iswonline.com).

 

[Mapster]

Good information. It looks like I need to get a good system set up. I don't know as much as you do, so if you could recommend a system for me, that would be great.
1. I only need dust collection at my lathe.
2. I have no closed space to put it in to reduce noise, and would prefer to not wear earplugs.
3. My lathe is about 10 feet from the garage door, so could I use a motor and some piping and just blast everything outside somewhere?

All help is greatly appreciated

 

[bradh]

Wood dust is bad for the health, that is obvious from above comments. Also fine dust is worse than coarser dust. OSHA has set dust density standards that they believe are safe. This means that reducing the dust you are exposed to is better for the health.
Anything that reduces your exposure to the dust will be better for you, so fans that drive the dust outside will be better than working in a closed shop with lots of dust floating in the air.
A good dust mask or ventilator/shield also reduces your exposure to dust. Be sure to get one that will filter out the fine dust.
A dust collector or shop air filter will also help, provided it has a filter able to remove the fine dust.
They are many choices beyond these simple guidelines.
One simple and easy solution is to buy one of the many dust collectors available and make sure it comes with a decent bag/filter/canister that will pull out the fine dust. A search of these forums will find reviews of many different brands of collectors, masks, and filters.

 

[mranum]

Another alternative to go along with the shop vac is something like this. http://www.woodcentral.com/shots/shot522.shtml

I have a Delta air cleaner in my shop and it cleans the "air" very well, but I don't see why a home built one would work just as good for a lot less money.

Keep in ming these are only designed to clean the air born particles, not heavy dust or chips.

 

[sbwertz]

Another alternative to go along with the shop vac is something like this. http://www.woodcentral.com/shots/shot522.shtml

I have a Delta air cleaner in my shop and it cleans the "air" very well, but I don't see why a home built one would work just as good for a lot less money.

Keep in ming these are only designed to clean the air born particles, not heavy dust or chips.

This is similar to what I have done with a box fan and filter.

 

[Mapster]

Thanks for the help guys, but I just went out and bought a system. 2hp 1500cfm dust collector, 16 feet of flexible clear hose, lathe dust hood. It is overkill, but when it comes to safety that is what I do. Plus, got it for less than a 1 horsepower collector! Your comments helped immensely.

 

[JimB]

Thanks for the help guys, but I just went out and bought a system. 2hp 1500cfm dust collector, 16 feet of flexible clear hose, lathe dust hood. It is overkill, but when it comes to safety that is what I do. Plus, got it for less than a 1 horsepower collector! Your comments helped immensely.

It is not overkill. An important question though... how many micron(s) is the bag/filter?

 

[Smitty37]

Dust

I was turning pens with no dust control until last year...then it hit my lungs and did me more damage in a year than 60 years as a smoker. The turning ain't so bad...the chips are mostly too big to breath and a simple face mask will keep them down, if you sand everything wet that's probably not too bad either as most of the tiny particles will end up suspended in the water....but if you sand, you better have something...I just bought a respirator with the ability to trap very fine particles in the filter. Wood dust is nothing to be casual about.