Dust Collector and Portable Air Cleaner suggestions please...

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Rob9

Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2018
Messages
8
Location
Toronto, Ontario
Hi All,

I've made about 20 pens (using wood, acrylic and faux-stone). I have a small area in an unfinished basement (3m x 2M) in Toronto. I hung some shower curtains from the ceiling to act as a dust retainer (now you really know my level of experience!). It's time to get some REAL dust and air equipment. I want to continue turning pens and for health reasons some new equipment seems reasonable. I'm looking at purchasing from KING Canada a 600 CFM Dust Collector($260.) as well as a 3 Speed Portable Air Cleaner ($230.). I have been shutting off the furnace and furnace fan any time I use the lathe but my wife (upstairs) still gets a strong sensation of dust in my lungs. My wife is getting me these two pieces for my birthday.

If anyone has any comments or suggestions it would be much appreciated. Sorry for the rambling.Not sure how much to include for feedback. Thanks.

Cheers,
Rob

dust collector.JPG
air cleaner.JPG
 
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magpens

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Feb 2, 2011
Messages
15,913
Location
Canada
Hi Rob !! . Welcome to IAP !!

I think you are wise to deal with the dust. . Sorry, I can't offer advice but I'm sure others here will.
 

Curly

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Joined
Nov 20, 2010
Messages
4,828
Location
Saskatoon SK., Canada.
Welcome to the forum.

I'll be the evil one and tell you to avoid that little DC at all costs.

DC makers and sellers exaggerate the amount of air their DC can collect by as much as 2 times. Marketing.

To properly gather the very fine dust you cannot see that your wife is smelling takes about 1,000 cfm and you cannot move that much air through a 4" pipe/hose. It can only move at max 450 cfm. You need 6" and to do that a 2 hp DC. You also want a cartridge filter not a bag.

If you get the bigger DC with a cartridge filter you shouldn't need the room filter because you are capturing the dust at source. So that money can go to the bigger DC.

If you really want to understand what is needed and why Bill Pentz has an extensive website devoted to it. It seems like he repeats himself a lot but it is because many people cherry pick the subject they want to read. http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/index.cfm

I suggest you get a particle counter, about a hundred bucks, so you can know how much dust is in the air. That will tell you when it is safe to take off your mask and turn off the DC. It will also let you know how much dust is in the rest of the house.

I'll explain more if you want. Just ask.
 

mark james

IAP Collection, Curator
Joined
Sep 6, 2012
Messages
12,720
Location
Medina, Ohio
G'Day Rob. I've spent many summers with cousins in Hamilton, Dundas, Grimsby, Guelph areas. Lots of fond memories of fishing for pike in the Muskoka Lakes region and getting poison ivy rashes every year :eek: .

OK, so dust collection... I will heartly encourage you to follow through with this addition to your turning set-up. It is money well spent.

I'll agree with Curly that the left pictured dust collector will not be a good choice. His suggested reference (Bill P) is also excellent - I read it repeatedly many moons ago.

But, I believe the right sided picture of the three speed air cleaner is the exact one I use. I'll simply say I'd buy it again. I do not turn a lot. When I do turn, it is usually small segmented projects. I do use 5-6x/year a very messy hand router attached to a metal lathe skeleton when I cut slotted blanks (30-40 at a time). It creates a lot of small air particles. With this minimal turning, I can easily change the exterior filter in the unit 4x/year. That is air particles that I would be breathing... air particles that would be wafting upstairs into our kitchen... wafting towards my patient, but not naive "Wifey." (She's got a good nose; after sinus surgery for allergies a few years ago my sniffer is not so good). I will suggest you explore a more robust duct collector, but won't hesitate on the air cleaner.

Side Note: I have positioned the overhead air cleaner outflow to be directed at the intake of my dust collector port behind my lathe (a plastic household airflow vent diverter). Just a nice way to give some extra direction to chips, dust and fumes.

Continue to ask questions if you have any.

Cheers, Mark
 

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Woodchipper

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Mar 15, 2017
Messages
5,138
Location
Cleveland, TN
The DC looks like the Rikon that I once considered. Was advised to look for something else. FWIW, my wife watches HGTV and saw a air filtration system with a box fan and pleated A/C filter. I leave mine on for at least an hour after I quit working in the shop. Take the filter outside and clean with the air compressor hose. BTW, I wear a dust mask anytime I am working with wood- sawing, sanding, etc. Why? Because my wife tells me to wear it!
 

jttheclockman

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Joined
Feb 22, 2005
Messages
19,082
Location
NJ, USA.
Well dust collection is something that needs to be done and taken seriously, There are a few things to touch on because there is alot here and as someone mentioned there are many videos and web sites that dedicate to this stuff. But the basics is where to start. I agree that the air cleaner is a good buy and I have one (not that model) that is as we like to call another layer of protection that can not hurt but sure can help. The dust collector is designed for portable use to drag from one tol to another and really is not that much better than a shop vac so I say you need something better suited. Here is where no one can help you because we have no idea of your funds (but suggest spend the money wisely and get the best you can the first time around) We have no idea what your plans on for a bigger better shop or anything like this. But with that said a 2 stage dust collector is the more efficient way to go. The smaller the micron particle catcher the better. It was mentioned 6" outlets and yes this is basically standard for full size collectors, they are choked down for more efficiently collecting at the source. Agai there are books on this stuff and people who can design these things for you if you choose to go that way. Being in Canada I can not suggest people but if you have a woodworking store such as Woodcraft check in there. Stay away from Harbor freight stuff.

OK that said now to the meat of your problem and that is the shop itself. Shower curtains will do yo no good even with all the dust collecting equipment you put in there. You try to collect dust at the source as first line of defence but not always possible especially with saws such as table and bandsaws and router tables and even sanders. You need to isolate your shop from the rest of the house which includes solid walls. insulating in floor rafters and closing off and insulating duct air systems that travel through the house. Until you do that you are fighting a losing battle. Fumes and fine particles of dust will escape if working in a garage or basement shop. Just the nature of the hobby. Controlling them is the chore. For a lathe having a dust collector port right behind the lathe helps tremendously if it is a good one. But there is more. That dust collector should be isolated from the shop and the house because no matter how good it is there too will be escaping dust. This is a whole other topic. Too much here to write all this stuff. Do some searching and reading. But to sum up to control dust and odors in the house the shop walls and ceiling need to be addressed as well as duct system (heating and cooling) Then layers of control, air cleaner, dust masks, and dust collectors. Good luck and others will chime in with more help.
 

John Eldeen

Member
Joined
Apr 3, 2019
Messages
419
Location
Sacramento, CA
Just came across you post and thought I would put in my two cents. As a person who install and designs dust collection in commercial and industrial applications I have a different outlook on the situation. Peter is correct with the idea of stay away from the small DC if you can. The CFM rating is not a marketing ploy it is a measurement of the CFM of the fan with no ductwork or filter installed this is standard for the industry. As you add filters and ductwork it adds restrictions to the airflow thereby reducing air flow. Depending on the quality and design of the fan and motor the restriction will have and different impact on the total CFM. A two stage DC will be a much better option as the cyclone will prolong the effectiveness of the filter. This brings me to the most important aspect of the DC the filtration. Most of the bag filters are completely worthless as they typically only filter down to 10 microns witch is not enough in a enclosed space. You want a filter that filters down to at least 2 microns. 10 microns and above is really only getting the chunks out of the air and not the dust. As far as the air cleaner goes based on the dimensions you have given it would not hurt but ultimately not necessary if you have a good DC it sould be moving at least 500 CFM even piped in. You stated your space is 2m by 3m assuming you're ceiling is at 8 foot that means you have about 516 cubic feet of air in the room. So if your DC is moving 500 cubic feet per minute then the air in your space will be cleaned every minute that the DC is running. As for the dust and smells migrating into the house if you put a small exhaust fun in to push air outside and close off the work area from the house you sould be able to create a negative air pressure in the work space keeping the dust and smells contained. I would not exhaust the DC outside as that would be to much it would remove the conditioned air from the living area. Hope this helps.
 
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