Steve Blaydes wrote:
>
> A few years ago I saw an article in a woodworking mag on a shop built
> air filtration system. Has any one seen this article or does any one
> know were I can obtain plans to build one.
>
> Thanks Steve
Need an outfeed table?/ roll around table/ downdraft sanding
station as well? Try this one.
www.wood-workers.com/users/charlieb/CBAirCleaner.html
Note: It's the really fine dust that gets you. Furnace filters
don't get the fine stuff well and if they do they don't have
much surface area to catch it on before clogging. Try spa/
pool filters if you want a lot of surface area and very fine
filtering. You can pick up discontinued filters fairly
cheap. If you have a truck leasing place near you find out
who does their maintenance. Used truck filters can be had
for free. Blow them out from the inside and they work just
fine.
Furnace blowers can be had cheap and sqamp cooler switches
will give you mulit speeds. Leave it on low most of the time
and crank it up when using the downdraft mode.
But your best bet is to catch the dust at the source so
a good dust collector with good bags will go a long ways
towards minimizing the stuff that'll do in your lungs.
Hope this helps.
charlie b
Steve Blaydes wrote:
> A few years ago I saw an article in a woodworking mag on a shop built
> air filtration system. Has any one seen this article or does any one
> know were I can obtain plans to build one.
>
> Thanks Steve
>
Penn State (www.pennstateind.com) has a 435CFM kit that looks
interesting (blower and filters, you build the box) for $105 + $10
shipping. Not as nice as their $240 unit that has 5 speeds and remote
control, but I was thinking of building the kit into a workbench for
sanding downdraft, and it could be left running to use for general air
filtration. If you have access to some free furnace fans, maybe that is
the way to go. Penn State also sells a variety of filter panels that
could be used in a shop-built unit, and there is a larger kit unit.
I built one from either a Woodsmith or Shopnotes issue several years ago.
Basically a box with racks to hold 3 furnace air filters (2 front/1 back)
with a squirrel cage motor in the middle to draw the air through. One side
of the box is not sealed (slides in some dadoed grooves) for access to
filters for changing. Works pretty well. I leave it on all the time to help
keep air clean in my shop.
Gary
"Steve Blaydes" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> A few years ago I saw an article in a woodworking mag on a shop built
> air filtration system. Has any one seen this article or does any one
> know were I can obtain plans to build one.
>
> Thanks Steve
>
I am wondering whether this really makes sense to build an air-cleaner
instead of just buying one ready-made. I built an air cleaner using
various design elements from different sources. It is useful in
keeping air clean. But I don't think I have saved much money. The
reason is that I didn't have a used blower available, I didn't have
suitable scrap wood to build the case, I didn't have suitable nuts and
bolts, and I didn't have a spare on/off switch with timer. This means
I ended up buying everything _new_. The cost added up.
I chose to build at that time because I didn't find an air-cleaner
that can filter down to 1-micron. Guess what -- not soon after I
finished building the air cleaner, I found that Grizzle is selling an
air cleaner that can filter down to 1-micron!
My opinion is that building an air-cleaner only makes sense if you
have specific need (need a specific filter or something), and you have
spare parts available or can be obtained in low cost.
One more thing: If you choose to build it, please build it light. I
built mine like a tank with overly beefy plywood and MDF. Now it is so
heavy that it requires two persons to lift it. Oh well...
Jay Chan
> <g> I built one that's very heavy. So heavy that it's mounted on castors.
> The top is 2'x4' pegboard with the holes drilled larger & chamfered. It's
> my workbench / air cleaner / downdraft sanding table. ;-)
Your air cleaner is heavy because that is a part of the design. My air
cleaner is heavy because I had misjudge its weight :( I end up
putting castors under it; otherwise, I will have a hard time to move
it within the same room.
I believe I have seen your air cleaner in your web site. If that is
the case, I need to tell you that I have used your way of mounting
high efficient filters (mine are 3 HEPA filters for Rigid shop vac).
That works great. Thanks for the design idea.
I was thinking of also designing the air cleaner into a
multiple-functions device just mine yours. But I decided not to
because at that time I was thinking of buying a dust collector. Now,
given the fact that my air cleaner is so big and heavy and I still
don't have a dust collector yet, I should have made it a
multiple-functions device. If I had made it a multiple functions
device, I would not have voted against the idea of making an air
cleaner (then, I can make it as a sanding-table). Oh well...
Jay Chan
Call local home furnace replacement shop and ask for what you want. I
asked for 2 spped squirrel cage and it took about 2 weeks and the
plumber called, gratis.
On Thu, 09 Oct 2003 15:34:29 GMT, Martin McCrorey
<[email protected]> wrote:
>If you have access to some free furnace fans, maybe that is
>the way to go.
Jay Chan wrote:
> One more thing: If you choose to build it, please build it light. I
> built mine like a tank with overly beefy plywood and MDF. Now it is so
> heavy that it requires two persons to lift it. Oh well...
<g> I built one that's very heavy. So heavy that it's mounted on castors.
The top is 2'x4' pegboard with the holes drilled larger & chamfered. It's
my workbench / air cleaner / downdraft sanding table. ;-)
-- Mark
My shop's overhead clearance leaves a lot to be desired, as it's only 6' 7" to
the floor joists, and any hanging air filter would pose a serious head-knocking
situation. Also, wall space is just about all used up.
Several years ago, I purchased a squirrel-cage blower from Grainger and
boxed in a section between the floor joists and installed 16 x 20 pleated
filters in sliding racks horizontally. - two on the intake side, and one on the
discharge side. It works marvelously.
Tom Flyer
I asked plumber shop to save a 2 speed home furnace motor/squirell
cage and about 2-3 weeks later they called. Took it to a motor shop
for wiring identification and bought an $8.00 switch. Prefilter and
filter fron net and 3/4" scrap ply that made it a two people + job to
put in place.
On 10 Oct 2003 08:12:07 -0700, [email protected] (Jay Chan) wrote:
>The
>reason is that I didn't have a used blower available, I didn't have
>suitable scrap wood to build the case, I didn't have suitable nuts and
>bolts, and I didn't have a spare on/off switch with timer. This means
>I ended up buying everything _new_. The cost added up.
Jay Chan wrote:
> I believe I have seen your air cleaner in your web site. If that is
> the case, I need to tell you that I have used your way of mounting
> high efficient filters (mine are 3 HEPA filters for Rigid shop vac).
> That works great. Thanks for the design idea.
Sorry, not my site. <g> Though I've done several business sites,
www.markjerde.com is still "dark." However, I built mine based on a
Woodsmith / Shop Notes project so you certainly could have seen it on some
other site.
SOMEDAY (!!) I'll decide to put up woodworking on my site without
"perfecting" everything first. ;-)
-- Mark