[lumberjack2082]

heloo to everyone. just getting in to wood working. just finished my living room with clear edge grian hemlock flooring. it turned out not bad for a rookie. but i'm really interested in some kind of a doit yourself dust collection system. if anyone could help with this that would be great.

cheers lumberjack

 

[Gerry KIERNAN]

Hi Lumberjack
If you don't need a big system you can order 2-1/2" tubing kits from Busy Bee, and hook the system up to a Shop Vac. That's what I am using for my sander, table saw, band saw,etc. It seems to work well.

Gerry

 

[jacksimpk]

One important aspect is collecting fine dust. There are micro filters for shopvacs and larger systems have micro filtration bags. If your not stopping the fine (like 1 micron) dust particles then your breathing bad things. I found the best way to accomplish this was put my dust collector in a closet outside the actual shop. I'm not stopping the really fine stuff but I'm not breathing it either. I pretty much have to hold my breath or put on a respirator just to go in there though. There are some very good filters for shopvacs and that is definitely the cheapest and easiest.

 

[Gerry KIERNAN]

For the fine dust, that hangs in the air, I have a powered air filter. I find that the dust collector will get most of the dust and particles, but you still get some hanging in the air. The other option, which I resort to frequently, is to wear a disposable paper dust mask.
I am still putting my system together, and organizing the shop, so not everything is set up as it should be.

Gerry

 

[woodman42]

The poor man version of an powered air filter is a box fan with an air filter on the back side.

 

[Gerry KIERNAN]

Actually Woodman42 you have a good point. At this time of year, all you really have to do is have the box fan blowing the dust away from you, and out an open door. Doesn't work as well in the winter, but fine for Summer. I have spray painted a truck this way, and both the control of the overspray, and the end results were very satisfactory.

Gerry

 

[WonderMonkey]

Found the below article which gave me some Shop Vac ideas.

http://www.rd.com/content/openContent.do?contentId=17455

 

[NMUWoodworker]

So how bad is it for you to breath in fine dust particles? Been breathing it in for some time now only recently acquired a "gas mask"/ dust mask.

 

[jbksman]

Check out this site. Has tons of info on dust collection and also the dangers of it.
http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/Index.cfm

 

[WonderMonkey]

Check out this site. Has tons of info on dust collection and also the dangers of it.
http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/Index.cfm

Wow! Thanks for the link.

 

[jbksman]

Wow! Thanks for the link.

I haven't been able to find the time to look at it all, but I have seen what others have done with the info on other forums. I'm currently looking for a free used dryer blower that I can use to make a air cleaner out of. There are lots of DIY ideas for that.

 

[WonderMonkey]

Right now it's my leading contender. I'll pay for some things so he can benefit form it.

 

[jbksman]

If you are a DIY'r a friend from another forum made his own cyclone and detailed it here:
http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/cyclone.htm

 

[WonderMonkey]

If you are a DIY'r a friend from another forum made his own cyclone and detailed it here:
http://www.ablett.jp/workshop/cyclone.htm

That was very interesting. Thanks for posting the link.

 

[Gerry KIERNAN]

Newbie dust collection

I haven't been able to find the time to look at it all, but I have seen what others have done with the info on other forums. I'm currently looking for a free used dryer blower that I can use to make a air cleaner out of. There are lots of DIY ideas for that.

A squirrel cage blower from an old furnace will work well too, and they show up a lot at garage sales and landfills.

Gerry