Shop built air filtration

[Steve Blaydes]

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

[Gary]

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

[Mark Jerde]

Here's a shop built one.

-- Mark

[Martin McCrorey]

Penn State

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.

[Bob Bowles]

[--={Flyer}=--]

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

[Jay Chan]

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

[Mark Jerde]

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

[Bob Bowles]

[charlie b]

Need an outfeed table?/ roll around table/ downdraft sanding station as well? Try this one.

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

[Jay Chan]

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

[Mark Jerde]

Sorry, not my site. Though I've done several business sites,

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