Dealing with saw dust while hand sanding

[Dick Snyder]

I recently completed a cherry headboard for a queen bed. After listening to Bill Bush at a local woodworking show, I have become a fan of hand sanding rather than using a random orbital sander with dust removal. The headboard came out great but the sawdust was a real mess. The headboard was too big for any downdraft table. All I could do was wear a good mask and then clean up the very fine dust which had drifted all over the place. Is there some way I could have used my Jet dust collector to help out? I have read very mixed reviews of the dust collectors that hang from the ceiling.

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Dick

[tom]

If shop space is at a premium, maybe next time make a bigger, temporary downdraft table? Tom

[Doug Winterburn]

Place a 20" box fan with a 20"x20" pleated furnace filter duct taped on the inlet side near your sanding. Won't get all the dust, but you'll find a lot of dust on the filter after a sanding session. You can shop-vac the filter to clean.

[Dick Snyder]

If shop space is at a premium, maybe next time make a bigger, temporary downdraft table? Tom

The headboard is 64" wide and 20" high. If I made a temporary downdraft table, I wonder with it being so big if I would get enough suction to actually accomplish anything.

[Dick Snyder]

Huh. That sounds like a pretty simple solution. Thanks. I'll give it a shot.

Dick

[Dave Balderstone]

The actual downdraft area doesn't have to be the entire length of the piece. Think roller stands...

[Puckdropper]

Doug Winterburn wrote in news:v2edn.49066$ [e-mail]:

At one time, I had one with a cleanable filter. When it got dirty enough, it got washed out with the hose. Don't know if they still make them, but if you're doing this often it might be a good investment.

FYI, box fans aren't made to run weeks or months on end.

Puckdropper

[Lew Hodgett]

--------------------------- Biggest reason current generation is supplied with a built in, non replaceable fuse in the plug.

Biggest problem is to keep bearings lubricated.

Based on end of year price of less than $10, treating one as a throw away is NBD.

BTDT, don't need the T-Shirt

Lew

[Roy]

My $0.02. I consider floor space to be precious, so strive for solutions that don't use up any. I don't often succeed, but at least try to minimize the space I have to give up for storing something else. As much as I'd love to have a downdraft table, I can't afford to give up any more floor space, so have to think of another method.

Why not sand it in the driveway or patio or back yard? Clean off with compressed air or leaf blower before bringing it back inside. Not very elegant, but beats cleaning out every nook and cranny in the shop before the annual Leaf Blower Cleanup Day.

Consider building a movable dust collection hood out of 1/4 ply or even heavy corrugated, something like the type used by turners, but maybe 8'' wide and 24" long, or whatever works out best for the plywood scraps you have on hand.

Put the headboard on sawhorses and mount the hood on the base of a roller stand or something and move it under the area you plan to sand next. That at least should get the heft of the sawdust.

Regards, Roy

[John Grossbohlin]

I simply lay a 4" hose in close proximity to the area being sanded and occasionally pick it up to clean swarf off the board and paper. One point Bill makes in his hand sanding presentation is to keep the paper clean with a brush. I do that and brush the dust towards the end of the hose. This works well enough for occasional use but if I were doing this every day a big down draft table set up would be more convenient.

John

[Lew Hodgett]

---------------------------------

Working in a boat yard in SoCal, outdoors is a way of life.

A couple of saw horses and a couple of 2 x 2 x 1/8 x 96 aluminum angles and you are good to go.

Pieces rest on a knife edge which makes it easy to apply finish when ready.

Quick set up, quick knock down.

YMMV

Lew

[mac davis]

The ones on the ceiling are AIR FILTERS, not dust collectors.. big difference in that a filter gets some of what dust collectors miss..

If you have one of those adjustably height roller stands for cutoffs and stuff, use cable ties or plumbers tape to hold a 4" DC hose near your sanding.. It makes a huge difference..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[Larry Kraus]

I'd use my flexible 4" hose with a brush.

.Rigup a way to keep the end of the hose near the area you are sanding.

Maybe add this:

some similar fitting from the HVAC section at Home Depot.

[Phisherman]

For something that large, you can work in front of a window with a fan in it. It will help pull the dust away from you to the outside. Or you can work outside. Okay, maybe not too practical in winter...

I made a downdraft table on wheels that pulls air thru three furnace filters. I used a furnace squirrel cage 1/4 HP blower, has two speeds. It will clear the shop of a lot of airborne dust. All woodworkers know there is no substitute for a good dust mask.

Also, you can use a wide floor sweep attachment to the DC hose. That would involve moving/re-clamping the floor sweep from time to time.

[Leon]

Mount a "floow sweep" port to the end of your work bench with your dust collector attached. On the opposite end of the bench mount a fan blowing towards the floor sweep port.

[Larry Jaques]

On Fri, 12 Feb 2010 08:00:42 -0700, the infamous Doug Winterburn scrawled the following:

Hmm...the tiny amount a box fan filter does pick up is the larger stuff which won't damage your lungs as badly.

Better to tape a small diameter hose to the bottom of your sanding wrist to catch much more of the fine dust in the HEPA dust collector bags.

I think I'd prefer to use the RAS for most of the work and then, always, do a final hand-sanding, wet solvent pre-finish prep, and hand finishing (sans stain or poly, of course.)

-- It's a great life...once you weaken. --author James Hogan

[Larry Jaques]

On Sat, 13 Feb 2010 17:57:27 -0500, the infamous Phisherman scrawled the following:

And that there's not really any such thing as a good dust mask. They all leak. Use a N100 half-mask respirator. ($20 at HF from AO Safety) or a SCBA full-face supplied-air system. ($$$)

Yeah, they work pretty well.

-- It's a great life...once you weaken. --author James Hogan

[-MIKE-]

Using your radial arm saw for small sanding jobs are ya, Larry? :-p

[-MIKE-]

Using your radial arm saw for small sanding jobs are ya, Larry? :-p

[Puckdropper]

-MIKE- wrote in news:hlcjlq$9ra$ [e-mail]- september.org:

With one of those new Freud blades that cuts the wood to correct width and length (the packages I saw Friday at HD said that), Larry obviously no longer needs his RAS for cutting wood. Might as well use it for something.

:-)

Puckdropper