Forget the dust collector the drill press is the villain here. To day while drilling a 8" deep 1" hole with a spade bit at high speed in oak, I had an explosion. I was about 3 1/2" deep into the hole when with a loud bang and what appeared to be a flash, dust went all over the shop. Blinded by a layer of sawdust covering my glasses and with the taste of burned oak (maybe from oak dust landing in my pipe) I groped for the off switch to the drill press. In shock I looked at my wood, which was hanging from the drill bit and it looked fine with out my glasses on, looked fine after I cleaned my glasses and set down for a minute too. Found some ash and smell of "smoke" in the hole I was drilling so it must have been a real dust explosion. So dust explosions do happen but maybe not in dust collectors.
- posted
17 years ago