HomeMade Dust Collection

I had to replace my hot air furnace and kept the old one, I was thinking about turning the blower from it into a single tool point of use dust collector. Has anyone done this or seen plans? I understand the basic concept but was curious about the blower Wheel itself, specificly if it is to "fine" to effective move the dust or not. I was thinking of making it two stage collector, i.e. from the blast gate to one of those cyclone covers for a 30 gal trash can, from that to the intake of the blower, and attaching a 10 micron bag to the output of the blower. I'd appreciate any thoughts comments and or suggestions.

Reply to
Joseph Adamson
Loading thread data ...

Sorry to burst your bubble, but it will not work as a dust/chip collector. Furnace fans do not produce enough static pressure to operate a cyclone.

But, on the other hand, it will make a dandy air filter. Cobble up a box out of plywood, stuff the fan in it, build a filter rack to hold a couple of pleated paper funace filters back to back, and it will do a fair job of filtering the air. It will not get the sub micron particles out of the air, but it will be better than nothing. Greg

Reply to
Greg O

Won't work. The fan runs at too low a speed to get any static pressure rating and the CFM air flow is so low that it won't be very useful for picking up dust.

There is a LOT more to dust collection than most people realize. If you pick up the coarse dust around the tool as it operates, you're only doing some minor housecleaning, so to speak. The fine dust that hovers in the air is DANGEROUS! Like tobacco smoke and other bad stuff (only worse), it can leave you with asthma, emphysema, severe allergies, cancer, and possibly even leave you dead. The only effective means I've been able to find for dust collection is a high-air-volume cyclone that moves at least 1000 CFM while operating at AT LEAST 6-8" of static pressure so that you can create an envelope of collected air surrounding the tool so that any micro-fine dust is captured and carried away, along with the coarse dust, shavings, chips, etc. where it is separated from the air before it even gets to the blower. Then feed the blower output to a certified air filter that traps at least 97% of all dust particles down to 0.5, or better yet, 0.3 microns in diameter so you can recirculate the collected air back into your shop (to save on heating and air-conditioning costs) and still be able to safely breathe it.

I went searching for an economical dust collector last year and discovered the importance of doing the job right. As a result, I now produce a very good cyclone in kit form with a matching blower housing also available. A complete system can be had for less than a Kirby or Rainbow household vacuum cleaner. Contact me privately if you want more information.

Having experienced breathing difficulties from cutting MDF, and having linked up with Bill Pentz who almost died from the effects of wood dust, I am becoming a bit of a crusader in attempting to get woodworkers to wake up and realize the importance of PROPER dust control in their shops. If you have a properly designed and installed cyclone system, you won't even need an air cleaner to get rid of the fine dust which is actually the most dangerous to your health -- moreso than the coarser sawdust.

CE

Joseph Adams>

Reply to
Clarke Echols

Clarke Echols wrote

No need to make it private; this is on-topic if anything in this group is, and I'm sure more than a few peoplw would like to hear about your kit.

Reply to
Wolf Lahti

I'll second that!

Jim

Reply to
James D. Kountz

I'll make that a third.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.