Temporary (plastic?) walls for a workshop

[Dick Snyder]

I have a pretty large basement and I have my woodworking tools in a

25' x 30' section of the basement. I have a significant problem with sawdust getting all over the basement even though I have a shop vac attached to my saw and other tools. After doing some research I have learned that I can do a much better job getting rid of chips and coarse sawdust with a higher CFM cyclone system but I still will have sawdust from sanding etc. I don't want to build hard walls to enclose my tools as I don't do woodworking all the time. Has anyone had any luck with plastic walls that could be slid open when the tools aren't being used? If I could close the walls and also put an air filtration system in the enclosed area, maybe I could kill much of the creeping sawdust problem. Any feedback would be GREATLY appreciated.

"Dusty"

[gabriel]

In case you have notseen this, it will greatly help:

getting mine I have no more layer of dust all over me and my shop. The great thing about it is that you can leave it on with an integrated timer, so it will keep cleaning the air for some time after you leave your shop.

[Pat Barber]

Depends on what you are willing to spend...

The boat guys have things called "curtains" which are really flexible plastic walls with snaps. This would make a fairly high quality enclosure.

The next step is poly hung with thin strips of wood. This would not be a very solid "wall system"...

The next step is shower curtains on closet rods and that is not going to keep dust from going anywhere.

Temporary walls are just that..."temporary" and not very dust tight....

Good dust collection is your next answer and the price on that depends on what you are willing to spend.

A shop vac is NOT a dust collection system.

Sanding dust can be controlled with a decent sander and dust collection adapter running to a shop vac.

Hanging a few air cleaners from the ceiling will help out a LOT on the finer dust.

There are many solutions to the "dust problem".....

Dick Snyder wrote:

[Michael Daly]

Local big-box home improvement stores are selling a stick-on zipper. You peel off the paper backing and stick it onto a plastic sheet. This makes a zipper closing door. Made for use with the usual

6 mil polyethylene vapour barrier/drop sheet/whatever stuff.

Mike

[Larry Jaques]

On 11 Feb 2004 12:32:07 -0800, [e-mail] (Dick Snyder) brought forth from the murky depths:

Try these guys:

think I've seen the speedy wall in some home centers, so look at Lowes and HD first. Check your local paint stores, too.

I'd go with a good dust collection system, though. They easily give 5x the performance of a little shop vac.

[Rich]

What I have for controlling my dust problem is really simple. This is for my sanding.

I made a 1x4 frame 2'x2' then on top I put a piece of pegboard. then on one side I cut a hole for my shop vac hose. On the bottome I put cardboard for now til I know if it gets clogged I can just replace the cardboard. I will eventually replace it with a piece of masonite.

Now when I sand the dust gets sucked into the box and into the vac.

I am not sure where I saw this idea but it is not my own.

Rich

[Subw00er]

I gave up on the shop vac idea and went with a 1hp system. Its MUCH better than the vac, but still does not catch everything. The only way you are going to stop the dust getting around is solid walls. However, investing $300 or so in a vacuum system will cut air dust down by (guessing) 85%.

The hardest part now is remembering to set the vac to the tool you I'm working on!