# first move in dust collection



## GISer3546 (Jan 30, 2013)

Currently I have zero dust collection and am getting a little sick of the coughing. The shavings and the chips dont bug me but the dust that hangs in the air and covers everything is getting old. Besides a band saw and a drill press my shop is pretty limited to hand tools. What would be my best route?


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## d_slat (Apr 10, 2012)

I would start with a dust mask


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## GISer3546 (Jan 30, 2013)

Probably a good move but was wondering about more long term solutions.


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## BigJoe16 (Feb 20, 2012)

From what I understand, for a bandsaw, a shop vac should be better than a dust collector because the dust is so fine. 

You want a high velocity vacume for bandsaws. A dust collector has a low velocity, but high volume of air movement. A shop vac had a high velocity, but lower volume. 

Dust collection on a band saw sucks. There just messy saws. What I found is best for mine, is to have the DC going on the dust port and the shop vac under the left side of the table, coming in from the back, and sucking right next to the blade under the throat piece. 

For the drill press, a shop vac will do just fine


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## GoIrish (Jan 29, 2012)

For band saw I use a fan and blow dust out of the garage. Not sure if that is an option for you. My DC does not draw the dust well enough so I am not sure that will help. I also have an air cleaner that helps but it takes some time to catch up. 

Fresh air in from the people door with one fan and dust out the garage door with the other fan.


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

since air quality seems your worst problem, i would build or buy an air filter. a fan pulling air through a furnace filter (or 2) works well. some use a box fan, or you can make a box with a squirrel cage fan inside with slot to hold a stack of filters. they work great.


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## Fred Hargis (Apr 28, 2012)

It wouldn't seem you should have that much dust with the your work habits. If the BS is generating mist of that dust (don't know what else it would be), I would change the dust port arrangement and put a DC on it. A 1.5 HP DC, with 1 micron or better filtration hooked to nothing less than a 4" hose might get most of it. Too often folks think the port that comes on the tools is what they need to use. I suggest cutting/hacking/replacing/whatever to make those ports larger. In your case (if that's a 14" BS) cutting a 4" hole in the lower door and putting a hose flange on it should do it. Band saws are tough, and there are other approaches, but they all enlarge the port size. Here's a pic of mine, I think you can see the lexan piece I put over the opening where the factory guard was.


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## GISer3546 (Jan 30, 2013)

I agree with air quality being the problem. I have considered building a simple air cleaner with a squirrel cage fan and a furnace filter and found I'd probably end up spending about the same that a shop-vac portable air cleaner would cost me ($130 +). The ratings I've seen have been mostly positive, the only down side being the expensive filters for the shop-vac air cleaner. 

Would any air cleaner make a noticeable difference or would I have to run a 4" hose to my bs for a solution?

Is it worth my time to build a cleaner or go out and buy one? 

I have seen a few good reviews about the Demo Air Net. Has anyone used these... would be a viable alternative to building or buying an air cleaner?


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## Fred Hargis (Apr 28, 2012)

Try a box fan with a furnace filter (a good one) taped to the intake side, see if you get any results from that before you spend a lot of money effort doing anything else.


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## GISer3546 (Jan 30, 2013)

Box fan and a air filter seems pretty appealing, at least for now. Any specific guidelines on kind of filter... micron or MERV rating. I see some interesting reusable air filters at my local big box hell hole with a MERV rating of 8... which seems to be about 10 micron filter.


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## ryan50hrl (Jun 30, 2012)

GISer3546 said:


> I agree with air quality being the problem. I have considered building a simple air cleaner with a squirrel cage fan and a furnace filter and found I'd probably end up spending about the same that a shop-vac portable air cleaner would cost me ($130 +). The ratings I've seen have been mostly positive, the only down side being the expensive filters for the shop-vac air cleaner.
> 
> Would any air cleaner make a noticeable difference or would I have to run a 4" hose to my bs for a solution?
> 
> ...


I built one like your talking about utilizing 3 furnace filters of increasing quality, a 500cfm range hood squirrel blower..and scrap plywood. Now to be fair, the blower and plywood were scrap so I had no cost there. The filters cost me 25 bucks. I've only ever had to change the primary cheap filter which costs me 2 bucks each time. 

You might check with local furnace guys as they'll often sell you parts out of old hvac stuff they've removed. Good source for high Cfm blowers


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## ryan50hrl (Jun 30, 2012)

Here's a link to mine. 


http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f32/home-made-air-filter-45667/


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## MT Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

GISer3546 said:


> Box fan and a air filter seems pretty appealing, at least for now. Any specific guidelines on kind of filter... micron or MERV rating. I see some interesting reusable air filters at my local big box hell hole with a MERV rating of 8... which seems to be about 10 micron filter.


I bought a 20 inch box fan at Wally world. Picked up several filters and taped one over the inlet side. Amazing how well ths actually works.

I have a shop vac with a Dust Deputy hooked to it. I have used it mostly for the band saw but it did work on the planer and jointer. The bucket fills pretty quickly with those big chip makers.

I have a nozzle attached jusy below the table via bungee cord and it ties into the dust port outlet off the saw. Not perfect but works pretty good.


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## Marv (Nov 30, 2008)

I have found that the key to improving air quality is to catch as much dust as possible _*before *_it gets into the air by getting a port as close to the blade/bit as possible and then using an air filtration unit for residual dust. Below are the solutions I used for my drill press and bandsaw however as mentioned a properly placed port with a vacuum would work well on these 2 particular machines IMO.


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## toolguy1000 (Oct 4, 2012)

cheapest air filter and, according to wood magazine, although not up to the standards of a commercial unit, surprisingly effective:


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*totally agree*



Marv said:


> *I have found that the key to improving air quality is to catch as much dust as possible before it gets into the air by getting a port as close to the blade/bit as possible and then using an air filtration unit for residual dust.*


A bandsaw is a "stealth" dustmaker. :yes:
You need a good shop vac with the suction hose aimed right under the table at the lower blade guides. A good shop vac would be a Rigid 6 hp or so and if possible a separator like a Dust Deputy or a Thein baffle in the suction line. 

Check out this thread:

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f32/forget-dust-deputy-27235/


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## Chataigner (May 30, 2013)

What ever else you do for extraction, get a cyclone to remove the majority of the material before it gets anywhere near your filter. I have been amazed and delighted with the results since I fitted mine (supplied by Cyclone Central in the UK). Filters remain clean and so air flow is not impeded.


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## ryan50hrl (Jun 30, 2012)

Proof that dust collection works...this is about 6 hours of work.


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## GISer3546 (Jan 30, 2013)

Thanks for all the help. I ended up avoiding a pricey set up and went basic. I had an old box fan with a broken switch, replaced it with a light switch ($1.29) and duct taped the largest micron filter ($2.50) retail hell had and hung it from a nail in my rafters. The result was impressive considering the $4 investment. No lingering cloud of fine dust, and whenever I saw dust in the air it was moving toward the fan. Thanks again.


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