HANGING DUST SUCKER

And you thought flannel was only good for shirts!

SHOP OWNER: Forrest Addy LOCATION: Bremerton, WA

[EDITOR'S NOTE: This Shop Shot originally appeared (sans sketch) on the WoodCentral "Messages" forum on Saturday, February 5, 2000. Because of intense interest, we're archiving Forrest's design here for virtual posterity.]

If you have a shop dust problem, make a room air filter of an old 1/3-HP belt-driven oil furnace blower salvaged from your local heating contractor's scrap pile. Have your favorite seamstress sew you up four to six pre-shrunk heavy flannel filter tubes 6 ft. long that fit over 4-in. ABS pipe couplings.

Make a plywood blank for the blower outlet and install the ABS fittings in a hole pattern in the blank so the blower discharge blows into the filter tubes (which are hose clamped to the fittings). Make some plywood plugs to fit the other ends of the tubes and attach them to another piece of plywood in the same pattern as the fittings on the blower end.

Connect the blower to juice and - Voila! - you have an 800 CFM (or whatever) high-efficiency room air filter that won't clog with fines. When the filter tubes lose their oomph, throw them in the washing machine. Use unscented fabric softener if you don't want your nose offended.