My shop currently has no dust control. Most of my dust-inducing power tool work is presently outside, so that may not be as big an issue as it might be; but when I get the machines currently in the queue running, I might see more dust inside. My plan, then, is to somehow find a spot to put a dust collector.
But today, I may get the chance to buy one of those boxes with the fan and filter elements that you hang from the joists to collect ambient dust, along the lines of this one:
I'd be paying $40 for a three-triangles-in-a-triangle US-made Delta unit, for which parts and filters are still available.
I am wondering whether folks have found these sort of units worthwhile.
Wouldn't be without one. Even with my cyclone dust collector, I run one of these. Also, when I'm doing a lot of hand sanding. They really clean the air.
I run an Oneida cyclone and a 15+ year old JET unit with a timer. When I change the throw-away filter, I am surprised by the amount of trapped airborne dust. Have a washable replacement filter that I should install. At the end of the day, I set the timer for two hours to further clean the shop air.
I have the Jet version of that. It was a gift and used when I got it. Sat in my shed for several years. I had a homemade version and a Delta DC. The homemade air cleaner runs when the lights are on and the DC runs whenever a tool is on. The Jet DC has been in place about a year. It collects a surprising amount of dust. It is worthwhile. Incidentally, I set mine up to create a circular flow with the homemade one. I have a ribbon hanging on them to tell me when the air flow drops.
Worthwhile for clearing out some of the fine dust floating around in the air, especially after leaving the shop for an hour or two. I've monitored the air with a Dylos laser particulate counter and the Jet model I have really does help clean the air quicker and keep some of the fines from just settling out of the air and collecting on things.
Bill, I built a home-made version maybe 20 years ago and believe it is very worthwhile. The amount of fine dust collected is amazing. I have a timer so I run it when sanding, especially during final hand sanding and then I let it run for an hour to clear the air after I leave. Go for it! Jim
As an aside, the advice back then was to go to a local HVAC installer and ask for a used blower motor as they supposedly would have piles of them waiting for disposal. Well, I went to maybe five locals and they all looked at me like I was crazy. Most, if not all, said - to paraphrase, "Why would we keep old blower motors around, we just toss them in the garbage". So, I ended up buying a new one.
I went to two shops and asked them for 120 furnace blowers. Neither had one but both saved one for me in less than a month. They come in both 120 and 220 and I did not want to deal with 220 volt wiring so I asked them to save one for me. I slipped the shop guys $20 and they were thrilled.
Mine is in a four sided box that has three sides covered with a single filter each for the inlet and then a much finer filter on the outlet side. I take them outside and gently blow the dust out.
As someone mentioned, this unit is great for clearing the air of floating dust, but you still want to have focused dust collection at the machines themselves. I have the same unit as the one you pictured, only maybe a few years older. I don't recall how many CFM it circulates, but you can divide that into the volume of air in your shop to see how many minutes it will take to process a shopload of airborne dust. Optimal efficiency depends on how the unit is arrayed in the room, so that the best airflow pattern is established. In my shop, the best arrangement was about a third of the distance across the shop and aligned with my tablesaw, which puts out the most airborne dust off the top of the blade. I've never had a blade guard with a dust collection port, so there's usually a fine cloud of dust over the blade. A dust mask is necessary.
You do need to blow out the filters regularly, as they become impacted more quickly than you might expect. The only gripe I've had with mine is that the remote control unit often doesn't work reliably; you have to aim it at the sensor on the unit and press the buttons several times to change fan speed, turn on and off, etc. Maybe it's not a problem with these units in general, but I'd be sure to operate it a few times to make sure before you buy.
Karl, I have forgotten how to post a picture, but I don't think it would help much.
Get your blower and figure out what size box it would fit in. Check out common filter sizes and use ones that are easy to get.
My box is about 15" square top and bottom 20" tall. so I use 14 by 20 filters. The box has a plywood top and bottom and front. The front has a hole in it for the outlet of the blower. The corner posts have tracks on them for the filters. the tracks are about 1' by 1". There is a tab at the bottom that supports the filters.
There is track across the tops to close off the air flow. Make the box a little oversize to allow internal air flow. Mine has a switch wired into the cord and it's plugged into the light circuit so it runs when the lights are on. Might be better to add a timer to sun it a while after you leave.
Then you get to choose your filters. The dollar ones are not very good, but you can get them all the way to HEPA. You could also use the ones that are about 4" thick. I have a ribbon on the front that flies out when there is air movement.
If you didn't get a good manual with installation recommendations be sure it is installed for best operation. Jet recommends mounting on or close to a wall, up high.
I hung mine from the ceiling, using 4 Home Depot 'bicycle hooks' and 4 carabiners.
Biggest hassle was getting it up there by myself (10' ceiling). Ended up horsing it up from the top of a 4' ladder, to a 6' ladder, to an 8' ladder where I could hook up two of the carabiners, then swivel it up to connect the other two.
They go up easy with a panel jack (for putting sheetrock etc on the ceiling). I bought one from Northern Tool when building my shop but I understand rental places have them.
When installing on in my garage years ago I used eyebolts in the ceiling and ropes to pull like pulleys to support until I got the chains hooked.
I hung mine by myself. It went over a door. I screwed two sticks into the top of the door frame and put legs down to the floor. Stuffed the Air cleaner up there from a step ladder. Kept adding blocking to one side and then the other until I got it close enough to the ceiling for the screws to take effect.
I'm 5'7". My friend, big Greg, 6"' 8" and 450 lbs calls me The Ant.
I got a similar unit as a gift last summer. It's covered by several piles of parts of projects I have in work. Thanks for the reminder that it'll be much more effective if I install it ...
Yes, Bill, I built one similar to the one shown out of 1/2" plywood and used two inlet filters and three exhaust filters. The filters were arranged to be removed from the bottom with a sliding removable door.
Also, installed a filter using filet padding about three inches thick.....saves a lot on the inlet filter.
When I go into the shop I turn on the fan filter unit I picked up from a furnace /a/c shop and used a switch which runs from 15 minutes to 4 hours depending on how much I want to work there.
