EXHAUST Fans... What are you using..???

Battle Creek Knives

Battle Creek Knives

Joined
Feb 23, 2010
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Okay I know a lot of us are using simple little fans to help control the dust, but I'm currently in the market for something better... This last week I was trailer camping, and while on the commode I was in deep thought;) the exhaust fan on my trailer is " out of control "... while its a very small contained area you can feel the air coming in under the door at an alarming rate!!!! This door has a larger gap at the bottom then most doors probably like 4" and I'm assuming its to accommodate the exhaust fan...

I've seen some for sale for around $55 that pull around 200+ cfm... I'm curious to what you guys are currently using or have found that works best for you..
 
you can get a "whole house fan". Is about 4' diameter. Have one in the center of the house. Sucks air in from open windows and up through the ceiling and out the attic. Keeps the attic from getting hot and heating up the house. Don't use it much though since I have AC. The thing is ca 4". Moves an incredible amount of air. 120 volt w/ a timer switch. put that behind your grinder and blow it at the neighbor you don't like. I think they are ca $150 at lowes/HD
 
Ive got a project planned for this winter for the dust that uses a motor and squirrel cage from a mobile home furnace to draw air in from one side, through furnace filters, and then through the box built around the blower, and then out to recirculate the air in the shop. I havent looked at the cfm on the one I picked up yet, but it should be sufficient. Call your furnace repairman and see what he has or can scrounge for you, and then build around that.
 
After looking at various home improvement stores for a fan I could plug into metal ducting, the light bulb came on and I went to the local "indoor gardening center" that supplies the growers of medical marijuana around these parts. They have awesome fans. Got mine there. Not cheap but "more power."

Some folks set up a cheap box fan with a dust filter taped to the inflow side.
 
If you are going to recirculate the air into your shop rather than blow it outside, and there is dust or fumes in your air, make sure your filters are adequate. Furnace filters won't do, the tiny particles that do the most damage to your lungs will just shoot right through. You will need HEPA or very close to HEPA filters, use the furnace filters in front of them as pre-filters. If you are making sparks, consider if your filter is flame retardant or not. Check out Bill Pentz's website on dust collection. It's primarily concerned with woodworking, but there's lots of information, and links to some good filter suppliers.
 
Kevin Cashen has a great set up. A powerful exhaust system that is wired in such a way that the equipment cannot be ran without it on. He said he ran into problems with it being too much to where it was competing with the furnace exhaust in his shop. I forget how he solved that problem.
 
If you use a squirrel cage without the motor side being sealed there is an issue with some very strong static electricity that can pop and blow as well as deliver a nasty shock. The air passing through the plastic causes the build up and the fine particles inside can become explosive. Similar to a silo dust explosion but on a smaller scale, however will still get your attention!
 
searched a lot on big exhaust fans. The best dollar/CFM fans I can find are Triangle whole house fans. I think a 36, 42 or a 48 would go very nicely behind your grider on the back wall where is your work bench. . Check out Global industrial.com You can get some of those 24, 30, 36 or 48" big round fans, the ones w/ wheels for almost abotut as cheap but would be hard to adapt to a wall.
 
This 42 inch whole house unit came out of my in laws house that was built in the 20's. It moves a lot of air, which is really appreciated by the guy doing the forging.

minihammerin+011.jpg
 
Is he NOT wearing glasses?..... tsk tsk tsk..... nobody is even allowed to watch in my shop without glasses. Of course, my shopis so tiny, it's nuts-to-butts with three people. Think, elevator ride.

I think I found Waldo, too.... behind the hammer.
 
Rick Marchand said:
Is he NOT wearing glasses?..... tsk tsk tsk..... nobody is even allowed to watch in my shop without glasses. Of course, my shopis so tiny, it's nuts-to-butts with three people. Think, elevator ride.

I think I found Waldo, too.... behind the hammer.
Click to expand...

You have found Waldo, safety glasses, its a bull rush to get him to smoke that foul smelling stogy outside. I've found that when you chose to be friends with someone you have to take the whole package. Sometimes thats a load.
In Burton's case, he has so many good aspects, the negatives are easy to take.
 
Man the abuse I take :) I am guilty of no glasses and a cigar, but I did have gloves on which is a rarity for me. I will try and cut back on the cigars next time I visit Fred ;)
 
(edited for brevity)
I am working on a exhausting workstation for bench top tools. Made on casters so I can roll it to the side when not in use in my small garage/shop. Basically a large square plywood duct, horizontal. At one end will be a small work bench to host whatever tool I am using, behind that will be a ca two foot exhaust fan. The fan will suck in the dust and blow it down the shaft either through a series of filters or I can just open the door and push it half outside to exhaust.

With filters, I could even use it as a general air cleaner for the shop.

If I am grinding metal I will have to just take out the filters and then blow the sparks outside unless I can figure out a way to cool the sparks so they don't set my filters on fire. Would hate to burn up 100 dollar HEPA filter. There is something called a spark arrester used in industrial applications that Uses turbulence too cool sparks before they have a chance to get to filters and wood dust. Was wondering if I put 1 or more of these aluminum or steel mesh filters in the shaft if that would be sufficient to cool the sparks before they got to the paper filters.
 
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(Continied).
... of course I could do some sort of thing where I trickle water down over a metal filter, or some other fluid, to cool the sparks. Industry does this to sometimes, but that would be sort of a hassle and I would have to make the shaft out of some plexi glass or something rather than pywood and 2x2s.

It sure would be nice if I would be able to hog metal with out having to open the door. Perhaps I could an angle the metal filters differently or put other objects in the shaft to create turbulence... does anyone have any experience in dealing with sparks in their exhaust system?
 
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From the Moderator

Vulcanite,
You are rambling again. Please stop useless posting, do some reading, and then make a knife....please.

email sent, please reply.
 
stacy, exhausting work station of what i speak is just a variation of the similar concepts of a down draft table or a vacuum hood, both common industrial practices to address spikes in air pollutants at their points of origin rather than suffering air pollution in the shop to spike and then be gradually brought back to to safe levels with general filtration.

My apologies, to the OP, if my question of how one might address the difficulties of sparks in an air filtration system are not proper to this thread, or for my posts being perhaps too long .
 
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