How far do the Sparks go?

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How far do the sparks go? I want to put my dust collection pickup (Metal) right under my contact wheel to catch as much of the metal dust as possible. I have it running into a metal trash can (Seperator) then to the dust collection unit (3/4 hp unit). I am using 4" Aluminum flex ducting. How much hose length should I have between the two to prevent a fire?
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If all you run into the vacuum system is metal dust, you shouldn't have a fire. Fires occur when the sparks and wood dust etc. mix. IMHO the best way is to use seperate systems for the two. I prefer vaccum for wood dust and a fan directed into a bucket of water for the metal dust.

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It is better to bear the rebuke of a wise man than to enjoy the flattery of fools.
 
Thanks RJ, the pickup end is an galvanized air duct connector thing. About 4" wide and 10" long that attaches to a 4" tube. I think it would take alot of sparks to catch this on fire. But murphy's law does have a way of popping up
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Steel dust will burn when there is air blowing on it and there are sparks flying. The stainless steels aren't really a problem but the high carbon steels will burn very good. I have had them burn on the magnet while grinding. A large bucket of water would work on the carbon steels and the vacuum on the SS and other materials.

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Ray Kirk
http://www.tah-usa.net/raker
 
Couldn't ya use pvc for the ducting???

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Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms!!!
 
PVC can generate a lot of static electricity-you have to ground it. Plus, the flammability thing. I made mine with sheet metal crimped ducting from the Home Depot. Bought the crimping tool, used standard end fittings (square/rectangular to round, and tees and adjustable elbows), and screwed the thing together with sheet rock screws as I went. Finally, I taped the seams with duct tape. The beauty is, no permanent joints and easy to modify if I want to move something.
also, It was cheap and fast.

RJ Martin
 
expect the worst and multiply by ten...that seems to be the way life usually goes!!!!
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well...not always...but once in a while all the factors add up....you get 'stacking' and a round goes thru the floor....hopefully your friends foot isnt right there...been there...done that...seriously....be VERY careful...once all that sawdust gets in there (and aluminum dust and ti dust) you could get in real trouble and not even know it until two in the morning when you are awakened to a FIRE.

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Point taken Tom!
Thanks
I will play it safe and leave the good old water bucket underneath
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I am going to build an air cleaning machine. Looked at one in Lowes. Biggest obstacle is getting a Squirrel cage blower. The rest is cake! Plywood box, filter from Grainger, switches ETC.
 
I've seen several woodworking sites that strongly, seriously and repeatedly reccomend against PVC ducting for dust removal, the static electricity will build up, even with a grounding wire it was not recomended. Can you say BOOM. That's what happens in grain elevators from time to time, spark+ dust= boom. They reccomended what RJ said galvanized metal ducting.

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It is better to bear the rebuke of a wise man than to enjoy the flattery of fools.
 
What if you were to use something other than one of those dust collectiion bags to catch everything? Maybe something more along the lines of a shop vac half full of water. The top has a filtered vent to let the air back out. The air coming in from the blower would probably have to come in above the water line so there would still be some dust getting caught in the filter but alot would settle down into the water. Then all you have to do is ruin the dust collector for a minute or 2 longer than the machine your using to make sure no dust or sparks are left in the pipes. The only downfall (provided it actually works
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) is that its a huge mess to empty it out when it starts to get full.

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