How is your grinder rigged for dust control.

Fish30114

Fish30114

Joined
Jan 5, 2014
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I've looked up what I can via the search function, but I wanted to post here and see if you folks might be willing to share intel on how you are handling dust control for your belt sander. I obtained a 2x72 grinder back in Sept. and it is simply amazing the amount of dust that is distributed around my shop by this thing! I was quickly aware of how much material it moved, but I have a Jet air filtration system and it helps pull out the obvious dust in the air, but there is a fine coat of dust on everything when I grind on this beast. I don't really know where to orient dust collection 'points' and I would appreciate any input ya'll might have, especially any pics anyone might be willing to share.

Thanks--Don
 
i had the same problem in my basement. i have a basic dust collection system, but i also enclosed the grinder in a clear plastic curtain room ( you can buy it in rolls at home depot. the thinner it is, the more transparent it is) . i just stapled it to the ceiling and let it overlap 6" at the entry flap.
 
I am still building my grinder, but I would think a bucket with some water in it directly under the bottom roller on the platen would help catch a lot of debris. Also could try a strong magnet covered in surand wrap. When you're done grinding, remove the wrap or just wipe off the magnet. I would also expect a fine mist of water or coolent on the belt directly above the workpiece would be a major help, but would also enlist all sorts of other issues that would need to be addresses for this type of grinding.
 
woodster said:
i had the same problem in my basement. i have a basic dust collection system, but i also enclosed the grinder in a clear plastic curtain room ( you can buy it in rolls at home depot. the thinner it is, the more transparent it is) . i just stapled it to the ceiling and let it overlap 6" at the entry flap.
Click to expand...

I'm about ready to do the same.
It won't be pretty but it's got to work.
 
The level of dust will almost always exceed any collection system.

Be very careful that you don't grind wood, then grind steel and burn the damn place down!:eek:

Clean out any system bag after grinding one material and always wear a respirator in the shop cause the fine dust you see and is still settling hours after you have stopped grinding will end up in your lungs.
 
So true Rhino. It's what you don't see that's dangerous when it comes to dust. Especially metal particulate
 
I use a water filled bucket under the platen when grinding. Just last night, I clamped the rectangular head of my shop vac so it is just under the bottom platen wheel facing up. After shaping a micarta handle the reduction in dust from the last time was immense. Of course this set up is ONLY for handles. Still water bucket for steel.
 
I exhaust the grinding dust outside via HF dust collector (minus the bag) just plumbed from the grinder then through the wall And I crack a window.
PLUS I made air filtration unit that uses 5, 20x30 house filters
 
I have a water bucket right under the grinder. I have a dust collection port with a wide mouth underneath the bench the grinder that is mounted to pointed basically at the bucket to get the stray airborne particulate. I noticed a huge improvement after doing that.

For grinding handles I have my grinder horizontal and use a small wheel. I have a dust collection hood that I clamp under the small grinding wheel with a wet dry vac hooked up to that. The exhaust of the wet dry vac is pointed towards the same dust collection hood under the main grinder so it flows into that to my 1 micron dust collection bag.

For my disc grinder I have a collection trap under that that goes right to the dust collection with the 1 micron bag. I don't hog on it anything that's metal. I don't even have the dust collection on when I'm flattening blades on it so I'm not worried about hot sparks getting in to my dust collection bag. Handle materials, scales etc I have the dust collector on and it too has made a great improvement.

I also have a box fan with a couple heppa filters in front of it going to pick up small particulate.

I also always wear a full face 3M respirator.

Homey don't mess around! (Mainly because I have allergies and am sensitive to wood dust)
 
Maelstrom78 said:
I have a water bucket right under the grinder. I have a dust collection port with a wide mouth underneath the bench the grinder that is mounted to pointed basically at the bucket to get the stray airborne particulate. I noticed a huge improvement after doing that.

For grinding handles I have my grinder horizontal and use a small wheel. I have a dust collection hood that I clamp under the small grinding wheel with a wet dry vac hooked up to that. The exhaust of the wet dry vac is pointed towards the same dust collection hood under the main grinder so it flows into that to my 1 micron dust collection bag.

For my disc grinder I have a collection trap under that that goes right to the dust collection with the 1 micron bag. I don't hog on it anything that's metal. I don't even have the dust collection on when I'm flattening blades on it so I'm not worried about hot sparks getting in to my dust collection bag. Handle materials, scales etc I have the dust collector on and it too has made a great improvement.

I also have a box fan with a couple heppa filters in front of it going to pick up small particulate.

I also always wear a full face 3M respirator.

Homey don't mess around! (Mainly because I have allergies and am sensitive to wood dust)
Click to expand...

Less than 1 micron dust will continue float for hrs until settling in your lungs or on objects. The dust is persistent, as in it can settle and a week later be disturbed and ingested. Fresh air exchange is the best but not always doable so..... You grind knives and make dust, you make calculated risks dont assume less than 1 micron is safe.
 
KUNTZI66 said:
Less than 1 micron dust will continue float for hrs until settling in your lungs or on objects. The dust is persistent, as in it can settle and a week later be disturbed and ingested. Fresh air exchange is the best but not always doable so..... You grind knives and make dust, you make calculated risks dont assume less than 1 micron is safe.
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No doubt, it's the small particulate that I'm more concerned about than anything. Thus the redundant filters the fan going with the HEPA filter and in all honesty my workshops in the garage so I open the door as well.

But yes it's the small insidious stuff that I'm concerned overror mostly.
 
My dust mostly comes from handle work . For steel just a bucket with water and for handle material I have a vent that sucks air from right in front of the grinder right outside through a dryer type vent and then I have a metal central vacuum I grabbed from a job that never looses full suction .. this thing has changed my life !! I takes a ton of material right of the wheel and this week I have another cleaner for the residual dust that will always run.. Dust sucks . You only get one set of lungs and plus everything gets messed up . gets in to your kiln controller in you don't cover it . One of my cheap variable drives just finally shit the bed because of dust. I mean I knew that would happen on that cheapo one. we all have to deal with it. Someday I will put together a real professional one like Patrice up in the great white north.
 
My dust collection system... I need better!

dustpan-brush-set-black.jpeg
 
Thanks for the thoughts folks, Bobby, my dust collection is minimally better than that. Actually my issues is that I am using separate vacuums for the dust collection at this point, one handles my power miter saw and 12" disc grinder, and I've got another vac for my lathe and my 2x72, I just don't have a dedicated pick up for the 2x72 yet, I do have the obligatory 5 gal bucket of water underneath....I guess at some point I should get a qualified person to design a proper dust collection system and have it installed. Keeping sparks apart from dry material is something I don't have figured yet...
 
I think if you make a spark bong and hook your vacuum up to that, you should be ok from a spark perspective, and you should keep your filter cleaner as well. At least that is the plan I'm going with.
 
One thing I added to my dust collection system that helped a lot is an intake near the ceiling. It has a gate so I can close it while grinding. When I'm done grinding, I open it up and it clears the air in 5-15 minutes. It gets a lot of the really fine stuff out of the air, based on the residue in the pipe. My shop is in a room in my basement. I couldn't work down there if I didn't have a dust collector.

Jesse
 
This is what I have, and it works pretty good.

[video=youtube;8hHpVpoI4Cs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hHpVpoI4Cs[/video]
 
Jesse, that sounds like a good approach, my shop is in the basement of my house also. Mr. Hoffman, that looks pretty interesting--I currently have a couple of cyclone's on the front end of my vacs--they are clear vue CV-06 mini cyclones--they do a super job of spinning most stuff out of the air before it even gets to your shop vac container--I'm not sure how I would put a 'spark bong' like yours in my set-up--I will have to think about that...thanks for the video--nicely done
 
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