I made a dust evacuation system for my grinder.

Rick Marchand

Rick Marchand

Donkey on the Edge
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Patrice and a few others where inspirations for me on this project. Having recently completed my "temporary" shop I was finally getting back into the swing of things but ran into a roadblock. My new grinding station sucked or rather, didn't "suck". The dust was excessive ... worse than ever before. I had to do something so looked into dust collection. The cyclone-type set ups seemed decent but looked like a pain to upkeep and the danger of mixing wood and steel worried me. I remembered that Kevin Cashen had a high powered blower evacuation system that vented directly outside. Patrice Lemee also showed us his sweet set up as well. I'm no Patrice when it comes to outfitting my entire shop, so I started small and simply addressed the grinder. Air exchange became a particularly difficult hurdle to get past. I'm sure the Summer would have been no problem but when you drop the temperature of the room by 30-40F in the Winter, things get a little uncomfortable.

Anyway, my wife wanted to shoot a quick video of it. Keep in mind, this was completely impromptu and unscripted. I don't have much experience making videos but I hope do more in the near future.


Let me know what you think. I have also attached a quick drawing of the new outside air return that I intend to make, soon.

Thanks
Rickexhaust.jpg
 
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Excellent setup, Rick. I really applaud your outside air inlet. That semi-closed loop will hold down heat loss a good bit, and prevent negative air pressure.
 
Nice shop improvement, both for efficiency and health.

The video was good too, whether scripted or not. Not a lot of dead time, and the wood demo made the point very clear.
 
Rick, I got one of the cyclonic attachments for a shop vac that connects to a 5 gallon bucket. It works great, getting all but the finest dust. After about 15 gallons of firebrick dust, I had about 3-4 cups super-fine powder in the shop vac. If you simply blow the dust outside, I'd be willing to bet you'll have little rust spots all over the place outside after it rains this spring.
 
I have the Dust Deputy (cyclonic collector) from Lee Valley in my leather shop... it works great! My concern for the knife grinder was that I grind mixed media and didn't want the hassle of multiple collectors and water buckets. I should show the outside vent... it is directed down into a steel drum. I also attached a 4x8 plywood shield to the house for dust protection.
 
Cashmore said:
Nice shop improvement, both for efficiency and health.

The video was good too, whether scripted or not. Not a lot of dead time, and the wood demo made the point very clear.
Click to expand...

I agree, your wife is brilliant.


The southern folks have this point very easy.

It's easy to blow it all outside, but when it's 30 below zero, that just wont work.



I use shop vac / cyclone system with a bit of water /antifreeze but I try and separate steel and wood.

It works, but it's noisy and it takes up floor space.




I want a commercial ceiling hanging filter unit too that recirc/s the air through filters.

Jerry Busse wrote this article for a woodworking magazine long time ago

https://sites.google.com/site/knifepics/Home/air_filter.pdf?attredirects=0

for a diy approach.
 
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Well done, Rick. Thanks for the video. I must say also you don't sound like most of the Canadians I talk to. :)
 
Great vid and nice set up. I like the blade you were using for demonstration as well.
 
I think if I wanted to collect everything, I would have put the exhaust at the bottom. This is a fine dust extractor. The heavy dust hits the bucket(and the floor) and is not a problem. It was the hanging particulates that were problematic. The air flow created by the belt is behind and up and that is where it was leaving the shroud. I always have a full face respirator on when I grind. I basically wanted to help clear the room so I could work in there the same day! My wife doesn't smell the steel dust in the room(or on me) anymore. She has a powerful sniffer, too! The system still gives the room a negative air pressure from the rest of the house... which is good. She used to be able tell when I farted in there... not anymore!(egg salad sammiches, yesterday).

This, is by no means a complete dust removal system... but it is much better than I had and I can see it evolving further in the future. It started off as just that furnace blower in the upper corner to act as a "purge". Baby steps.
 
I'm curious how big the outside vent is and what it looks like from the outside. I was thinking of punching an exhaust through the wall of my brick garage shop ( a semi-daunting task) and how big I'd need it to be. There are times I wish I didn't live in a brick house. This gave me some ideas. Thanks Rick (my wife has sniffer like yours which kinda sucks................)

BTW - @1234567890. Many years ago I built one of those Busse air cleaners from that Fine Woodworking magazine article/plan. I made a couple of changes on mine................. made it out of 3/4" MDF, with 2 3M Filtrete 1900 MPR filters, it's on casters and 34" tall so I can use it in other ways in my shop. I used a 3/4 hp motor I had on hand, a squirrel cage furnace fan I bought at a garage sale and a retractable cord from a vacuum. One of the better wood working projects I've done.When we waterproofed my basement (cut an 18" wide trench through the concrete foundation, all around the perimeter, this sucker ran for weeks and did a flat ASTOUNDING job of keeping the clouds of concrete dust out of the rest of the house. The waterproofing guys were impressed but not nearly as much as my wife................

Corey "synthesist" Gimbel
 
As anyone who has used a grinder like a KMG can tell you, those belts will hang onto that gunk and spin all the way around and throw it back in your face or chest. Even though they belts shed some of the git every time they "go round a corner" so to speak, there is still plenty left to be shaken loose by the top wheel of your platen attachment. The updraft feature AND the normal one right below the belt would probably be the best combination.
 
Good stuff Rick! Thanks for sharing buddy. :)

When you first started demonstrating it in use, I thought, "How the hell can he grind like that?!? Those silly Canadians!" ;)

Then I thought, "I bet if he ground on a piece of pine or cedar it would blow that shit around for the camera like a smoke machine."

Clearly your wife and I are very smart. Okay okay... your wife is very smart and I am a blind squirrel. ;) :D

So is this the brand new shop at the new house Rick??? Did you post pics and I missed them?!?!? I'd love to see pics my friend. :) :cool:



Sam, if I were living up where it gets to 30 below, I think I would invest in a full blown Torit dust collection system. I've considered it many times myself... I've seen some really nice, used models sell for about $1500. Of course you could easily spend $5k on a new unit and some duct work. :eek: Well, actually, if I lived somewhere that it gets to 30 below, the first thing I would do... is MOVE. ;) :D
 
Thanks guys.

Here is a pic I took last week. I have since put screen on the bucket and fixed up the rain shield. I realize that a radius on the downward corner would be better... so far I have just used the duct-work I had on hand.
 

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NickWheeler said:
Good stuff Rick! Thanks for sharing buddy. :)

When you first started demonstrating it in use, I thought, "How the hell can he grind like that?!? Those silly Canadians!" ;)

Then I thought, "I bet if he ground on a piece of pine or cedar it would blow that shit around for the camera like a smoke machine."

Clearly your wife and I are very smart. Okay okay... your wife is very smart and I am a blind squirrel. ;) :D

So is this the brand new shop at the new house Rick??? Did you post pics and I missed them?!?!? I'd love to see pics my friend. :) :cool:
Click to expand...

I have always ground like that... lol.

Yes it's the new "temporary" shop that I'll probably be in for some time.... argh! I'll do a "check out my shop" post later... but I suspect there will be a lot of "Why do you do it like that?" questions.
 
NickWheeler said:
Sam, if I were living up where it gets to 30 below, I think I would invest in a full blown Torit dust collection system.

Well, actually, if I lived somewhere that it gets to 30 below, the first thing I would do... is MOVE
Click to expand...

I'm as south as I can get while still staying in the country, and this winter has still hit some super cold numbers some record cold.


I'm fiddling with the calender every day trying to figure out when it warms up.

But I'm too fat to go anywhere with any real heat.
 
Now now! There's tons of fat people living in Houston through the good graces of air conditioning.
 
Makes sense to me (the dust reduction system, not the back-shaving).
 
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