Knife Shop in Basement, Safety concerns?

T

tradhunter

Joined
Jul 27, 2009
Messages
32
Hey guys,

I am finally going to put my shop togethor, but the only room I have for it is my basement which only has one window (completely across from where my tools are going to be.

I wanted to see what potential safety concerns I will encounter with this setup, because the ventalation is not going to be as good as I would want. My intial plan is to have a grinder, drill press, and hand tools. Followed up with a buffer, and band saw hopefully. I will of course wear proper eye, ear, apron protection and a respirator when working and cleaning up. But I also don't want to turn my basement into a toxic mess with metal, G10, and Micarta dust, solvents etc..

What can I do to minimize any risks. Clean up throughly? Wet sand more to keep down dust? Buy a Hepa or shop type filter system.

Thanks for any advice you can offer the newb. Safety first!
 
tradhunter said:
Hey guys,

I am finally going to put my shop togethor, but the only room I have for it is my basement which only has one window (completely across from where my tools are going to be.

I wanted to see what potential safety concerns I will encounter with this setup, because the ventalation is not going to be as good as I would want. My intial plan is to have a grinder, drill press, and hand tools. Followed up with a buffer, and band saw hopefully. I will of course wear proper eye, ear, apron protection and a respirator when working and cleaning up. But I also don't want to turn my basement into a toxic mess with metal, G10, and Micarta dust, solvents etc..

What can I do to minimize any risks. Clean up throughly? Wet sand more to keep down dust? Buy a Hepa or shop type filter system.

Thanks for any advice you can offer the newb. Safety first!
Click to expand...

I would get a shop filter, jet make a small one that i hear works good. do you just have a concreet floor? the onley real problem i would see is the grinder as it makes a lot of dust. grinding handle material is very messy and the air filter would take care of most of the air born stuff. you can put a box fan in the window and suck the air out and blow it out the window.
 
maybe splurge and get a good respirator.... not one of those white paper ones but one that takes cartridges

good luck

Jake
 
Partical size of the dust and or contaminates decides what is required for ba respirator. the "white paper ones" do a great job. Frank
 
You may want to consider that your HVAC could be circulating that dust throughout your house. I realize there is some filtration, but it may be something to consider when working with potentially dangerous materials like G-10. I would agree with JT about getting a shop filter, but you may want to consider localized dust collection around the tools as well.
 
Mark Redmon said:
You may want to consider that your HVAC could be circulating that dust throughout your house. I realize there is some filtration, but it may be something to consider when working with potentially dangerous materials like G-10. I would agree with JT about getting a shop filter, but you may want to consider localized dust collection around the tools as well.
Click to expand...

O if i onley had a dust collector for my grinder, then i would be a real knife maker:D
 
You say you're in a room in the basement, but just to clarify, it has a door, right? My "shop" (dad's workshop) doesn't have a door, so we hung clear plastic to make a doorway to keep the dust/dirt IN the shop. Just make sure you have a fire extinguisher in a very accessible location, so you don't end up burning down your whole house.
 
This is a valid concern. My shop is in my basement and has no ventilation (presently). I've worked there for several years and believe me, it can be a mess. I've tried in-air filtration, and for my money all it does is blow the dust around. Not much actually gets trapped, regardless what filters I've used.

Like Mark said, the dust does get moved throughout the house even though there is no air uptake for the AC in our basement. More, our laundry area is next to the shop; I've hung tarps to separate the areas but dust does migrate. I clean the entire basement often, and very thoroughly. I'll say it again: I clean frequently and thoroughly. This helps keep the mess out of the house but does not prevent it entirely. And does absolutely nothing about the airborne dust. I use a small vacuum with a hose to collect the dust on benches rather than sweep it to the floor, which helps to minimize the amount of dust that gets in the air when I'm cleaning.

As to respirators, I have a beard so a normal respirator does nothing. I've been looking into positive pressure systems but they're about $1,200. Cheap actually, if you factor in the health risk. My doctor wrote a prescription for one for me due to already compromised lungs, so I'll at least be able to reduce the cost by my tax rate. I've almost saved up the money. One thing though, I've worn full face respirators before and they really do constrict my vision and comfort. It's a difficult trade off for me.

I bought a squirrel cage blower to mount in the window in my shop. It blows a LOT of air and will do a good job of getting a lot of the dust outdoors. It was cheap, found it on Craigslist for about $30. It's going to make a mess on the driveway though.

Dust collection is often recommended and people who have installed it swear by it. I haven't pursued this because of the noise, and have not decided whether I'm going to. But it would sure help to reduce the amount of airborne contamination.

You can tell from the forgoing that I haven't actually done much about dust. It's expensive, and it's time consuming to install all the infrastructure. But I finally convinced my wife (and myself) it was worth the cost and I'm slowly making the changes. Got the mount for the squirrel cage set up, just have to build the new window frame. And so on. I've considered building a noise-reducing enclosure for a dust collector but I haven't made that commitment yet. I think I'll wait to see how the blower does with the air in the shop.
 
Man I wish I had a garage. Both my house furnace and laundry are also in the basement room I want to put my shop. It has a door, but the window is on the other side (half my basement is finished.) The only reason I still want to go forward, is I have no where else to go now, and since I won't be banging out very many knives (I work alot) I don't think I will be overwhelmed with dust.

Maybe since I am just starting out, I will use wood for my handle material, and hold off on the G10 and Micarta for awhile. But I thought I heard many of the woods are bad also.

I heard if you put of bucket of water below your grinder it helps with dust. Is that true?

Do woodworking type dust collectors work, or are there ones made for metal?

I know I am killing you guys, but I don't want to create some sort of toxix mess in my house. Does anybody think the risks are to high, and I should not proceed?
 
My shop is in the basement, and have been using that set up for over 20 years, dust controll is extremely important, because it will take over the whole house. Place a good exhaust fan in your window, and get a dust collector set up under the grinder and the buffer.

The buffer is by far the worst offender when it comes to dust. Its fine oily dirt full of sticky dust and is extemely toxic and flammable.

For that reason I try do do certain tasks when the weather allows me to run the exhaust fan on the window for extended periods of time. When there is little or no requirment for heating or airconditioning I perform the dusty work like buffing and grinding- particularly handle materials.

During the hot and cold times I will do less dusty work, like drilling, band sawing steel and wood, and doing work on the bench like fitting up handles and other hand work.

How much work is done will also determine if the set up will be needed to be moved outside to another building. If you are only making some knives, the basement will be fine. If you plan on making alot of knives then it may be better to build a knife shop separate from your living area.
 
tradhunter said:
Do woodworking type dust collectors work, or are there ones made for metal?
Click to expand...

Wood ones work. Most people use metal collection ducts that run into a garbage pail partially filled with water. (Those who don't use metal ducts switch after the first fire. ;)) The vacuum pulls the air through the unfilled half of the can - kind of like a bong. :D The water traps any hot particles.
 
My shop is in my garage - no windows either.

I did cut a big hole and mount a window unit for AC - that way it's separate from the house's AC system. And I sealed everything off from the house the best I could.

When it gets hot-n-heavy in the shop roughing out handles....my wife says she can tell when she's in the kitchen (next adjoining room). So, while I did everything I could....still gets past...but at least it's not as bad as it could be.

I do have a dust collection system (2 stage/cyclone) and I built a "closet" for it and the air compressor. Cuts down the noise a lot...I can talk on the phone with both on at the same time.

I too have a beard and thought long-n-hard about respirators...but decided to try to solve the problem at the source....since they are very cumbersome.

I also have a ceiling mounted air filter....seems to do a good job with the airborne stuff.

I do wish I had a larger/more powerful system, though. I have mine running to my bandsaw, table saw, grinder and disc sander, with shut-off gates at each machine.


Best of luck with your basement shop.

Just wanted to let you know it can be done!
(controling dust in an interior-room shop)

Dan
 
Dan, what did you use for sound insulation in your compressor/collector enclosure? I've been collecting egg cartons but that's a slooooowwww process.
 
Another thought would be to use mostly hand tools to shape the handle material. Using rasps, files and sandpaper would keep the dust fairly confined to the area you are working at as well as give you better control.
 
Dave - I stapled carpet remnants to the interior walls and instead of a door, I put on a large/tall removable panel with weatherstripping and fastened it tight with long screws.

Dan
 
Once again, thanks for all the advice fellas. I'm going to like it here. I think I am going to combine your advice.

I think because I will only be experimenting and learning the craft I won't make as much dust as some of you more heavily part-time, or full-time guys. But I will pony up for a cyclone shop vac, and a Jet shop air filter. (less money for grinder parts :(, but you have to live long enough to use them right?) and use hand tools on handles when I can. Plus I really wanted to learn filing techniques anyway. basics..basics...

Koster, looked at your website. Love the work.
 
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