jkoyas
Grumbler
Help! I need to tackle the dust problem caused by our mitre saw. I have checked out a Delta Dust Collector and am considering purchasing it. Any suggestions?
Dust Problems
- Thread starter jkoyas
- Start date
A dust collector will help. But if you have a dust problem now, chances are you will still have a problem after you install the dust collector. Less dust -- but still some, and more noise from the dust collector than you can imagine. Some of them are downright deafening, especially in confined spaces.
A few suggestions:
*Separate your saw from the rest of the shop. Build a wall around it, and keep the door closed. This helps the noise problem, too.
*If you can't segregate the saw, make the air flow in your shop take sawdust away from problem areas. Often a building's HVAC system contributes to the problem. Try adjusting the system's air outlets and intakes differently. When weather permits, maybe you could open doors/windows for intake & exhaust, and put a large portable fan in the doorway closest to the saw, to carry dust directly out. (Remember that air flows like water in a hose -- it needs an unrestricted source and an unrestricted place to go. If you open just one door, or just one window, it will not work. A car's engine is like that, too -- seal off the air intake or the exhaust, and it will not run.)
*Vacuum the whole shop at the end of every day -- and keep your vacuum's bag/bin clean. Dust travels and recirculates often in areas with foot traffic and air movement.
*Do dust-sensitive shop work early in the day, after yesterday's dust has settled overnight, and before today's dust gets kicked up.
*Buy chops.
*Buy mouldings that make heavier sawdust.
* Convince customers that dust in frames is the latest trend.
------------------
Jim Miller, CPFcm; GAFP Committee Member
A few suggestions:
*Separate your saw from the rest of the shop. Build a wall around it, and keep the door closed. This helps the noise problem, too.
*If you can't segregate the saw, make the air flow in your shop take sawdust away from problem areas. Often a building's HVAC system contributes to the problem. Try adjusting the system's air outlets and intakes differently. When weather permits, maybe you could open doors/windows for intake & exhaust, and put a large portable fan in the doorway closest to the saw, to carry dust directly out. (Remember that air flows like water in a hose -- it needs an unrestricted source and an unrestricted place to go. If you open just one door, or just one window, it will not work. A car's engine is like that, too -- seal off the air intake or the exhaust, and it will not run.)
*Vacuum the whole shop at the end of every day -- and keep your vacuum's bag/bin clean. Dust travels and recirculates often in areas with foot traffic and air movement.
*Do dust-sensitive shop work early in the day, after yesterday's dust has settled overnight, and before today's dust gets kicked up.
*Buy chops.
*Buy mouldings that make heavier sawdust.
* Convince customers that dust in frames is the latest trend.
------------------
Jim Miller, CPFcm; GAFP Committee Member
S
Scarfinger
Guest
Many years ago when we had chop saws we gave up on the dust system because it captured very little dust. The saw threw dust in all directions. Then we got a double miter cabinet saw that is enclosed. A Delta dust system was added to this. I am pleasently surprised at how little dust we have now. Important to us as we also have a photo lab. Perhaps you could build an enclosure around your chop saw to contain the dust and add a dust system to the enclosure. Sucking dust from those openings in the saw guards is a waste of time. I also believe blowing dust off the work as you are framing makes more mess than it eliminates. We stopped blowing 20 years ago and use a brush. The work tables are also vacuumed regularly.
Framing Goddess
SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
What kind of saw do you have?
We have an OLD frame square saw that has a nifty attachment to a shop vac that is VERY LOUD but helps keep down the airborne dust enormously. Well worth the racket especially for us sneezy types.
We have an OLD frame square saw that has a nifty attachment to a shop vac that is VERY LOUD but helps keep down the airborne dust enormously. Well worth the racket especially for us sneezy types.
This is for all of you. If your using any kind of sawdust producing equipment, Get a dust collection system set up as soon as you can. After many years of breathing sawdust, it finally caught up to me four and a half years ago. I almost died, my doctor gave me 24 - 48 months to live. It's not the sawdust you can see that destroys your lungs, it's the tiny invisible particles that get deep into your lungs and destroys them. If you can smell the wood cutting, wear a respirator even if you have a dust collection system. Get at least a two horsepower system. Set it up as far away from where you work as you can. I'll guarantee you will be glad you did when you start getting old. I now use my collection system and a respirator ALL the time when I'm cutting.
I now walk to work just to try and undo the damage I did to my lungs with sawdust and tobacco. Breathing hard helps a lot, my last medical prognosis was, clear lungs and about twenty to thirty years to live.
We all are going to reach the point in our lives where we will give everything we own for one more breath of air, why try to rush that moment?
John
I now walk to work just to try and undo the damage I did to my lungs with sawdust and tobacco. Breathing hard helps a lot, my last medical prognosis was, clear lungs and about twenty to thirty years to live.
We all are going to reach the point in our lives where we will give everything we own for one more breath of air, why try to rush that moment?
John
B
billyearth
Guest
Delta makes both single and 2-stage dust collectors. For fine dust from a mitre saw the single-stage should do just fine, but the biggest problem is in the bag that collects the dust. Most inexpensive collectors have bags that release a fair amount of dust back into your shop (5 micron and smaller). If you buy a single-stage collector, invest in an aftermarket bag. Woodworking supply companies offer them.
You may also want to search back issues of American Woodworker, Fine Woodworking and Wood magazines for articles on dust control. After going through single stage and 2-stage (a Delta), I invested in a cyclonic collector from Oneida Air for our woodshop. It's over-kill for a frame shop, but for the money it is the most dust-free unit I could find.
You may also want to search back issues of American Woodworker, Fine Woodworking and Wood magazines for articles on dust control. After going through single stage and 2-stage (a Delta), I invested in a cyclonic collector from Oneida Air for our woodshop. It's over-kill for a frame shop, but for the money it is the most dust-free unit I could find.
Don
Grumbler
How would an air filtering system work in a fitting room.(You know the ones with them Hepa filters) I know this would not work for sawdust. I have an old building and have had a hard time with dirt and dust. Is there any problems with using one of these? If not do they do any good?
po' framer
MGF, Master Grumble Framer
I'm not familiar with the Delta but believe firmly in dust collection systems and filters. I've been looking hard at the new Ridgid dust collector and assume that it's about the same as the Delta, as they are targeting the same market.
po' framer
MGF, Master Grumble Framer
I was just looking at the Oneida systems on the web and they look like the real deal. Good choice if one wants to get something that really makes a difference, it appears.