Dust collection system

[mike ritenour]

I've finally gotten "Dorothy" inside our workshop and am about to begin her full refit.

I'll be generating a lot of dust and hazmat stuff, so I want to suck up and contain it all.

In using a wet/dry vac, I find they tend to quickly clog or spew out the smaller dust particles. Outside that isn't such a problem but inside the workshop, it will be.

To eliminate the dust, I've thought about discharging into a much larger filter area or perhaps using a water curtain (which isn't very practical for a one time project).

Before I jump in and drop a boat credit on something, has anyone constructed a system that works well for them?

Would appreciate your experience.

Thanks in advance,
Rit

[Jeff and Sarah]

Lowes sells a dust collection system for a couple hundred dollars- I'll be interested to hear what you come up with though because it has taken me YEARS to clean the dust out of my garage after striping the gel coat off my fishing boat (without dust collection). That was a mistake to do inside even if it was below freezing outside!

[mike ritenour]

I looked at lowes and only found one for $1799.00.
Do you have the model number?
thanks,
rit

[mike ritenour]

http://www.cgallery.com/jpthien/cy.htm

[John Danicic]

Mike:

There is a shop vac made by Delta/Porter Cable that does a good job for a reasonable amount of $.



Or you could go larger and design a system around one of these units.


The bigger the unit, the better the filtration. Even with one of these two, it is good to wear a mask as well. Dust is insidious no matter what equipment you have. Good luck on your projects.

Sail on

John Danicic

CD36 - Mariah- #124 on the hard
Lake Superior- The Apostle Islands
CDSOA #655

[jbenagh]

I have two Jet dust collectors in my boat/woodshop. I have an air filtration system (sits on the ceiling) and a 710700CK 2HP dust collection system. This one picks up router table, bandsaw and planer dust (and tablesaw when my neighbor loans it to me). They are great for woodworking tools.

For FG and gelcoat dust, they are really lousy. The finder particles from those clog the filters in a hurry. For FG work I use a shop vac connected to the tool in use and a 3M6200 mask. I have a nice 1um Gore-tex filter for the shop vac but never use it for FG -- it clogs almost immediately since the particles are too fine. It's great for wood dust but I don't use it for paint, varnish or epoxy either.

Jeff

[Troy Scott]

Mike,

I've converted several inexpensive wet-dry vacuums to do the job of collecting huge amounts of fine dust. Here's what I do:
1. Throw out the filters supplied by the manufacturer.
2. Add a tube to extend the intake air to within 1/2" of the bottom of the canister.
3. Cut a new disposable filter from tee-shirt material, and install it with a bungee cord.
4. Disable the "float" device that stops the unit from pulling air.
5. Keep about two inches of water in the bottom of the canister.

This system works great for fine dust. It is usually a long time before I have to change the filter. The air bubbles through the water and the majority of the dust stays in the water. It keeps working until the water becomes mud. Then take the canister out and hose it out. Either hose off the tee-shirt filter or throw it away and install a new one. I buy the white material as shop rags from Lowes.

If you pick up larger debris (or work gloves, ask me how I know) the system will stop up because of the small space between the tube and the canister bottom.

I have combined the large diameter hose that comes with the vacuum with a smaller diameter hose, using a step-down fitting. I use regular 1 1/4" brush and crevice tool fittings to keep up with the dust. I keep a hose on my electric sanders, just large enough to insert the 1 1/4" pipe into. The suction holds it on, and all the sanding dust goes in the vacuum.

I've found that I have to experiment a little with the water level if I change brands of wet-dry vac. Too much and it sends spray out the exhaust. Too little and it doesn't work well.

I leave the noisy vacuum unit on the floor of the shop. The large hose comes up to the deck and is held in place by a bag of lead shot. The smaller diameter hose goes from there to wherever I need it inside the boat.

I find that this setup is a fraction of the cost of the special dust collection systems. I run it for hours at a time, working with my sound-proof headphones and listening to my music. If it breaks, so what..., it was cheap and I can easily make another one!

[John Stone]

Rit,
I don't have the room for a large collection system. There is no argument that a large system (about 1200 CFM) is the most effective collection method especially for fine dust. I don't think there is a good way to install a dust collection system that will fully protect you working in the boat so you should expect to wear a good full face mask with the appropriate filters--solvents or dust or a combination--whenever you are grinding glass, etc. I have been happy with the 3M 6000 series full face mask. If you are talking about a collection system in your shop, that is a different matter and there are lots of options.

For big vacuuming projects I use a standard shop vac and run it through a Oneida mini cyclone. http://store.oneida-air.com/dustdeputy.aspx I have found it to be satisfactory at reducing the amount of debris that makes it to the filter. There is a picture of this system, hooked up to my shop planer, on my daily log under the 8 Nov 10 entry. http://www.farreachvoyages.com/dailylog ... esent.html During major vacuuming operations I have used it on my boat.

I caveat my use of a shop vac with the acknowlegement that it does not safely filter the small micron dust that can be very dangerous--that is why I always wear a full face respirator when grinding--no matter how small the job. For mor info on just how dangerous this stuff is you might find this site link informative http://www.clearvuecyclones.com/index.p ... page&id=14

I have also taken to using a 5" Porter Cable DA RO 7345 sander with 40 grit PSA disks and a dust hood for minor sanding/grinding. It vauums well. However, for major grinding and destruction I often use a high speed 4 1/2" grinder with flap style disks. There is no way to collect this kind of dust/debris that I know of. Under large grinding events I have found attempts to "collect" the dust simply too inconvenient. So, for major destruction I wear a paper tyvk suit, gaunlet gloves, and a full face respirator. I sweep up as much as I can when I am finished and then vacuum the rest with the mini-cyclone hooked up to the dust collector. The best advice I got was to try to do all the grinding at once--on the front end of the restoration. If you have not already done so, I recommend you visit Tim Lackey's site for a good perpecitve on it http://www.lackeysailing.com/

These are just my thoughts based on my own experience and research. Other folks have great ideas as well. Sorry for the long respone to your question--best of luck on your boat projects.

John

[Troy Scott]

Mike,

John Stone is right. If you are making a lot of dust, you should be using a breathing system as well as the vacuum system. Check out Hobby Air. I've used one of their systems for many years. I always put the blower in front of an air conditioner vent, to keep the air coming to my face nice and cool. The system they sell is mainly for fumes, but it works fine for dust. The important thing is to keep the blower in a clean area.

[Matt Cawthorne]

How about using some pvc sewer pipe (cheap, smooth interior, thin wall PVC pipe) to run a vacuum line outdoors. A large diameter will limit losses. Put a shop vac there. Use the best filter that you can.

[wmbwalker]

This one is right in my wheelhouse -- I have been building furniture for a living for the past 30 years. The best thing to do is collect at the source. Buy a good sander-dust extractor combination. My recommendation is Festool. If you have never used one you will be amazed at how efficient they are, and how much faster you will cut, because the dust is removed -- not clogging the paper. You can sand your gelcoat and the air will remain clean. They all have HEPA filters and disposable collection bags.I have their 6" Rotex sander that I have used extensively on my Ty -- It is also great for our woodworking projects with its aggressive and smoothing modes. Yes they are too expensive but they are worth it (Think buying a Cape Dory instead of .... ).
Secondly, for an enclosed space, I would purchase an air cleaner (JDS or Rockwell make them) They are simply a furnace filter and a pleated filter with a fan to draw the air through. All you New Englanders can get the dust and keep the heat.
If you let that fine dust get away, it is really difficult to go after it. I have used a number of other brands, I'll give you feedback if there is one you are interested in. Bill