Double Bass Dust control in workshop

[George700DL]

Ya got me! No we don't have that here. Germans don't really joke like that. But I am American, and have pulled off some excellent ones in my lifetime. This one is outstanding however. I bow in awe

What do you mean? Here is clear evidence:

 

[George700DL]

Thanks to all for the suggestions. It is clear to me that a real cyclone-type dust collection unit would be helpful. My workshop is a 1-car garage, so space is a bit limited. I got the air filter (similar to what Arnold mentioned), but like I said, I don't think that is as effective as the cyclone type of unit.

I might have misspoken. This is the actual mask that I use - does it qualify as a "respirator"? And I might have underrated its performance - it does actually prevent a lot of things from entering my lungs. The only issue is: when I use the table saw, I need safety glasses, ear muffs, and the respirator. When I wear all 3, at some point the goggles fog up (not a good thing for finger integrity), so then I chose between eye safety and lung health.

 

[RCWilliams]

for those who are having a problem at their bench, a variation on the down draft table should help, make a wooden box and cover it with a grate of some sort, hardware cloth or peg board with a slot at the bottom, so long as air can move through freely, then draw the air through it, filter and return to the shop, it will give a side draft, and draw the dust away from you, into the trap.

there are aslo some cyclone settelers on the market these days, the dust deputy is one I have seen, they can work with shop vacs, I made one for my table saw in my home shop out of an empty plastic bucket some mdf, a trash can, and a leaf blower, 99% of the dust drops in the trash can, about 1% into the filter bag, moves about 340 cfm, 4 " hose. not bad for stuff I had on hand, noisy though.

 

[powerbass]

This is my experience with respirators. Respirators need to fit properly to work well. A representative that sold respirators came to my woodshop and fit all of us. We put on various sized respirators and he used an air borne irritant - if you could smell it the mask wasn't fitting properly. If you have a beard you need a different respirator set up. If your glasses are fogging due to moist air escaping near your nose then it isn't fitting properly. The straps wear out and loosen so they need to be replaced 1-2 times a year. Those filters (George's) look like chemical filters - the heavier the filters the looser the straps since the weight pulls the respirator forward. There are valves inside the respirators as ports to let air in/out, these need to be clean and properly positioned otherwise you will breathe in contaminated air. I posted the link to the Comfo Classic respirator which I have used for many years. It is an exceptional respirator, the silicon forms a snug/air tight comfortable fit, the head strap ensures comfortable even pressure. You can purchase the valves, straps, filters etc to keep it working perfectly. The dust filters are much smaller than what you have, they are lighter (less weight on the face) and reusable - you just wash them out. I regularly take the whole mask apart and wash it, clean the ports/valves and adjust the straps - this ensures it works well and is sanitary. The picture is Comfo respirator with chemical filters. Every time I put the respirator on I test it by first blocking the exhaust port and breathing out hard - if any air is escaping then the valves are not in the right spot or the mask is not fitting my face properly. The next test is to cover both inlet ports and inhale hard - if air is coming in then I recheck the valves or see if the filters are not screwed in tight (there is a rubber gasket that seals the filters when they are screwed down fully). There is no need to wear large chemical filters if you are dealing with wood dust. Filters clog and breathing can become difficult. The MSA/Comfo set up has various filters that are easy to swap in/out. I mentioned before I sprayed a lot of nitro lacquer with the same mask using the chemical filters. It is a really good product.

 

[Damon Rondeau]

Really, I think every household should have a respirator. With one, you need never fear a stinky job again. When my kids were at the making-messes-in-their-pants stage of life, my respirator was one of my absolute favorite tools!

 

[robobass]

Aren't we getting a little carried away here? OK fine ebony dust is indeed harmful, but do you really need to wear a respirator if you're just making normal sawdust and have a decent dust collector?

 

[powerbass]

Aren't we getting a little carried away here? OK fine ebony dust is indeed harmful, but do you really need to wear a respirator if you're just making normal sawdust and have a decent dust collector?

Even a little bit of sanding without wearing a respirator and I can feel it in my nose, throat and and lungs. People who don't smoke cigarettes but are exposed to cigarette smoke are just as likely to develop lung problems/cancer. Saw dust is always present in a woodshop regardless of machinery. The first thing I did when I got home after working all day in the woodshop was to take a shower and clean out my nose - even after wearing a respirator religiously s••t came out of my nose - the rest probably went to my lungs

 

[forester]

^^ longest EVER post from Forester!!!

appears to reject the idea that my economy with words was simply a consequence of poor literary education"

 

[shaft311]

A rudimentary air filtration system with several box fans/cardboard boxes/home ac filters could handle the dust of most home workshops.

 

[klyph]

... if the filters are replaced/cleaned regularly/often, which most people are too cheap/lazy to do. Same with dustmasks. They work great! For about an hour of solid sanding, maybe less. Then they're full of dust, and useless. You wind up breathing through gaps in the edges because saturation has made the mask impermeable. I might go through four or five a day, if I'm doing that much sanding or cutting of MDF. None of the people I've worked for have ever complained about the cost, maybe because I'm a big jerk with a sharp chisel, maybe because I'm making them money...

 

[wcoffey81]

here is a place i have purchased some of my shop supplies from Invalid Link Removed.

the bodyman's mask i mentioned is shown there, with the light purple filters. it is designed to only filter dust and dirt particles

it looked to me that your old mask was missing the prefilters which are highly important when working in dusty environments. if you get the new respirator and it has the canister type chemical filters please note that they have a short life span if left in the open! you need to store it in a sealed old coffee can or a heavy duty ziplock bag when not in use.
once your lungs are damaged they don't really heal you just keep losing your ability to breath a little at a time. this very issue cost me almost everything, my career, my source of income, my ability to ever work again and my health will be terrible until the day i die. PLEASE take this issue seriously!

 

[tstone]

One wall of my workshop faces on a vacant lot, so it would be fairly easy for me to cut a hole in that wall and install an exhaust fan. After reading this thread, I am seriously considering doing just that.

Any info on fan diameter/RPM/CFM/horsepower that you guys are using? Shop is around 5,000 cu ft.

 

[Damon Rondeau]

Mandatory safety note, forgive me if you already know this: if, once you get your exhaust fan, you start thinking about spraying any flammable substances (like lacquer), be aware you should be using a fan motor rated for that kind of service. Sparks very bad in that situation...

 

[forester]

tool room is about 400 sqft.
the dust collector(grizzly model go562z) is a bit overkill at 3hp 2320 cfm 220v it does do the job for a beltsander,bandsaw, and a hooded booth for blowing out cases and bows.
12 of us use the tool room dailey and at times it gets crowded, the constant on/off of the exhaust system is hard on the soft starter and i have replaced three capacitors in about 4 yrs. since the collector is located in a not so sealed room in the shop, it is only an effective means of transporting dust to my nose,throat,lungs. with about 3hrs work i could have the unit (OUTSIDE) housed against an exterior wall. 4 of us work in the cello,bass room,(in the vortex) the other 8 don't suffer as much.
i want to strangle the management, but i am too busy choking.

 

[powerbass]

12 people using a 400 sqft machine room seems small, granted you are not doing plywood jobs. Putting the dust collector outside reduces dust and noise. As for using the fan for spray finishing this can be a real problem. My shop was in an old factory with oil soaked wooden floors (years of textile manufacturing with old weaving machines), the fire dept insisted we install a state of the art steel finish booth complete with high pressure sprinklers, explosion proof lighting and metal cabinets for finishing supplies. On top of that we ran into insurance liability issues - spraying finish is a serious fire hazard if not done right.

 

[Ryker_M]

From my experiences working in my workshop, which is basically a shed, I find that a really good respirator with no-fog airsoft goggles to work really well. I use a P100 filter on my respirator, which is one of the best filters you can use.

It's not the most effective setup, but if you're having issues with dust building up, even with a heavy duty fan system, it does the job. I really can't fit in a fan/air circulation system due to space confinements, so I have to make do with what I have.

 

[arnoldschnitzer]

here is a place i have purchased some of my shop supplies from Invalid Link Removed.

the bodyman's mask i mentioned is shown there, with the light purple filters. it is designed to only filter dust and dirt particles

it looked to me that your old mask was missing the prefilters which are highly important when working in dusty environments. if you get the new respirator and it has the canister type chemical filters please note that they have a short life span if left in the open! you need to store it in a sealed old coffee can or a heavy duty ziplock bag when not in use.
once your lungs are damaged they don't really heal you just keep losing your ability to breath a little at a time. this very issue cost me almost everything, my career, my source of income, my ability to ever work again and my health will be terrible until the day i die. PLEASE take this issue seriously!

I take the issue seriously, but there's no way I could work all day with one of those things strapped to my face. I can barely stand wearing one while varnishing.

 

[robobass]

You've got to look at things in perspective. Do you live in Antarctica? How safe is your food? I worked a prototyping job on Madison Avenue in NYC for a few years where I was dealing with every kind of plastic resin and organic solvent you could name. We did everything we could to protect ourselves during the workday, but I think that the five block walk from the subway station to the office was more toxic than anything the job dished out. I used to always say that I smoked three cigarettes and drank a tablespoon of diesel fuel on the way to work this morning. Some vendors suggested we have a supplied air system in our shop, meaning we would walk around all day wearing gas masks with long hoses dragging behind. I asked: where is the fresh air gonna come from, New Jersey?

 

[1st Bass]

We have those at work...they work off a massive electronic(?) self-cleaning filter, larger than a large refrigerator, which takes whatever ambient air is available (assuming it is not already too toxic) and filters it pretty thoroughly, then supplies it under pressure to the various people using the respirators. Major pain to drag the hose around, etc., but works like a charm. (Delmonox used to be the brand name...I assume it still is.)

 

[powerbass]

You've got to look at things in perspective. Do you live in Antarctica? How safe is your food? I worked a prototyping job on Madison Avenue in NYC for a few years where I was dealing with every kind of plastic resin and organic solvent you could name. We did everything we could to protect ourselves during the workday, but I think that the five block walk from the subway station to the office was more toxic than anything the job dished out. I used to always say that I smoked three cigarettes and drank a tablespoon of diesel fuel on the way to work this morning. Some vendors suggested we have a supplied air system in our shop, meaning we would walk around all day wearing gas masks with long hoses dragging behind. I asked: where is the fresh air gonna come from, New Jersey?

What's the perspective? Wearing a simple device that limits exposure to harmful dust or chemicals is a pretty small step toward protecting the health of your nose, throat and lungs - overall health. Choosing not to take preventative measures can lead to devastating consequences, at that point it could be too late. Same thing applies to food. For many people there is a choice around eating food that is produced with less harmful chemicals etc. The bottom line is if you are repeatedly exposed to harmful dust etc it can eventually take a toll on your health. It may take a year, ten years, or six months. I used to contract out custom metal fabricating from a retired machinist. We had storage rooms throughout an old mill building. Once when I was showing him around he said he couldn't stay in that particular spot - he had severe chemical sensitivity from years of exposure to harmful chemicals and that area of the building had chemicals, probably soaked into the floor that irritated him - I felt nothing.