So, after several visits to my dr, he tells me give up wood working or get better dust collection/filtration. Let’s start with, What do you use? Then, what would you recommend?
My lungs thank you for your input!
Get a real dust collector with at least a 5 micron filter, 1 micron would be even better.
http://www.harborfreight.com/70-gal-2-hp-industrial-dust-collector-61790.html
This 1 micron bag will replace the 5 micron bag.
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Thanks Allen! Would this be better than throwing a dust deputy on my shopvac?
Yes, you need a real dust collector.
My dust deputy has cut down dramatically on the dust, but any dust that makes it past it is still just sprayed out the back of my shop vac.
Eventual I plan on getting a harbor freight dust collector and filter bag as well.
Have the doctor write you a prescription for a Festool dust collector (that’s what they call their vacuums). Try to claim it with your insurance.
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I use a hepa vac for both wood working and cleaning my pellet stove, also picked up paper mask at the drug store
What kind of dust collection are you planning?
That bag, what is it for exactly? Is it reusable?
I bought a cyclonic Bosch BGS5ALL1 Relaxx’x ProSilence Plus, and it has pretty good specs and very silent. Do you think I still would need a dust collection system?
In my opinion, yes. A dust collector is designed to run all day without getting warm. A typical shop vac will start heating up as soon as you turn it on.
The dust collector will also provide a massive amount of air flow through a 4 inch hose. It is that air flow that is so important to keeping the air clean.
A 4 inch hose can move about 350 cubic feet per minute of air compared to a 90 cubic feet per minute for a 2 inch hose.
The bag is the filter that keep the dust particles from getting back into the show, And yes the bag is reusable.
If I use my hand sander I can see the dust floating in the air, then I turn on the dust collector and the air will clear in under a minute. It can literally pull all the air in my shop through the filter in about 3 minutes.
Thanks a lot for the detailled explanation.
For now, I think then that I will have a ciclonic dust separator cone conected to my shop vac with Hepa Filter. At least it will keep my shop vac “cleaner” and safer.
I am not going to be working all the time with the x-carve or carving in an intesive manner. I don’t have space for a bigger dust filter like you have. You think this combination then is ok for my situation, or you think it will give me problems with the air and dust?
A Hepa filter is the gold standard for removing particles from the air. They can remove particles only .3 microns in size.
The problems with the HEPA them is that they are expensive and need to be replaced frequently. Plus they cannot move near as much air as a DC system. It seems to me that pulling sawdust from the router through a HEPA filter will clog it up very quickly.
You might want to purchase a particulate filter like this just to be safe if you have medical concerns
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Thanks, but if I use a dust separator? Wouldn’t it be cleaner and safer for the HEPA filter?
ShopVac <--------- Dust Separator (Ciclonyc Cone) <-------- Xcarve Router
The cyclone action of the separator pulls out the “big chunks”. The fine particles (10 micron and under) are trapped by the filter. The HEPA filter will trap all that dust, but will clog quickly.
Big “hear hear” on the mask! I have very little dust trouble in my shop at the moment (my X-carve has a 1hp extractor on it, running through a dust deputy, then dumping the remaining air / fines outside the building) but for out in the shop when I’m sanding and finishing, I wear a 3M full face with Organic vapor cartridges and N95 prefilters. I have P100s as well, but it’s a pain to swap them back and forth for finishing vapors, so I just use the N95s most of the time.
I have a half-face as well that I use for light-duty stuff:
http://www.amazon.com/3M-Professional-Facepiece-Respirator-Medium/dp/B004HXBCMG
But I find the full-face to personally be more comfortable so I use it quite a bit more:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009POIVWG
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This Particular Vacuum has a special feature with a spining plastic that taps the filter from the inside repeatedly and makes the dust fall into the main dust receptor, and it cleans itself. (Precisely to avoid clogging I believe).
Take a look at Bill Pentz’s site. Everything you wanted (and need) to know about dust collection.
Be prepared to spend serious money to do it right.
+1 on Bill Pentz’ site.
Clear Vue cyclones are a direct result of his work and have the CFM of airflow to meet most needs. You’re looking at about $1800 entry level, but you’ll have one heck of a filter and your lungs will thank you for it.
I own a ClearView CVMax dust cyclone, their top of the line 1-phase unit. It works well, but if I had to do it over again, then I would spend a few extra dollars to buy an Onieda Cyclone Dust Collector.
I like to tinker and build stuff, but I am not impressed with the Clear View Products. I would rather pay a few extra dollars and get the better Onieda System. I felt as if ClearView reps were just trying to sell me something even though they knew their product is inferior. They are there to sell, and I feel as if they disregarded facts supplied to them about my setup that would have interfered with the choice to purchase their unit. So in essence, I felt lied to and taken advantage of.
It took 3 tries before I received a motor that was not Damaged in shipping. It took 2 tries to get a cyclone that had not come unglued on the inside. It took Several weeks for ALL of the parts to finally arrive (they all shipped seperately from different locations) when I placed the order everything was “In-Stock”, but when they tried to fulfill the order, they only had one or two pieces Available to ship with everything else on back order delaying the order by several weeks. And ultimately it did not fit the space that I needed it to fit in, even though I was assured that it would when I provided my measurements and placement issues.
If I had not had the enormous amount of time and effort put into just receiving and putting the cyclone together, then I would have returned it. But that would have been an extreme hassle plus I would have had to loose money bc of “re-stocking” fees. Not to mention nearly 6 weeks of down time waiting for everything.
Talk about buyers remorse, this is one of the few items in my shop I regret buying, by far the most expensive tool in my shop that I regret buying.
Needless to say, I am not a fan of the ClearView products and I do not recommend them. I have friends who own cheaper Onieda Cyclones that work better.
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Dust control in a shop is always a large concern. In my shop I use several systems that work together. For large chip collection I use a 1200 cfm bagged collector with a cyclonic pre filter. For the finer dust produced by sanders, routers, and now the Xcarve I have been relying on one of three dust extractors, a Fein Turbo, a Festool , and a Rikon. The Fein and the Festool work the best for me if I’m using some kind of dust shoe on the Xcarve, the Festool has the advantage of being variable speed and super quiet. The Fein is still quieter than most any home center shop vac. The Rikon and the large collector don’t perform as well for me with fine dust, I believe that is because of the fact that they are both designed to work with 4 inch or larger hoses and struggle when choked down to 2.5inch. Has something to do with volume vs velocity.
The last component is a ceiling mounted air filter that runs the whole time I’m in the shop. This has an electro static pre filter and does a great job of keeping the air clear. It is best to capture the dust at the source but short of a full enclosure , almost impossible.
The Fein and Festool both have HEPA filters and paper bag pre filters.
What do you guys think about this little 1hp Shop Fox Dust collector? It has 2.5 micron filtration, and I would be using it with a dust deputy. Also, it would be dedicated to the CNC only. Would 1hp be enough?