I had to replace my hot air furnace and kept the old one, I was thinking
about turning the blower from it into a single tool point of use dust
collector.
Has anyone done this or seen plans?
I understand the basic concept but was curious about the blower Wheel
itself, specificly if it is to "fine" to effective move the dust or not. I
was thinking of making it two stage collector, i.e. from the blast gate to
one of those cyclone covers for a 30 gal trash can, from that to the intake
of the blower, and attaching a 10 micron bag to the output of the blower.
I'd appreciate any thoughts comments and or suggestions.
"Joseph Adamson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:z1T%[email protected]...
> I had to replace my hot air furnace and kept the old one, I was thinking
> about turning the blower from it into a single tool point of use dust
> collector.
> Has anyone done this or seen plans?
> I understand the basic concept but was curious about the blower Wheel
> itself, specificly if it is to "fine" to effective move the dust or not. I
> was thinking of making it two stage collector, i.e. from the blast gate to
> one of those cyclone covers for a 30 gal trash can, from that to the
intake
> of the blower, and attaching a 10 micron bag to the output of the blower.
> I'd appreciate any thoughts comments and or suggestions.
>
>
Sorry to burst your bubble, but it will not work as a dust/chip collector.
Furnace fans do not produce enough static pressure to operate a cyclone.
But, on the other hand, it will make a dandy air filter. Cobble up a box out
of plywood, stuff the fan in it, build a filter rack to hold a couple of
pleated paper funace filters back to back, and it will do a fair job of
filtering the air. It will not get the sub micron particles out of the air,
but it will be better than nothing.
Greg
Won't work. The fan runs at too low a speed to get any static pressure
rating and the CFM air flow is so low that it won't be very useful for
picking up dust.
There is a LOT more to dust collection than most people realize. If you
pick up the coarse dust around the tool as it operates, you're only doing
some minor housecleaning, so to speak. The fine dust that hovers in the
air is DANGEROUS! Like tobacco smoke and other bad stuff (only worse),
it can leave you with asthma, emphysema, severe allergies, cancer, and
possibly even leave you dead. The only effective means I've been able
to find for dust collection is a high-air-volume cyclone that moves at
least 1000 CFM while operating at AT LEAST 6-8" of static pressure so that
you can create an envelope of collected air surrounding the tool so that
any micro-fine dust is captured and carried away, along with the coarse
dust, shavings, chips, etc. where it is separated from the air before it
even gets to the blower. Then feed the blower output to a certified air
filter that traps at least 97% of all dust particles down to 0.5, or
better yet, 0.3 microns in diameter so you can recirculate the collected
air back into your shop (to save on heating and air-conditioning costs)
and still be able to safely breathe it.
I went searching for an economical dust collector last year and discovered
the importance of doing the job right. As a result, I now produce a very
good cyclone in kit form with a matching blower housing also available. A
complete system can be had for less than a Kirby or Rainbow household
vacuum cleaner. Contact me privately if you want more information.
Having experienced breathing difficulties from cutting MDF, and having
linked up with Bill Pentz who almost died from the effects of wood dust,
I am becoming a bit of a crusader in attempting to get woodworkers to
wake up and realize the importance of PROPER dust control in their shops.
If you have a properly designed and installed cyclone system, you won't
even need an air cleaner to get rid of the fine dust which is actually
the most dangerous to your health -- moreso than the coarser sawdust.
CE
Joseph Adamson wrote:
>
> I had to replace my hot air furnace and kept the old one, I was thinking
> about turning the blower from it into a single tool point of use dust
> collector.
> Has anyone done this or seen plans?
> I understand the basic concept but was curious about the blower Wheel
> itself, specificly if it is to "fine" to effective move the dust or not. I
> was thinking of making it two stage collector, i.e. from the blast gate to
> one of those cyclone covers for a 30 gal trash can, from that to the intake
> of the blower, and attaching a 10 micron bag to the output of the blower.
> I'd appreciate any thoughts comments and or suggestions.
I'll second that!
Jim
"Wolf Lahti" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> No need to make it private; this is on-topic if anything in this group
> is, and I'm sure more than a few peoplw would like to hear about your
> kit.
"James D. Kountz" <jkountz@(remove this)citlink.net> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I'll second that!
>
> Jim
>
>
> "Wolf Lahti" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >
> > No need to make it private; this is on-topic if anything in this group
> > is, and I'm sure more than a few peoplw would like to hear about your
> > kit.
I'll make that a third.
Jeff
Clarke Echols <[email protected]> wrote
>
> I went searching for an economical dust collector last year and discovered
> the importance of doing the job right. As a result, I now produce a very
> good cyclone in kit form with a matching blower housing also available. A
> complete system can be had for less than a Kirby or Rainbow household
> vacuum cleaner. Contact me privately if you want more information.
>
No need to make it private; this is on-topic if anything in this group
is, and I'm sure more than a few peoplw would like to hear about your
kit.