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Need advice with dust collection

G

GLENN ROBERTS

Joined
Oct 5, 2008
Messages
55
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Location
Australia
Can anyone help with advice on various forms of dust collection for turning. I am particularly interested to find out if anyone has discovered a way of collecting fine dust ( not shavings) from lathe work only. In particular from numerous lathes ( eg: club environment) where there could be 1 or 10 lathes being used at any one time. The exisiting overhead air filter units do not work well enough and large central systems can be prohibitive.

eg: do you need to run a large central collection system ? given that it's fine dust and not shavings that is the problem.

Interested in all an any thoughtful suggestions. ( keep in mind it's not just your home workshop)
 
Only thing to do is to work your intakes up as close as possible. Get the dust at its source. Once airborne, the fine stuff is going to stay there. I like my magnet attachments for getting the ducts close, but even with them I notice the paint job on the headstock fading after a few pieces. Electrostatic precipitation on that, which has to be the definitive answer for the fine stuff, though gross trapping is easiest. The more volume you can move, the better you'll gather.
 
MM is right...a central DC system, with inlet hoses right at the lathe. Ones that can be placed within a couple inches of the sanding operation, will go a long ways to cutting it back.

Even then, some will escape and become airborne. I have both an air cleaner, and central DC. But on a regular basis I still need to spend time with a shop vac going around cleaning up all the surfaces where dust has collected. That might be part of the answer...make manual cleanup a criteria for using the equipment.
 
One thing you might think about is the use of a box fan with a high quality ( filtrete or equivalent ) furnace filter over the intake side of the fan.
You can use channel ( plastic or metal ) to hold the filter.
Direct the exhaust away from the work area.
The filters can be vacuumed off a number of times with a shopvac equipped with a cleanstream filter.
Pretty cheap to buy and maintain.

Mark.
 
GLENN ROBERTS said:
Can anyone help with advice on various forms of dust collection for turning. I am particularly interested to find out if anyone has discovered a way of collecting fine dust ( not shavings) from lathe work only. In particular from numerous lathes ( eg: club environment) where there could be 1 or 10 lathes being used at any one time. The exisiting overhead air filter units do not work well enough and large central systems can be prohibitive.

eg: do you need to run a large central collection system ? given that it's fine dust and not shavings that is the problem.

Interested in all an any thoughtful suggestions. ( keep in mind it's not just your home workshop)
Click to expand...




I teach turning at the Lee Valley here in Halifax. They have a 5hp dust collector from general. With 6 students and myself power sanding 6" bowls the system barely keeps up. They also have one of those box filter units, as far as I'm concerned it makes more noise than anything. The dust still gets out into the store. I do have to plan my demonstrations and discussions around the system being turned on and off, a remote would be a logical investiment.
 
Having a hood of some sort greatly increases the amout of dust you collect. Just an air hose does a fair job, maybe getting 50 to 75% of the dust. Getting a hood that encloses about half or more of what you are sanding gets up to 99%. My sanding hood, made from a 55 gallon white plastic food grade drum is in that range. It is in the way for turning, but fine for sanding. I need to make some thing that I can keep in place all the time. I do have a small shop vac air cleaner, not the vacuum, that is great for minimal stuff, but nothing replaces the volume of air moved by a central dust collecting system. The filter on a fan works as well, and will work better if you have a hood of some sort (2 sides and a top) around it to capture most of the dust, other wise, it is just moving a lot of air, and getting more dust in the air.
robo hippy
 
I have a 5hp with just a few ports. I keep a 6" flex hose inches away from any turning, wet or dry. There is always fine particulate matter coming off the gouge so I try to get as much of that as possible. The sanding dust is easy. I reverse sand with my power drill also reversed. I can watch a steady stream of dust go down the maw.

Burt
 
Glenn, I use a system which may not be the best, but is probably one of the cheaper solutions. I purchased an 18" high stand commercial fan which sits behind the tailstock of my lathe. If I am sanding or turning dry wood which tends to be more dusty, I turn on the fan at either low or medium speed. (At full speed, I have to strap myself to the lathe - lol!). In front of the lathe about 10' away and hanging from the ceiling, I suspended a JDS air filtration system which also has 3 speeds. I turn this on and attempt to collect most of the small dust coming off of the turnings at the lathe. The heavy shavings continue to fall on the floor and around the lathe as they did before.

I have a dust collector (2hp) which is used in conjunction with all of the other shop equipment (jointer, planer, bandsaw, tablesaw etc.). However, I have not yet attempted to build a chute for dust near the lathe. Just think that something like that would be in the way of turning.

Bill
 
Thanks guys for all your input thus far. I should have mentioned that I am conversant with the advantages of good dust lathe hoods. I personaly use spun aluminium light shades as hoods, they work very well. And sand in reverse ( as my lathe/chucking etc is safe for that.) So on that part you have confirmed my thoughts.

I am still interested to hear any other alternatives. Watching large commercial kitchens and their smoke/fume extraction etc, I wonder if there is something to look into? If only to possibly discount it.
🙂
 
GLENN ROBERTS said:
I am still interested to hear any other alternatives. Watching large commercial kitchens and their smoke/fume extraction etc, I wonder if there is something to look into? If only to possibly discount it.
🙂
Click to expand...

The discount you'll want is on your energy price. Pushing air you've made comfortable for humans outdoors wants replacement. Of course the filters in your A/C or forced air heating unit will help with dust gathering. 😉
 
I use a 2hp D/C with the hood behind my lathe near the headstock, does a fair job of pullining in the dust ,but i still have to use my shop vac to clean up every now and then.
Last summer I got 2 desk fans about 10" in diameter and mounted them upside down on the roof beams, they are pointed down at the dust hood. This makes a air flow toward the dust hood which now picks up much more of the dust.
I do still get some dust around the shop but not as much as I used to get, so I don't need to clean the shop so often.
the two fans have made a differance, especially if I remember to swich them on.
Nigel
 
I was at a class at Arrowmont and they have a high volume air filtration system and dust collection at the site of every lathe but I still had a sinus problem for several weeks after the class. I have allergies to the mold in wood and don't go in my shop without my respirator. If I was at your club and people were sanding I would probably have a problem no matter what kind of dust removal you have unless I wore the respirator. We don't sand at our club meetings (which is kind of limiting) for this reason. I would suggest people who are sensitive wear protection. Otherwise a hood close to the lathe for sanding that can be pushed back for turning is what I use in my shop along with a jet air filter and my respirator.
 
Hi Glenn I just use a 6" hose off my dust collector and mount it on the sneeze guard arm in the back of the lathe and it works very well. As far as commercial kitchens I install the hoods they do need fresh air intakes for makeup air and unless there is an open door or window most off the air movement stays in the hood the heat carries the smoke and grease up into the airstream where it is sucked away
 
Thanks for the comment Mark, living here in Australia the climate is very mild so there are no problems with allowing fresh air into the workshop. I am curious if anyone has ever tried something similar, rather than relying on the 'usual' central 'chip/dust' collector systems ???
 
GLENN ROBERTS said:
Thanks for the comment Mark, living here in Australia the climate is very mild so there are no problems with allowing fresh air into the workshop. I am curious if anyone has ever tried something similar, rather than relying on the 'usual' central 'chip/dust' collector systems ???
Click to expand...

You'll need a LOT of air and good vacuum if you try to lift the particulates. If you're merely going to shift them away from the turner into open space or cloth confinement, you can do with much less. If you let them begin their gravity-induced fall and capture them, you get the best collection.

Convection, as with a stove hood, is almost nonexistent.
 
If a fresh air source is no problen you could definitely move enough air to get rid of fine dust but the next problem would be sucking in outside dust. And oh yeah your neighbors cars would be a lovely shade of whatever your turning that day . The filters used on the systems are actually baffles that trap the grease by making it run over the surface. If your really aerious about trying it I would look for a big store or business getting a new AC unit (or junk yard) and ask them if you can gut the old air handler all it is is a big squirrelcage type fan and try it out.
 
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