Tired of flying wood chips? Try this.

[Jim Bremer]

Inexpensive sheer curtains positioned about four feet from the lathe will keep the rest of the shop clean. Position the tool rack, sharpener, and other equipment outside the curtain and they stay clean as well.

 

[MichaelMouse]

Or, slice the wood so the shavings fall, rather than fly. Confines them well, especially if you have a wall on the opposite side of the cut. That way they fling against the wall as they exit a piece you're hollowing.

Additional benefit in that shavings never climb into the neck of your shirt or your face.

 

[john lucas]

Jim Exactly what I plan to do except I'm going to try clear plastic for the first one. I'm a little concerned about heat in the summer but want to be able to see out. I like having the sunlight and to be able to look down the driveway.

 

[Andy Hoyt]

John - Try some of those cheapo clear plastic shower curtains

 

[Brian Hahn]

I started with old shower curtains. They worked, but as John noted they didn't let the light through. Switched to 4 mil clear poly (vapor barrier). That let the light through and you could sort-of see through them. Actually it wasn't that bad and I could definitely see well enough to see approaching "company", be it two-legged or four-legged.

My curtains ran pretty much floor to ceiling and they did significantly reduce air flow, although that was an advantage in the winter with the lathe and all the lights helping to keep the work area warm.

Another big advantage was they helped slow down un-authorized flying objects. Especially nice since there was a sliding glass door ten feet away and squarely in the "throw-zone".

 

[JimQ]

If you get shear nylon drapes, they will let in light, and let you see out. More importantly, they let in air! If you get them at KMart they are cheap.

JimQ

 

[Jeff Jilg]

I use a couple of used shower curtains for the area which gets light hits from the flying shavings. And for the main area there is an 8' long heavy plastic which goes to the ceiling. It used to hang 2" from the ceiling and that wasn't good enough. During heavy roughout sessions some of those shavin's managed to find their way over the top.

Today I did my quarterly "blow out the garage" task. I take a gas powered leaf blower and use it to blow out most of the dust. Make sure to use a dustmask if you do this. It's a good trick to cleanout the workspace and is pretty effective.

 

[sundance]

One of the guys in my club uses the bamboo blinds that you use for an outdoor porch. I couldn't find those at the time and instead got regular mini blinds. Down when you need them, up when you don't.

 

[John Trant]

I used roll-up patio curtains

I originally used shower curtains but didn't like the short distance they spanned. Like Sundance, I switched to the shade curtains that people use on patios and outdoor gazebos. They look like mats of reeds with "slats" runnig horizonally and they roll up into a spiral. The plastic ones I got from Home Depot/Lowes were 6' high and 8' long . I bought two of them for $10 each (on sale) and installed them at 90 degrees to each other and with a 3' gap at their junction. My lathes are in the corner of my shop so the other edges of the curtains are positioned close to the wall thereby allowing the cords to be hung out of the way on the wall. Much of the time they are rolled up out of the way but when I want to turn, I lower the curtains in order to provide a semi-enclosed 10' x 10' "turning room". My air filtration unit is within the "room"; there is a 1' gap from the floor to the bottom of the curtain (and between joists) to allow for some circulation; and the gap between the curtains provide easy access in and out without having to roll up the curtains. This set-up keeps the curls and the dust contained thereby facilitating clean-up.

John

 

[underdog]

Dang... after reading all this, I still like the leaf blower idea the most.

 

[Andy Hoyt]

Dang... after reading all this, I still like the leaf blower idea the most.

I just tried that the other day. It's very effective for moving the stuff out the garage door so the wind can catch it and take it over to my neighbors newly washed car.

 

[Norm Smith]

I picked up some clear plastic at wallmart, pot some holes in it and used shower curtan hanging rings to hang it from conduit pipe which I hung from the ceiling around my lathe. It is tough, transparent, cheap and works.
Norm

 

[underdog]

I just tried that the other day. It's very effective for moving the stuff out the garage door so the wind can catch it and take it over to my neighbors newly washed car.

Hmmmmm.... You're on to me now. 😀



Seriously, I've wondered how a fan blowing toward a general area dust collection opening would work.

 

[Andy Hoyt]

Seriously, I've wondered how a fan blowing toward a general area dust collection opening would work.

I've been discussing that very point on another forum. Consensus is to mount one of those ceiling hung air cleaners downwind of a fan with the dust producing area in between. I'm gonna try it, but have to buy the air cleaner first.

 

[JimQ]

Don't use an air filter, you will go through lots of filters. I think he was talking about a dust collection system where you have dump bags that are reusable.

JimQ

 

[Andy Hoyt]

Jim We might be talking at cross purposes and that's likely my fault for unintentionally redirecting this thread. My reference to the air cleaner arrangement had nothing to do with turning. On the other forum the subject of hand held power tools with attached shopvac cords versus the air cleaners was underway. And I guess I merged those thoughts into this one. Sorry.

Knowing this and that it specifically has nothing to do with lathes or especially sanding at the lathe are you still of the opinion that I'd be eating filters like mad? I'm specifically talking about general woodworking with saws and sanders producing a ton of dust and how to deal with it.

Thanks.

 

[JimQ]

I think primary dust control needs to be something like a dust collection system. If you have the bulk of it under control, then you can filter the remaining fine dust out of the air with am overhead filtration system. They work much better if the inlet is seperated from the outlet by a fair distance. Most of the selfcontained ceiling hung unit aren't very effective because they mostly recirculate the same air.

Underdog was responding to using a leaf blower. It's not effective in a closed space like a basement, but a dust collection system can be helped by a cooling fan blowing gently towards a suction point.

JimQ

 

[MichaelMouse]

Knowing this and that it specifically has nothing to do with lathes or especially sanding at the lathe are you still of the opinion that I'd be eating filters like mad? I'm specifically talking about general woodworking with saws and sanders producing a ton of dust and how to deal with it.
Thanks.

That is the purpose of an air cleaner, isn't it? To put the dust on a filter rather than a shelf?

Everything except spouse approval favors the collect at point of origin and defend the human filter approach. Use your dust collector when sanding, and put a mask over your nose and mouth. Truth is, when I look at how little gets on that mask when I have the Delta running behind me, or on those occasions where I forget and leave the mask in the bag and find I can't color a Kleenex with walnut dust, I wonder how anything can make it to the shelves. Answer is that most human of failings, ON/OFF switch neglect. Nothing works well if it's inconveniently located or takes special effort to service or operate, because the switch is left OFF.

That's how a guy with convenient collection ports on all his tools manages to even run the odd board through the planer for just two passes without collecting the mess. A switch which drops three relays for all methods of collection plugged into the box is my dream. Some day.