Metal Dust Collection

[Aroberson77]

I do a lot of metal work, cutting and grinding and now plasma cutting, handheld and eventually CNC. What are some recommendations for metal dust collection. I do not want to spend $1000+ on a Torit or Grizzly system. Would the cheaper 1 hp or 2hp dust collectors meant for wood working work? My garage is 19x19 so not very big.

 

[mike93lx]

How much do you care about performance?

A wood working unit is made for light weight wood dust and chips. Will it **** up some of your dust? Sure.

I'd make sure to be wearing the right respirator first though

 

[Augus7us]

Torit is the only answer and they can be picked up cheaper at auctions.

Outside that you're looking at like a dust deputy and 5 gallon bucket, which isn't great. No, a wood dust collector will not work, you will set it on fire.

 

[Aroberson77]

Torit is the only answer and they can be picked up cheaper at auctions.

Outside that you're looking at like a dust deputy and 5 gallon bucket, which isn't great. No, a wood dust collector will not work, you will set it on fire.

Thank you for the info, I figured a wood dust collector would not work. I guess it will be a respirator until I can pick up a Torit

 

[jack stand]

Pick up a 12" wand magnet until you pick up a Torit.

 

[Augus7us]

Of everything you listed the worst is grinding dust. If its possible a bucket of water underneath your grinder can catch a lot of metal dust, but some grinders direct it at a port or somewhere you can't get a bucket. If that is the case a shop vac and dust deputy on a bucket might work and is fairly cheap.

 

[dogdog]

Maybe a down draft table ? I think the YouTube channel “the fabricator series” or something guy from Vegas build one, pretty detail plan and he used two fan motor and few filters. That is if you can find sheet metal cheaper that buying one.

As far as duct collector, if you have roller pretty sure you can copy one of the dust deputy with sheet metal for a 50 gallon drum and used the blower, add a filter ( those aluminum ones for kitchen)

This guy, I think he did a few upgrades to it since this video.

 

[Aroberson77]

I like the downdraft table idea with a box fan. my grinding is not done on a bench grinder, but with flapwheels

 

[NORTON'S SHOP]

I'm interested in what you come up with. Many years ago when I worked in a tool room, all of the grinders that didn't use water soluble coolant were hooked up to a dust collection system. We were pretty diligent on keeping the dust collection unit clean and shaking it down every day. Every so often though, an errant hot spark would get back to the unit and start a fire.

 

[Aroberson77]

I'm interested in what you come up with. Many years ago when I worked in a tool room, all of the grinders that didn't use water soluble coolant were hooked up to a dust collection system. We were pretty diligent on keeping the dust collection unit clean and shaking it down every day. Every so often though, an errant hot spark would get back to the unit and start a fire.

Where I work at does stamping and molding, our tool room has a Torit unit for all the grinders and it works great.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I've noticed when I do metal work during the winter, the filter on the wood burner turns "dark gray". I've assumed this is metal dust in the air. Never took a magnet to it to see what would get pulled off.

I just change the filter until it needs it again. Could you build something with a squirrel cage fan with a cheap white pleated filter on it ? Filter before the fan so it picks and catches the dust.

 

[Aroberson77]

I've noticed when I do metal work during the winter, the filter on the wood burner turns "dark gray". I've assumed this is metal dust in the air. Never took a magnet to it to see what would get pulled off.

I just change the filter until it needs it again. Could you build something with a squirrel cage fan with a cheap white pleated filter on it ? Filter before the fan so it picks and catches the dust.

Something like this? Maybe I get some box fans and hang them from the ceiling

WEN 3-Speed Remote-Controlled Air Filtration System (300/350/400 CFM) 3410 - The Home Depot

Air-borne dust particulates can dirty up a woodworker's workshop and harm a healthy respiratory system. The WEN 3-Speed Remote-Controlled Air Filtration System eradicates these contaminants by catching

www.homedepot.com

 

[dogdog]

I like the downdraft table idea with a box fan. my grinding is not done on a bench grinder, but with flapwheels

Down draft table is just a name, you can outfitted it for plasma or flap wheel what ever you wanted, the guy used it for hand held grinder cutting and sanding etc even upgrade with rubber mats for holding items in place when doing grinding or sanding.
They do sell down draft tables commercially, you can check out how they are builder.

As far as the wen filters they are for air borne dusts and fumes. The Torit are the same as the dust deputy except it is build with metal and filters are probably metal. Building that shouldn’t be hard if you work with metal a lot and have a source to get those materials cheap.


I think the welding tips and trick guy also have a down draft table build.

 

[NORTON'S SHOP]

Where I work at does stamping and molding, our tool room has a Torit unit for all the grinders and it works great.

We had a Torit also.

 

[marak]

Something like this? Maybe I get some box fans and hang them from the ceiling

I purchased this Wen unit to supplement a woodshop collection system. I was hesitant at purchasing a Wen product, but at $289 delivered to Alaska and having 3 million other projects underway, I ducked my head and made the purchase. I added a sacrificial pleated filter to help preserve the goofy size pleated filter that came with the unit. The dang thing simply worked and I have zero complains. I was happy enough that I bought a second unit for my metal fabrication shop. It moves enough air to keep finer particles out of the air. Still need a proper fume extractor for welding/plasma cutting, but for grinding it works well for my purpose and size of shop and now I have 3 million - 2 projects on my list of things to do.

The remote and 3-speed are features that I like very well. It is little more than a metal box that encloses a squirrel cage and motor. Easy to build, but I ain't getting any younger and I'd rather build a backhoe than a filter system.

I did the box fan method for a few years. The Wen is far better with way more air flow resulting in cleaner air sooner.

 

[Ralphxj]

One of the best things I did to help with dust from thr grinders (fiber disc's and flap wheels) was to add 24in tall sides and back to my work table. I do a lot of grinding as I do plasma cut artwork to clean up the work. The sides knock down the dust and keeps it all on the table. The other BIG help is having a cnc plasma table with a water table. If you do a lot of cutting, build yourself a cutting table with water to catch all the extra smoke and dust.

 

[bluedog225]

For less than $200 you can get a floor fan that will exhaust 1,600 CFM.

Not saying this is the full solution but getting the tiny stuff out of the air continuously and at that rate gives me peace of mind. Otherwise, you are balancing the airflow and filtration efficiency trade-off, and leaving the stuff that gets down deep in your lungs floating around the shop.

 

[racecougar]

I do a lot of metal work in my shop, and I finally reached the point where I couldn't tolerate the dust/haze/air quality issues any longer. I built this unit a few weeks ago entirely out of scraps: bed frame rails, galvanized sheet metal from an old furnace installation, a direct drive furnace blower fan with a 10" x 8" wheel, and some odds and ends. I reuse the used 20"x20"x3.5" Merv 15 filters from my home HVAC unit and pre-filter with cheap 20"x20"x1" Merv 9 filters.

It works exceptionally well in my 30'x60'x12' metal working shop. I've been completely impressed with its ability to prevent the usual grinding / welding haze. It moves a heck of a lot more air than the entry level wood working filtration units (smaller WEN's and JET's), and it cost me nothing but a little time to make.

 

[ycgoat]

I do a lot of metal work in my shop, and I finally reached the point where I couldn't tolerate the dust/haze/air quality issues any longer. I built this unit a few weeks ago entirely out of scraps: bed frame rails, galvanized sheet metal from an old furnace installation, a direct drive furnace blower fan with a 10" x 8" wheel, and some odds and ends. I reuse the used 20"x20"x3.5" Merv 15 filters from my home HVAC unit and pre-filter with cheap 20"x20"x1" Merv 9 filters.

It works exceptionally well in my 30'x60'x12' metal working shop. I've been completely impressed with its ability to prevent the usual grinding / welding haze. It moves a heck of a lot more air than the entry level wood working filtration units (smaller WEN's and JET's), and it cost me nothing but a little time to make.

Is it exhausting through the wall or back into the room?

 

[racecougar]

Is it exhausting through the wall or back into the room?

The exhaust points along the long wall toward the Bear Wheel Aligner. I have an exhaust fan that I use when necessary, but losing conditioned air isn’t my favorite thing to do.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

I may have a significant collection

 

[ycgoat]

The exhaust points along the long wall toward the Bear Wheel Aligner. I have an exhaust fan that I use when necessary, but losing conditioned air isn’t my favorite thing to do.

Looks good I may try to duplicate it

 

[racecougar]

Looks good I may try to duplicate it

Thanks. As far as mounting goes, pretty much everything I read on the topic suggested to place it high, along your long wall, with the intent of creating a "racetrack" of air around the shop:

As important as the air cleaner size is how and where you mount it.

Try to mount at about 8-10 feet above the floor (no lower than 6' or 2/3 of the floor to ceiling distance if less than 8' ceiling)

Mount along the longest wall so the intake is approximately 1/3 the distance from the shorter wall. Mount no further than 4-6 inches from the wall.

The exhaust is the largest determiner of the circulation pattern. You are trying to encourage circulation parallel to the floor/ceiling.

 

[ycgoat]

Thanks. As far as mounting goes, pretty much everything I read on the topic suggested to place it high, along your long wall, with the intent of creating a "racetrack" of air around the shop:

Thanks for the tip; nice collection of cars and Trucks

 

[nadogail]

From the demonstration during a Youtube I built a Hanging Air Filter / Air Cleaner from a box fan and 5, 20X20 Furnace Filters.

 

[Kaizen]

My plan is similiar to the above where it exhausts to the outside but i want to run old heating system rabbit fans for noise reduction. This will take care of the smoke mostly.
Also as listed above i want to connect that to a downdraft table but use maglocks on the pan of the table to magnetically catch any debris. I can have a bucket at the bottom of it and when turning off the maglocks it should release into the bucket. Not sure how long it will last till the whole table is magnetized by i love playing around with these things.

 

[racecougar]

My plan is similiar to the above where it exhausts to the outside but i want to run old heating system rabbit fans for noise reduction. This will take care of the smoke mostly.
Also as listed above i want to connect that to a downdraft table but use maglocks on the pan of the table to magnetically catch any debris. I can have a bucket at the bottom of it and when turning off the maglocks it should release into the bucket. Not sure how long it will last till the whole table is magnetized by i love playing around with these things.

If you're going to exhaust air to the outdoors, why filter it? Keep in mind that you'll need makeup air, losing conditioned air in the process.


When you say "heating system rabbit fan", are you referring to a "squirrel cage fan" / furnace blower fan? That's what I used in my setup above.

 

[Kaizen]

If you're going to exhaust air to the outdoors, why filter it? Keep in mind that you'll need makeup air, losing conditioned air in the process.


When you say "heating system rabbit fan", are you referring to a "squirrel cage fan" / furnace blower fan? That's what I used in my setup above.

Exactly and no filters. Yes all air will be exchanged but i'm fine with that. As i age i really need clean air. Even a little smoke and i'm hacking for a day.

 

[ycgoat]

My plan is similiar to the above where it exhausts to the outside but i want to run old heating system rabbit fans for noise reduction. This will take care of the smoke mostly.
Also as listed above i want to connect that to a downdraft table but use maglocks on the pan of the table to magnetically catch any debris. I can have a bucket at the bottom of it and when turning off the maglocks it should release into the bucket. Not sure how long it will last till the whole table is magnetized by i love playing around with these things.

Mag locks is a good idea and I already have a 24vdc power supply and access to old maglocks