Toolbox in Woodshop

[tealetm]

I'm sure some of you are in this position so I'm curious what works best for you. I'm going to be moving my mechanics roll away tool box (larger top and bottom cabinets with flip up top lid) into my woodworking shop as I'm clearing out the garage so we can actually park a car in there). I'm worried about the dust that misses my dust extraction setup getting into the tool box and sticking to my tools.

Are generic tool box covers the best solution? Anything else to think about when getting something like this? Seems like a pain to take on and off each time you need a tool.

 

[nadogail]

I have not found the dust caused by my woodworking to be a problem. Sure there is sometimes a lot, but it gets blown away with compressed air.
I do have a 20” box fan pulling air through some furnace filters, all held together with Duct Tape, to try to help with dust control.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

I, too, have a combination shop. As long as I keep the tool box drawers closed, I don't have very much accumulation of dust. Every few years, I remove my tools and wipe them down and vacuum out the drawers - never had a problem with the dust sticking to tools.

 

[tarmy]

Get one of these..

 

[Stuart in MN]

A cheap plastic drop cloth would work, but a fitted cover would be nicer and look better.
You could maybe get some of that self stick weatherstrip, cut it into thin strips and fit it to the drawers, to seal them when closed.

 

[Jgaz]

I have these two boxes in my wood (and everything else) shop. If I keep the drawers closed dust isn't a problem.
At least not a problem that bothers me.


Wipe off the drawer fronts and pulls once in awhile and call it good

 

[CV428]

Cheap magnetic shower curtains... Easy access to the tool box drawers, but it keeps dust off them. I did that when I was doing a lot of grinding and sanding bodywork in my garage- plastic sheeting on the walls, leading to a cheap box fan exhaust, and shower curtains over the tool boxes. Worked great, might have cost a whopping $20 total.

If you want to get really fancy, I suppose you could do what we do in the medical industry - positive pressure. Pop a big 'ol hole in the side of the toolbox and feed a squirrel cage blower to it, maybe power it with a VFD from a junkyard so you can adjust the speed (or bleed it with a Y). Just make sure the blower has a good intake filter and the air is dry. If you already have a dust collector, you could probably use the air exhaust, filter that, and feed it into the toolboxes with simple flexible ductwork. No dust can get in if there's a steady flow of air coming from all the drawers.

 

[GrayFlattop]

I’ve had a few of my better tool boxes in the woodshop half of the garage for over 20 years. Initially I did this to keep the tasty stuff from prying eyes as well as to allow more room for cars in the front half. Well, now there are several more in the front half as well as in the woodshop. What can I tell you, I have a problem.

But back to your original question. If you are creating a lot of airborne dust while woodworking, you’re breathing that stuff as well. Routing / sawing MDF is the worst.

Dust collection options abound nowadays so the days of blowing your nose and coughing up a few board feet of sawdust should be behind you. Certainly dust collection is not perfect, but it’s better than it has ever been. If you still have a lot of dust, the ceiling mounted filter box that tarmy showed will help as will positive ventilation. Mechanics tools can certainly live with a little residual dust, but a vacuum once a year or so can take care of that.

You could use a blowgun to dust out the drawers, but that just displaces the dust elsewhere.

 

[72Anthony]

I have a combo shop as well and haven't had a problem getting dust inside the drawers. Some tips, as others have mentioned:

Good dust collection/extraction at the tool.
Use a secondary filter to capture airborne dust.
Avoid working with MDF indoors.
Also, position your work so you are not blowing dust at your tool boxes, especially when routing.

 

[tealetm]

Thanks for the input guys. I have dust collection that I use regularly (main dust collector as well as festool extractors at handheld tools) which helps greatly but there is always some dust no matter what.

It sounds like I'm overthinking it and it may not be a big problem.

Thanks!

 

[Fixr]

Thanks for the input guys. I have dust collection that I use regularly (main dust collector as well as festool extractors at handheld tools) which helps greatly but there is always some dust no matter what.

It sounds like I'm overthinking it and it may not be a big problem.

Thanks!

You could probably take a blowgun or handheld cordless blower to the drawers a couple of times a year if needed.