OCtoolguy Posted February 4, 2015 Report Share Posted February 4, 2015 I have seen that many of you are using lighted magnifiers along side of your saws. I'd appreciate some advice on what ones you all are using. They pretty much run the gamut of pricing and I'm not a wealthy person so I'd love to find something that I can afford. Also, I was practicing the other day and the next day I was having a terrible time with my nose being stuffed up and almost painful. I was cutting some cheap luan plywood that I had found in a dumpster. So, my question is what type of dust masks are you all using? I can get the cheapie throwaways from Home Depot or step up and get something with removable cartridges. Any advice on this? Thanks, Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amazingkevin Posted February 4, 2015 Report Share Posted February 4, 2015 20" box fans around your saw and i think you'd be ok not wearing a mask ,but some may disagree .On the dust mask get one with a valve in it for easy exhales.I've found my magnifiers ,try thrift stores,I'm able to just buy over the counter glasses from 100 power to 450 power which is what i like to scroll with. I have seen that many of you are using lighted magnifiers along side of your saws. I'd appreciate some advice on what ones you all are using. They pretty much run the gamut of pricing and I'm not a wealthy person so I'd love to find something that I can afford. Also, I was practicing the other day and the next day I was having a terrible time with my nose being stuffed up and almost painful. I was cutting some cheap luan plywood that I had found in a dumpster. So, my question is what type of dust masks are you all using? I can get the cheapie throwaways from Home Depot or step up and get something with removable cartridges. Any advice on this? Thanks, Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ike Posted February 4, 2015 Report Share Posted February 4, 2015 I have a mask thatt cost me $30 That might sound pricy to some, it was more than I wanted to spend but I found that they are worth the extra cash . as fopr the magnifieing glass I dont need one yet but it is geting close, I will watch garage sales and thrift shops and buy one when and if I ever see one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappile Posted February 4, 2015 Report Share Posted February 4, 2015 I use a Resp-O-Rator instead of a mask. I have a beard so a mask is not real good for me. I also just purchased a $16, 20" box fan, hooked a filter on it and I'm loving it. Doesn't get all the dust but it is a big help. My light/magnifier from Harbor Freight after looking at many. It was Less than $40 on sale. I am very happy with it. Scrolling Steve 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captlucky Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 I also use a box fan with a 6 micron filter. it works for me and I have copd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Multifasited Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Ray !, The wood coming from the source you mentioned ,may have had some thing either soaked in it or on it beside the wood it self 'been there done that,may be the reason you were effected so quickly.just a guess on my part, mine is 99.45% DIY dust free, all sealed vac. most use fans w/furnace filters on the intake side others use a mix ,some just use fans ,shop condition and yours dictate what is exceptable to you .Masks are recommended ,Good one are expensive ,hot ,bulky ,and restrictive but are best for toxic wood and the allergic .How much you saw and ,where is a big part of the answer .the Harsh truth is it's the micro-fines and the toxics that do the damage ,good ventalation helps so much winter in cold clims a major issue . Mag lights are great on details ,biggest issue for me has always been positioning so it was easy to get out of the way in between usages and still handy to use ,position, position ,finally ,I have it right for ME! Every thing is personally fitted to you , enough space ,enough lite ,enough comfort ,so you can operate your way ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCtoolguy Posted February 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Several of you mentioned using a box fan. I'm dense. Can you explain how you use them? I think I like the idea of clip on magnifiers for my glasses and a good LED light of some kind. I am also going to get a mask that was recommended over on another scroll saw forum. But, I am interested in knowing how you make use of a box fan. I would think that would just blow the dust around. Like I said, I'm dense. Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 (edited) Ray There have been a lot of prior threads on dust collection and a lot of different approaches. You can go to the top of the page and type in "dust collection" and select "forum" from the drop down menu and it will bring up a lot of different posts and threads. The following will take you to two of the threads which had the most comments. Do take dust collection seriously. http://www.scrollsawvillage.com/topic/8336-dust-protection/?hl=+dust%20+collection http://www.scrollsawvillage.com/topic/7141-dust-collection/?hl=%2Bdust+%2Bcollection Maybe after reading all of the posts you will be able to come up with what works best for you. Dust collection seems to be a regularly recurring item on which a lot has been posted. If Travis sees this I wonder if he thinks it would be worthy of being a separate topic in the forum and moving some of the existing threads on dust collection to a new topic on the forum so they do not get so buried in the "General" topic. Edited February 5, 2015 by Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCtoolguy Posted February 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Thanks Doug. I used to have a nice shop but after selling everything and going out on the road for 3 years we came back in and bought a mobile home. I now have a very small shop that is 9 x 13 and I have to share it with my wife and store all of her Christmas decorations up on shelves. I don't have a lot of room for anything much in the way of dust collection so I am interested in whatever I can do on a very small basis. When the box fan was suggested for use with a scroll saw, I got curious as to how folks are using it. In my mind's eye, I see a box fan in a window and pulling the dust out. I'm just not sure of what folks are doing in conjunction with their scroll sawing. I'll do a search as you suggested. Thanks, Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 Most people just tape a furnace air filter to one side of the box fan. The air filter will "scrub" the air and remove any dust particles. Some people get more elaborate, but the principle is the same. Quick, cheap, and easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsN Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 I use the fan set up that travis explained. I like it a lot. It reduces the dust and is quiet enough that I can still hear the radio. (I don't run my vacuum system because it is loud and I like to jam to the music when I cut) I don't wear a dust mask when I cut, because I like to sing along to the radio. I have a couple variations that I do wear when I do sanding. I have the led worklight/magnifier that SEYCO sells. It was expensive but mounts right to the saw and I really like it. I wasn't sure how well I would like having a magnifier and I found out I love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappile Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 Hummmm, every time I start singing while scrolling my wife brings me my dust mask real quickly....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiefJohn Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 Scroller, we too are coming off the road after several years and replacing all items we gave to the kids when we started our adventure -- anyway, I connected my saw to our whole house vacuum system with two hoses that pull from the dust collection tray and the other on the arm of the saw and installed to catch the dust. Working fine so far and I am aware of the negatives related to my setup, as discussed in the other discussion on dust collection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikewix Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 My set up is identical to Scrappile's . He turned me on to the resp-o-rator and it works great. I also have the shopvac air filter so the box fan doesn't have a filter, just blows the air across the saw and towards the shopvac unit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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