Box Fan sawdust catcher

[nrscroller]

Hi

I decided to try the big box fan with a good filter by my saw. I don't want to spend money I don't need to at this time.

Thanks

Bill

[hawkeye10]

Bill this is how I do it. Both fans are about $20 each at Wally World.

 

[oldhudson]

I use 3 box fans with filters in the shop. Here's a picture. There's 20 incher with two filter on the window sill and 12 incher on the bench close to the saw.

[WayneMahler]

aI've used a 20 " fan with great results Every shop is different so try and see what works best for you .

[SCROLLSAW703]

geez old hudson, your shop is nice & shiny!;) ya got any spare time, mine kinda needs shinin' up. how do ya get along with a fan that close to your saw? can you tell a difference in the dust around the blade area & blower? 

i have some sinus issues with walnut, & been tryin to figure out something to help with that when I'm workin' with it. I wear a mask with some woods, but don't cherish the thought of wearin' one all the time. I also realize breathin' the dust ain't good for my lungs. And i know how this may sound, but bein' an old truckdriver, I've breathed my share of grain dust over the years & it ain't good for nothin' but to create serious lung issues. Some of it is pretty nasty & heavy. Can even cause dust pnuemonia, & that is absolutely no fun!!!

one more question, do you have some sort of a filter on your fan close to the saw? if so, what is it, Sir? thanks for your time.

Edited September 21, 2017 by SCROLLSAW703

[oldhudson]

7 hours ago, SCROLLSAW703 said:

geez old hudson, your shop is nice & shiny!;) ya got any spare time, mine kinda needs shinin' up. how do ya get along with a fan that close to your saw? can you tell a difference in the dust around the blade area & blower? 

i have some sinus issues with walnut, & been tryin to figure out something to help with that when I'm workin' with it. I wear a mask with some woods, but don't cherish the thought of wearin' one all the time. I also realize breathin' the dust ain't good for my lungs. And i know how this may sound, but bein' an old truckdriver, I've breathed my share of grain dust over the years & it ain't good for nothin' but to create serious lung issues. Some of it is pretty nasty & heavy. Can even cause dust pnuemonia, & that is absolutely no fun!!!

one more question, do you have some sort of a filter on your fan close to the saw? if so, what is it, Sir? thanks for your time.

I'm not sure that my shop is 'shiny' but I have a LOT of light. The space is 12 x 14, lit by 4 - 48" LED units,  3 - 48" T-8's plus 3 task lights. So it's not so shiny but it is bright!

I just push the saw close to the bench so 1) the fan is as close as can be and 2) the light  will reach.

The majority of scroll saw dust is under the table, as you'd expect. (They cut on the down-stroke and the gullets pull the dust through the stock and it falls off under the saw.) As you can see I have an Excalibur. And I know many Excalibur owners have chosen to remove the plastic at the throat because it gets in the way. I've learned to live with that in order to get better dust collection.  In the picture, with this  post, viewed from the back of the saw, you can see how the dust collector snakes around the saw.

I've used a few different filters over the years and IMHO the 3M filtrate filters work best. But for a small fan they'll have to be cut. And once cut, without the cardboard frame, they're hard to manage. I've thought about making a wooden frame, like I have on the box fan on the window sill, but haven't gotten around to it.

The filter on the small fan I have now doesn't seem to be working very well, I don't remember the brand. I picked it up because the size was better for the 12" fan. 

 

[Rolf]

Hawkey I wonder about the fan blowing across the saw. It would seem to me that you are distributing the saw dust all over the shop that way, unless the other larger fan really has some massive flow. Has anyone considered connecting a 4" duct to one of these fans? It would be a quiet extractor assuming the fan wouldn't overhead from the restriction of flow. 

A good way to check that out is to have a spot light in the area with the rest of the lights off and you will see very quickly what is suspended in the air. We do our annual club show in a massive barn. When the sun comes through the window you get a really eye opening idea of how much fine dust we really do generate with our saws.

Oldhudson is the duct on the side of the saw connected to a central dust collector?

I was always happy with just a half mask (not paper) until I decided to do the extraction with the HEPA Festool vacuum. I can't stand the smell when I cut baltic birch ply, it really bothers me. I suspect it is the adhesive. I will find out when I go into ornament mode if this system works. 

 

Edited September 21, 2017 by Rolf

[SCROLLSAW703]

well, thank you for the info old hudson. And as you'd expect, yes, the better part of the dust is under the saw deck bcause of the down stroke cutting, but that really wasn't what I was tryin' to get at, but rolf answered the question I was tryin' to get across. With a fan that close to the saw, it'd be like bustin' a hole in sack of chicken feathers, & holdin' it in the wind. You're going to have chicken feathers from hell to breakfast. Which is pretty much what I picture happening w/a fan that close to the saw. You'll have dust blown all over the shop. 
Now me bein' just a simple minded country boy, & as fate would have it, limited experience at the saw, it would appear to me that coming up with something like rolf described by attempting to attach a duct of some sort to the back of the fan & using the suction of the fan as the dust removal from the saw. I foresee something like that working far better than a fan blowing across the saw. And your shop is the same sq. footage as mine. I guess I should've worded my first post differently. Thanks Rolf. Ya answered my question. Old Hudson, thanks for your time & explanation. Now I've got an idea to work with. Enjoy your evening.

[Sycamore67]

I am glad to see people trying to control dust.  I have concerns with blowing dust with fans as some of the fine dust hangs in the air.  As to using some type of hose coming off of a fan....not likely to be effective as the static pressure of the fans is very low.  

I believe that dust collection is best done at the source.  Rofl and I have presented solutions to suck dust from above and below the table on our scroll saws.  However, we are using expensive vacuums.  One could use a Ridgid shop vac with HEPA filter and the cost is much less.

[Rolf]

The shop vacs are great but I would have to put mine in the next county or my wife would disown me.  My workshop is right under our great room so noise is a real concern.

That is the reason I have never really addressed the saw dust issue before.  As I sit here writing this I am thinking that I may still put a noise suppression box over the Festool vac with a small fan in it for cooling. 

[Scrappile]

On my set up, which is a copy of Rolf's, the loudest thing in not the dust extractor, it is the noise of the sucking air at the saw.  Not sure what the remedy is for the.  There is an adjustment on my hose where you open a hole, to reduce the vacuum.  I tried opening that thinking it may reduce the noise a little but the sound made at that opening was louder, it whistled!  I will live with the sucking noise, it is a minor thing to put up with to not have dust everywhere.

On the box fans, has anyone tried one of these: http://seyco.com/air-cleaners/

I thought they were expensive, but considering the cost of the little furnace filters, this my be cost effective.  I thinking of getting one and using my box fan again in the shop just to catch some of the other dust I stir up working around in there.

[OCtoolguy]

3 hours ago, Scrappile said:

On my set up, which is a copy of Rolf's, the loudest thing in not the dust extractor, it is the noise of the sucking air at the saw.  Not sure what the remedy is for the.  There is an adjustment on my hose where you open a hole, to reduce the vacuum.  I tried opening that thinking it may reduce the noise a little but the sound made at that opening was louder, it whistled!  I will live with the sucking noise, it is a minor thing to put up with to not have dust everywhere.

On the box fans, has anyone tried one of these: http://seyco.com/air-cleaners/

I thought they were expensive, but considering the cost of the little furnace filters, this my be cost effective.  I thinking of getting one and using my box fan again in the shop just to catch some of the other dust I stir up working around in there.

Scrappile, as a suggestion, you might try using a larger opening right at the saw blade and under the table. The whistling is caused by that small opening I'll bet. Try going to a larger pipe/tube and see if that changes it.

 

Ray

 

[amazingkevin]

On 9/20/2017 at 1:21 PM, oldhudson said:

I use 3 box fans with filters in the shop. Here's a picture. There's 20 incher with two filter on the window sill and 12 incher on the bench close to the saw.

the more fan and filters the better or a real dust collector at the blade top and bottom.