Dust Collection and Health

[Sub Sonic]

I purchased a new power saw recently to use in DIY speaker builds, and became interested in dust collection. What I read opened my eyes, even though I thought I knew the basics.

 

The new saw has good on-tool extraction facilities, and I started looking around at an appropriate form of dust extraction as I intended to use the saw inside the shed. After some fairly extensive reading, I came to appreciate that not all dust collection is equal, and not all good dust extractor units are effective in all situations.

 

 

 

Some things I learned are:

- Almost all fine wood dusts can be hazardous, not just dust from MDF

- An indoor dust extractor or vacuum (including expensive ones) can simply collect the larger particles, and not filter out the dangerous finer dusts down to the required sub-micron level.

- Ultra fine dust that makes it through the dust collection system gets spread through the air inside the room or shed by the extractor, and being inside, builds in concentration. This can stay in the area for a very long time, and be stirred up by movement, drafts etc. These concentrations in our sheds at home can be far in excess than that in a professional woodworking shop, purely because of the small volume of the room.

 

 

 

Have a look at this site which is particularly enlightening:

 

http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/beginnnerscorner.cfm

 

 

 

The take away lessons for me are:

- Use good on tool extraction

- Vent/duct the dust extractor exhaust to the outside air where the dust quickly dissipates to acceptable levels instead of building up inside

- Preferably do all cutting, sanding etc outside with appropriate respiratory protection.

 

 

 

Hopefully this info helps someone else.

 

 

Regards,

 

SS

Edited July 5, 2017 by Sub Sonic

[koputai]

Yes, it's an interesting topic.

 

I try to do all of my cutting and sanding outside, but these dark, short winter days makes doing a bit after work quite impossible.

 

Inside the workshop I've set up a chip collector between the power tools and the vacuum, and the chip collector also catches a fair amount of dust as well. The vacuum is inside, but I'm considering either venting its outlet through the wall to outside, or even mounting the vacuum outside entirely, with just a pipe coming from the workshop. The problem with that is that I'd need to build an enclosure for it as it would be out in the weather.

 

I've also seen picture of the outlet of the vacuum being filtered through a tub of water, which helps remove the finest particles.

 

Cheers,

Jason.

 

 

[Addicted to music]

I put on a breathing mask designed specifically for paint particles every time I cut wood.  

With Cyclonic vacuum you have to ensure that the unit is a closed sealed unit otherwise what ever you are cleaning up will end up back into the atmosphere, so it's extremely important to ensure that the unit is totally sealed properly.  The other thing isntonregularly check the filter, it should be cleaned and dust free as the particles will be too heavy to get to that filter and will collect in it's designated container to be emptied out.  

 

Another is what I've been issued at work is a 3M toner vacuum cleaner that Is Electrstatic Discharge.  These have 0.3micron filters and will contained the smallest toner particles made.

 

http://www.oritech.com.au/497ABGX/3M-Electronics-Toner-Vacuum-497-Series/pd.php

[custom_made]

You should probably wear a respirator if you plan on doing alot of woodworking. Apparently an increase in air pollution particles of 10 micrograms per cubic meter, cuts life expectancy by 9-11 years.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X17301693
https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/6l6skn/a_new_study_shows_that_on_average_an_increase_in/

[Weka]

Also, be aware of the explosion and fire hazard with accumulated fine dust.

Dislodged fine dust and the presence of an ignition source can make for a very spectacular big bang!