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I got to try out my new tool today and I like it! Locally made and delivered right to my shop. Features 1900 CFM, Quiet enough to run as an ambient room cleaner, Easy access to filters for maintainance, Locking heavy casters. I did a little sanding with it today and also ran it while using the table saw and it kept the air very clear. Have a look.

Very cool Joe! I can't wait to see it in action soon.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Cool! I made myself a downdraft table just today, in fact, and used it just as you are, tonight <bg>

Connected mine to the dust collector, but I'm on the lookout for a large furnace blower to make a unit like yours, as it would be mucho quieter.....

I also made myself a whole-shop air cleaning system a couple weeks ago. See it in the tool section of the MIMF. i checked the filters tonight, and was very surprised at what was in there! I would have been breathing that stuff otherwise...

Mario...I checked out your "Whole Shop Air Cleaner" thread. Amazing...and truly so easy to build. Thanks for sharing.

If nothing else, the positive effect it has had on your health has altered your mood and turned you into a pussycat! We thank you!

Seriously...you and others who have recently posted about dust control have really gotten me thinking a lot more about this issue.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Excellent Joe - it looks like a great machine and I also like the AC outlets on the front - great thinking.

Mario/JJ wanna post a link to that thread on the MIMF please?

Here it is...http://www.mimf.com/cgi-bin/WebX?14@238.0Tohax2YyIg.2@.2cb666f4/0

The thread actually spans a few weeks and has a lot of feedback from some experienced folks. It's a keeper!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

That's slick Mario. Thanks for the link JJ. I have a ceiling mounted Jet and it's amazing how quickly the filters become clogged with dust. Your system looks a lot better. Do you vent outside? If so does it make humidity control difficult?
Joe that looks like a pro rig. I built a sanding table that looks a lot like that but connects to the dust collector and it's less than ideal. I'll have to look for a blower fan and do some mods.
I bet quite a few of us in the northern tundra have clogged sinuses and headaches this time of year from exotic dust particles. I know I sure do.
Terry

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Yeah, that is a good thread. Makes me feel better about my dust collection obsession. Maybe my "overkill" isn't really overkill.

Thanks Grumpy.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Joe, thanks for posting the photos. I've got a blower from my brother inlaws old furnace and have been thinking of doing something like this for some time now.

It appears that the unit vents through the bottom, is that correct? Is the black material around the bottom a skirt of some kind to diffuse the out going air flow?

Paul

There is really some useful information in this thread. We need a "Dust Collection and Control Fixtures" Section where all this can be saved. Sort of like the Tutorial Section. Or, maybe a "Shop Safety and Health Fixtures" Forum. And, I think Tutorials and things like this one, should be started in the Main Discussion Forum, and relocated to the Tutorial and/or Shop Safety and Health Fixtures Fora after discussion has died. They will, without doubt, get more discussion in this forum, and that only makes them better and more useful. You see more ideas, and more open thinking when there is more input from the whole group, and some occasional disagreement, which often ends in a better method of accomplishing the end goal.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Terence, of course it doesn't exhaust outside. I'd have simply placed a fan in a window if that was what I wanted <bg> Go back and look at the photos; I exhaust at the ceiling.

For your sinus issues, everyone here should also be using a NeilMed sinus rinse at least once a day. It's the only way to truly clean yourself of the boogers we accumulate daily.... It's available at any drugstore, Walgreens for sure. I forgot to pack mine a couple years ago, and found myself having a bad, BAD allergy attack at Kaufman Kamp in Maryville, TN. after they mowed the grass on campus. My wife's cousin is an ear nose and throat surgeon and was there, also, and when she heard about my condition, suggested we get a nasal lavage kit. D'uh! never occurred to us to use it for allergies... Wife went to Walgreens and got me the same kit I used at home; I was up and jamming within the hour!

http://www.unimedprod.com/products.shtml

1/2 spoon of baking soda and 1 spoon of organic salt in a pint of water do the trick for a nose wash, once a day, and twice is even better. Great for pollen alergies too.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

Dude, I used to make my own as you suggest.

Get the NeilMed stuff....

Thank me later.

Paul, You are right. The exhausted air is diffused at the front but moves freely out the back and sides. I may look into getting more diffusing for the lower sides. The design is quite simple and would be easy to build yourself. I was amazed to see how much dust collected in the pre filter from using the table saw. I have a collector bag mounted to the bottom of my table saw so mostly fine stuff gets airborne and the whole time I was sawing the air was clear. I just got tired of all the fine dust from sanding the polyester between coats on guitars. It's finer than drywall dust and it was even getting in my storage cabinets!
The sinus rinse that Mario is referring to is great. I have had a few sinus surgeries and use the waterpick method. Amazing how good you feel after a rinse!

What size are the filters? Part number and brand, please

Nice Joe! Congrats!!

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Don Sharp
Got Brazilian?
http://www.sharpguitars.com

Neti Pot!!



Yeah dust collection works too.

Been meaning to make myself a downdraft table for some time now...I'll do it after my brand new R18 garage doors go on at the end of the month.

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The member formerly known as erikbojerik....

Thanks for the tips Mario. I sometimes forget to put on my dust mask when I'm doing just a little bit of sanding and I ALWAYS pay for it later.

Joe, that looks like a nice tool. I bet it makes life a lot easier for you.

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Joe Breault
Merrimack, NH
Perpetual novice

Joe, that is a great looking downdraft table and a very clever design! Thanks for showing it to us.

So most of you don't wear respirators?

I wear mine 90% of the time. I hate it but I really notice the difference if I don't. Even the best dust collection/air cleaning systems are going to leave a lot of the finest particles in the air and those are the ones that go deepest into your lungs and present some serious long term risk. I actually put off buying an air cleaner till last year because I was worried that I would wear my respirator less.

For part-timers, maybe it's not a big deal. But I'm in the shop every day and I've seen way too many folks who get winded climbing a flight of stairs at age 50 due to occupational exposures. Not sure what the best answer is but there is no such thing as overkill here.

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http://www.chassonguitars.com