[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Depending on your furnace, too much dust in the air can be ignited by a pilot light.....be careful that direction too!

[wade clark]

Paul,
I have one of the $250+ downdraft units and it's great, but I rarely use it, mostly when working with something really hard on the lungs.
What I use all the time, over my beard, is a Dust-Bee-Gone washable mask. They're $30-something, but they are worth it.
The other thing I use is a 4ft. wide floor fan behind my back, moving the dust somewhere else. That combination works great for my lungs and eyes (bifocal safety glasses) but still creates a mess, which I deal with...dust collector gets some, dust pan gets some, some gets away.
Any system is only good if you use it. The Airshield unit is bulky and confining and feels like over-kill if I can keep the dust out of my lungs another way.
Good luck!
Wade

[Claude]

From a frugal carver:

After getting dust all over the house, and not wanting to spend several hundred dollars on a collection system, I used my small shop-vac. The noise from the shop-vac isn't nice, but ear plugs help with that. I wear a paper mask (cheap-o from H**e D***t), a pair of safety glasses, and hold the hose from the shop vac between my knees, pointing at my hands on the workbench. As I carve, the Dremel throws the dust and wood particles directly towards the nozzle of the shop-vac, which sucks (most of) the dust up before it gets spread around the laundry room where my workbench is located. When I take a break from the power carving, the shop-vac is used to vacuum the dust off my clothes before I leave for my cup of coffee or whatever...

Claude

[arbarnhart]

I have a two pronged approach. One of my Christmas gifts was a Wecheer reciprocating power carver handle. It's the best of both worlds - powers through wood quickly but makes chips rather than dust. It fits a Dremel. The second thing is to use my drill press with contour sander (a foam column with sandpaper around it a shaft in the middle to attach to the drill press). This makes lots of dust, but it is stationary and I hold the piece against it at pretty much the same spot, so I can mount a dust catcher (a big rectangular funnel attached to my shop vac) in the right spot to really get most of it and use HEPA shop vac filters. The problem with trying to catch dust from a Dremle is that you keep moving the tool around and throwing the dust in lots of directions. It's easier to catch dust if the tool stays still and you move the workpiece.

I do also have an air cleaner because I also use the scroll saw and band saw quite a bit, and while they have pretty good dust collection, it is far from perfect. Another gift I got is a Porter Cable circular saw that I am fitting up like this:

http://eurekazone.com/gallery/the-be...lection-system

[Paul_Guraedy]

Wade, Thanks for the testamonial on the mask. I guess I will have to get one and start getting used to it before the Racal dies. You are right the full face shield is bulky, confining, and if at a seminar, isolating! It is good to hear from another bearded carver saying that "this thing works!"

[decoycarve]

Paul,
I too have full beard and I have had the best luck with the 3m dual cartridge respirator. I can pull it tight to my beard and put my hands over the cartridges and it breath in and collapse it to my face. It is a bit cumbersome and took some getting used to but its better then honking out basswood boogies. Bought mine at Home Depot.
Goody

[Ron D]

i was looking for a name for them decoy,thats what there called basswood boogies hehe

[FINGERS]

I moved from big garage to little condo. My power carving area is 5'x5' on the screened deck. My homemade collector eliminated the dust!

Start with a Stanley air mover used to dry out wet carpet. It's a foot square, 3 speed and very quiet.Put it in a 3' box and use 2 ac filters as a divider. On top on this box, install a a.c. vent with adjustable vanes, mount it 1"from the opposite side from the blower.Line the edges with installation strips.
Make a 3 sided box to set on top of the strips.

Set the whole thing on a portable B&D bench & you have a 3 piece portable collector.

Buy all the parts first so as to get proper measurement for the 2 boxes.

Here what happens; heavy particles swrell to the l.r. corner of the box, dust will move toward the opening where your working and will fall into the vent before entering your nose or surronding atmosphere. (your hands are inside the box and on the other side of the vent.

I made the front panel of the collection box and the entire top from Plexaglass. I mounted a light on the outside top.

Twiking may be needed; close in the side opening with cardboard patterns to determine which size creates the best down draft at the vent.

Some day I'll figure out how to post pictures, they improve "wording"