Poor Man's Dust Collector

[Mr. Chips]

I don't do alot of power carving, so this works for me. A small window fan with variable speed control. I attached a 10" x 20" furnace filter to the back. I can hold the project 8" to 10" away and it does a good job, and alot quieter than a shop vac. With the variable speed I can dial the speed down for hand sanding. I already had the fan so the cost of the filter and I am in business.

Randy

[SeaLeveler]

I use a fan also,I use a box fan with a couple regular fiberglass filters to catch the course dust and a pleated filter like you use next to the fan.With that setup I can go longer between filter cleanings.Just wish my fan was variable speed like your setup.
Tony

[Mr. Chips]

Good idea Tony.
I'll add a couple of fiberglass filters to this one.

Randy

[Tom Ellis]

Randy, It seems like you should have a shroud around where you are carving, so it will concentrate the air flow a little more. A cardboard box would do.
Nice simple idea you have.

Tom

[Dull Knife]

Originally Posted by SeaLeveler

I use a fan also,I use a box fan with a couple regular fiberglass filters to catch the course dust and a pleated filter like you use next to the fan.With that setup I can go longer between filter cleanings.Just wish my fan was variable speed like your setup.
Tony

Do a search on your search engine, on how to make a reostat. I did and it works very nice, and it was easy to make.

[Dull Knife]

.

I made mine using a 120 v dimmer switch. It's mounted inside a square metal switch box and has a 15 inch piece of electric cable and plug. This cable is plugged into a live circuit to power the dimmer switch.

The dimmer switch and a female plug unit are wired and mounted inside the metal box. Your fan is plugged into the female plug on the unit.

You'll have to drill the correct size hole in the metal box plate. The dimmer switch's shaft will go thru that hole and the knob attaches to the shaft.

Do a search for the correct wiring sequence.

[A_Swope]

Thanks for the idea Randy,
Where can you get the filters?

Alex

[Mr. Chips]

Originally Posted by Tom Ellis

Randy, It seems like you should have a shroud around where you are carving, so it will concentrate the air flow a little more. A cardboard box would do.
Nice simple idea you have.

Tom

Thanks Tom, I'll have to give that a try.

Randy

[Mr. Chips]

Originally Posted by A_Swope

Thanks for the idea Randy,
Where can you get the filters?

Alex

Hey Alex, I bought mine at Home Depot. It's a regular furnace filter.

Randy