Portable quiet air filtration system?

[Dan C]

I cut out 3 carving blanks on my scroll saw last week. The basswood was 2" thick. By the time I was done, I could tell that I had breathed a lot of dust into my lungs. Not good!

SO - I'd like to buy an air filtration system of some kind and want to make the right choice. I'm thinking of some kind of small QUIET unit that I could sit next to the saw that would pull the dust into a filter system of some kind.

I don't want to build anything. I'd like to buy a system that's all set to go. I just want to be sure and get the best one out there so I'll be happy with its performance.

I did a couple of searches and what I came up with were loud systems designed to filter air in the whole room, etc. I'm not looking for that. I'm looking for something that is portable that I could take with me to workshops where I might be doing power carving, for instance.

I figure there are some of you out there that can give me some good advice based on your own experiences. Thanks for any and all advice!

Dan C.

[John_C]

a small vac with a hood. the vac doesn't need to be near the saw, with a long hose you could enclose it in a cabinet. I use a vacuum and a whole room air filtration system I also hate noise but I hate dust even more.
check out the Delta ap100 air cleaner not a lot of noise and does a great job I hang it from the ceiling.

[susieq]

I am not sure you could rig this to work on your saw...but a nice portable dust filtration system is the "In Lap" system that is geared toward power carvers. It is quite portable and fairly quiet. The last I checked, it ran a little over $300..... I have one and I love it. But you really should be wearing a mask. I know masks are a royal pain but I use the "Dust Bee Gone" mask which is washable. I used my first one for many years. I bought a new one two years ago because the people who make them, custom made one for me to allow extra room for my nose....I do have a prominent nose... and they don't charge extra for this. It is a light weight material that you can breath through and it doesn't fog your safty/eye glasses... It runs about $40 but is worth every penny. Just swish it around in warm soapy water every so often, twirl it around over your head to get the excess moisture out and let it dry...dries very quickly. Then you're good to go again. If you google Dust Bee Gone, you will find their website. It's the only mask I will use...it's so comfortable. Mask AND dust collection...you can't put a price on your lungs. Best wishes.

[wisardd1]

woodcraft has one for about $200. Very quiet and works for small power carving and would be ideal for a scroll saw. It has two fans and a plastic bay to contain dust.

Power Carving Dust Collector - Woodcraft.com

dale

Also, Harbor Freight has a standard Dust Control unit that kicks *** for about $249. It has 1550 CFM and can suck the feathers off a duck. I have both

[John_C]

I have a Woodcraft store a few blocks away, Groan... anyway I looked at the Woodcraft dust removal you mentioned and found the same one at Grizzly tools for $125

[Dan C]

Susieq - Thanks for all the information. I'm going to check out the Dust Bee Gone mask. It sounds great. I do other wood working as well where I generate a lot of dust and I need something like what you described that will be comfortable and work well. It's been a problem for a long time. As for the air filtration system, I think the next 2 replies are more what I have in mind.

Also, I sent Rick Jensen (Bark Boy) an e-mail to see what he uses in his classes.

Dale - Thanks for the lead on the Woodcraft product. The Harbor Freight one is probably more powerful than what I need, and besides, it sounds like I'd have to worry about turning it on with small children or animals around!

John - Thanks for the lead on Grizzly tools. I've got their product bookmarked, and you are right, it looks the same as the Woodcraft product only $80 cheaper. That's great. They rate theirs at 400 CFM whereas Woodcraft says 500 CFM, but they could still be the very same units.

Thanks all for your help!

Dan C.

[Ozcarve]

Dan, just a quick note to mention that I have used a Dust Bee gone mask for some years and while they work well, I have found they do let some dust get through. So don't expect them to filter as good as other respirators. I could be wrong, but even the manufacurer mentions they are for 'nuisance' dust.
They are easy to clean, I sometimes clean mine with a small amount of disinfectant with the water, to give an 'extra' clean out.

[Dull Knife]

Originally Posted by susieq

I am not sure you could rig this to work on your saw...but a nice portable dust filtration system is the "In Lap" system that is geared toward power carvers. It is quite portable and fairly quiet. The last I checked, it ran a little over $300..... I have one and I love it. But you really should be wearing a mask. I know masks are a royal pain but I use the "Dust Bee Gone" mask which is washable. I used my first one for many years. I bought a new one two years ago because the people who make them, custom made one for me to allow extra room for my nose....I do have a prominent nose... and they don't charge extra for this. It is a light weight material that you can breath through and it doesn't fog your safty/eye glasses... It runs about $40 but is worth every penny. Just swish it around in warm soapy water every so often, twirl it around over your head to get the excess moisture out and let it dry...dries very quickly. Then you're good to go again. If you google Dust Bee Gone, you will find their website. It's the only mask I will use...it's so comfortable. Mask AND dust collection...you can't put a price on your lungs. Best wishes.

I have one of the Dust Be Gone masks ....but after washing it several times the wire that helps hold the mask to my nose, came out. For what these masks are, they're just too expensive.

I put it back in, but it's not the same as it was, just doesn't fit the way it used to, so now I've gone back to a cartridge type mask.

[Dan C]

Thanks to all.

I checked the web site for the Dust Bee Gone masks and they are $40. I'll have to think about that. I'm not a power carver primarily, and whether I get into a lot of scroll sawing remains to be seen. (I REALLY like the wooden gear clocks being discussed on the scroll saw forum, but they may be a little too ambitious for a beginner.) I could very well get into some carved fretwork however, where I would be using the scroll saw a lot.

Anyway, I'm assuming that the fan unit will take care of the dust and that a mask may not be necessary. I guess that remains to be seen - I could be wrong about that. It says down to 5 micron size particles. A red blood cell is about 8 microns, so 5 micron dust particle removal is very good. I'll keep my options open. Thanks susieq for the suggestion. It sounds like we have some happy users and some not-so-happy users.

Dull Knife - You should really call the company and see if they would stand behind their product. I'll just bet that they would send you a new mask. I'd be really surprised if they didn't.

BTW - I'm going to go with the $130 Grizzly unit.

Dan C.

[World Tracker]

What's the website for the Grizzly dust collector?