Woodshop Dust Control

COMPLETELY REVISED AND UPDATED A Comp ete Guide to Se ing Up Your Own System SANDOR NAGYSZALANCZY Woodshop Dust Control Woodshop Dust Control A Complete Guide to Setting Up Your Own System Completely Revised and Updated Sandor agyszalanczy N The Taunton Press Te xt © 2002 by Sandor Nagyszalanczy Photographs © 2002 by The Ta unton Press, Inc. Illustrations © 2002 by The Taunton Press, Inc. All rights reserved. The Taunton Press, Inc., 63 South Main Street, PO Box 5506, Newtown, CT 06470-5506 e-mail: [email protected] COVER DESIGN: Lynne Phillips INTERIOR DESIGN: Mary McKeon LAYOUT: Rosalie Vaccaro ILLUSTRATOR: Scott Bricher, Mario Ferro PHOTOGRAPHER: Sandor Nagyszalanczy LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Nagyszalanczy, Sandor. Woodshop dust control: a complete guide to setting up your own system / Sandor Nagyszalanczy.-- Completely rev. and updated. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN-13: 978-1-56158-499-4 ISBN-lO: 1-56158-499-1 1. Woodwork. 2. Dust control. 3. Wood waste. I. Title. TT180 .N27 2002 684' .08--dc21 2002004330 The following manufacturers/brand names appearing in Woods hop Dust Control are trademarks: Airflow Systems, Airhat, Air-Mate, Airstream, Beam Industries, Black & Decker, Bosch, Davis & Wells, Dayco, Delta, Dirt Devil, Donaldson Co., Dremel, Dust buster, Eureka, Excalibur, Fein, Filtrete, Freud, General, Grizzly, Hartville Tool, Jet Equipment & Tools, Lobo Power Tools, Magnehelic, Makita, Masonite, Milwaukee, Moldex, Oneida Air Systems, Performax, Porter-Cable, Powermatic, Radio Shack, Royal, Ryobi, Shopsmith, Shop-Yac, Sound Off, 3M, Timesaver, Torit, Total Shop, Trend ABOUTlines, Tyvek, Unisaw,YOUR Wap, SAFETY Wirth, Woodcraft, Woodmaster Tools, Woodsmith Shop. Working wood is inherently dangerous. Using hand or power tools improperly or ignoring safety practices can lead to permanent injury or even death. Don't try to perform operations you learn about here (or elsewhere) unless you're certain they are safe for you. If something about an operation doesn't feel right, don't do it. Look for another way. We want you to enjoy the craft, so please keep safety fore most in your mind whenever you're in the shop. Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 This updated edition is dedicated to Gregory Bateson, Dudley Burton, and James Pepper, three extraordinary men who were my professors and mentors back in the halcyon days at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Acknowledgments irst, I'd like to once again thank all the folks who helped with research and information for the first edition of this book (who aren't mentioned below): JeffF Applebee, Jon Behrle, Stephen Blenk, Andrew Church, Kristin Decker, Lloyd Diamantis, David Draves, Michael Eads, Liz Finnigan, Michael Fisher, Karen Grober, Irvin Hauser, Warren Hudson, Ed Levy, Klaus Meyer, Jeff Millstein, Chris Minick, Haskell Mullins, Brian Pridgeon, Rick Peckham, Thomas Retford, Steve Robins, Quintin Rottering, Mark Scheifer, Raymond St. Louis, Robert Terry, Jeff Watson, and Paul Wrobleski. Next, I'd like to give thanks to all the people that contributed to the updated edition of this book. lowe a real debt of gratitude to the many equipment manu facturers, dealers, and representatives who assisted in the gathering of information, equipment, and accessories necessary for the completion of this volume: Chris Carlson, S-B Power Tools (Bosch); Bob Hillard, Fein Tools; Peter and Ales Litomisky, Ecogate; Todd Langston, GMR Marketing Inc. (Delta and Porter Cable); Leonard Lee, Lee Valley Tools; John McConegly, JDS; Mike McQuinn, Ryobi; John Otto, Jet Tools; and Chen Sun, SunHill. Special thanks go to Robert Witter, Rebecca Fedrigon, and Jeff Day at Oneida Air Systems and Curt Corum and Jamison Scott at Air Handling Systems. For allowing me the privilege of taking photos in their shops and studios, recognition goes to: Om Anand, Matt Bays, Michael Dresdner, Cliff Friedlander, Tony Graziano, Roger Heitzman, Eric Himlan, Roy Johnson and Johnson Art Glass, David Marks, and Jeff Traugott. Credit for modeling and additional photo graphic assistance goes to my wife, Ann McGregor Gibb, and Peter Bartczak. I'd also like to thank Helen Albert, Jim Childs, Carolyn Mandarano, and Suzanne Noel at The Taunton Press and freelance editor Ellis Wallentine, whose support and energetic work made this edition possible. Last but not least, a heartfelt appreciation goes to my father, Lorant Nagyszalanczy, whose technically adept and patiently crafted drawings grace the pages of Woodshop Dust Control. Contents Introduction 2 1: Chapter The Problem of Dust in the Woodshop 4 Different Forms of Dust 4 Sawdust and Respiratory Health 11 Fire and Explosion Hazards 17 Disposing of Sawdust 19 2: Chapter Strategies for Controlling Dust 22 Masks and Respirators 23 Shop Ventilation 24 Air-Filtration Devices 24 Passive Collection 25 Portable Shop Vacuums 27 Portable and Central Dust Collectors 27 Combining Dust-Control Measures 29 Alternative Means of Controlling Dust 29 3: Chapter Respiratory Protection Devices 37 Disposable Masks 38 Reusable Respirators 41 Choosing the Right Filtration 45 Fitting a Mask Correctly 47 Powered Air-Purifying Respirators 50 4: Chapter Shop Ventilation and Air Filtration 54 Shop Ventilation 54 Air-Filtration Devices 58 5: Chapter Portable Dust Collection Devices 73 Shop Vacuums 73 Portable Dust Collectors 89 6: 93 Chapter Central Dust Collectors 94 Central Dust Collector Basics 101 Choosing a Collector 102 Preseparation of Sawdust 107 Collector Filtration7: Chapter Designing a Central 117 Collection System The Design Process 119 Step 1: Making Shop-Layout Drawings 121 Step 2: Locating the Central Collector 124 Step 3: Basic Layout of the Ductwork 127 Step 4: Refining Duct Layout and Connections 130 Step 5: Determining Correct Duct Diameters 135 Step 6: Calculating Static-Pressure Losses 138 Step 7: Selecting the Right Collector for Your System 141 142 Good Examples:8: Three Real-Shop Collection Systems Chapter Installing a Central 147 Collection System Ducting Materials 147 Cutting and Installing Pipe 150 159 Grounding the Ductwork 161 Testing and Tuning the System 164 Switching the9: Dust Collector On and Off Chapter Collection Hoods 171 and Other Devices 173 Hoods for Stationary Machines 188 Capturing Sawdust from Portable Tools 190 Capturing Fine Sanding Dust 195 Sources of Supply 200 Index Introduction p until just a few years ago, the primary means of dust collection in most wood shops was a simple broom and dustpan. But 21st-century woodworkers are much moreU aware of the impact of wood dust on their respirarory health. They are also aware of the fire danger that sawdust poses ro their shops-and the homes that are often attached to them. Hence, woodshop dust control has become a hot topic, and the devices and strategies used to collect chips or filter dust now receive almost as much attention in the woodworking press as the latest and greatest machines, portable power tools, and shop gadgets. Since Woods hop Dust Control was first published seven years ago, hardly a week goes by when I don't receive an e-mail query or telephone plea from a puzzled reader: Can I design a ductwork system using my computer? Should I replace the bags in my portable chip collector with advanced filter media? Are there affordable ways I can auto matically control my central system? Is there some new way I can ground my plastic ductwork? Which disposable dust mask is best for me, according to the new guidelines of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)? Can I make the power sanding of wood parts a cleaner task? Keeping up on the latest collection equipment and methods is essential to providing the best answers to such questions. Fortunately, technology and product design have kept pace with the current trend to make dust collection as much a standard part of a woods hop as electricity and light ing. Lots of noteworthy innovations and improvements in dust equipment and acces sories have come to market in the last seven years, including: better filters for dust and chip collectors, disposable bags for portable power tools, advanced electronic systems that make central collection systems easier to control, air-filtration devices that are more convenient to use, affordable downdraft tables ro capture fine dust while sanding, and easier-to-use shop vacuums with better fine-particle filtration. One of the goals of the new and updated version of this book is to acquaint you with the complete range of dust-control devices and methods available to outfit your small (or not-so-small) wood working shop. Some things about dust control haven't changed since the earliest days of wood working. Sawdust is still a woodshop nuisance: a messy by-product that's hard to avoid. Our machines churn out great heaps of chips and shavings that combust all too readily. They also throw a ton of fine wood dust into the air, which, as medical studies continue to reveal, can pose a significant health hazard. Do we really need more to convince us that capturing and controlling woodshop dust is an essential duty? Probably the hardest part of dealing with dust is knowing which devices and methods to choose from among the extensive assortment of collection, filtration, and ventilation devices currently available. One class of devices, including shop vacuums and central collectors, is designed to capture dust at its source-at a woodworking machine, a sanding table, or a workstation where portable power tools are used. These devices provide the most direct and efficient means of dust control since the majority of chips and dust are captured and collected before they can escape. Airborne dust can be abated by several different secondary control methods, including ventilation and air filtration or by wearable protection devices such as disposable masks, replaceable cartridge respirators, and powered air-purifying respirators. Unfortunately, buying the right respirator to protect your lungs or picking a col lector powerful enough to handle your shop's sawdust output isn't as straightforward as the process of buying a handplane or table saw.

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