Before and After: Modifying a Fan into a Dust Collector

If all else fails use your head. that’s what I keep telling my self .Well done charles

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

An excellent concept, well executed. Nice.

I keep thinking about that “box fan + furnace filter” idea. What? Twenty bucks?? It’ll do SOMETHING, anyway.

-- -- Neil

I’ve been thinking something along the same lines. Need to find me a fan and motpr.

-- Jerry--A man can never have enough tools or clamps

This unit prob moves alot more air than a 600.00 unit. I have plans to build one but of course, haven’t yet. Very nice job! Happy breathing!

-- Scott, South Carolina

I have done the same thing, only I put filters on 3 sides, it works pretty good.

-- Smitty!!!

I’ve been keeping my eyes open for an old furnace blower to do the same thing. Nice work!

Chunk

-- Chunk

That’s what I like, making use of what you have to be more efficient and healthy. Inexpensive and works great.
Well done.

-- Doug, Cass City, Michigan

I have a squirrel cage I pilfered off of a furnace I replaced….this is why. Great job.

Woodsmithshop, the filters are a good idea but do not provide enough resistance. This can cause the motor to freewheel and overamp. If you ever notice the air flow surging as opposed to being constant this why. An enclosure like this would solve that and actually increase air-flow.

As long as it works that’s what counts!

-- The smell of wood, coffee in the cup, the wife let's me do my thing, the lake is peaceful. http://web.me.com/deceiver6/Deceiver/Craftsman_on_the_lake/Craftsman_on_the_lake.html

I’m going to give that a try. all I have now is a fan in the window.

-- Michael . USN ( Ret ) Batesville,AR

I did the same thing except I put it on wheels so I can roll it around and aim it at where I am working. A great relief on a hot summer day. These fans are quiet and move a lot of air. I made it easy to take the filter out so that I get more air movement if I just want the fan effect. I didn’t take pics during construction but I will post pics of the finished project tomorrow.

hanging it from the ceiling is a great idea too. It keeps it out of the way. nice job

russv

-- yknotwood.com: where to go because you don't want no stinking plastic!

I should have said 4 filters instead of three, sorry. I have not noticed any surging I’ll watch for that.

-- Smitty!!!

Wow – you didn’t even take it down! Very nicely done! But…you’re not going to stain it? ;-)

-- Where did all this sawdust come from?

What can I say, I have a burly woman for a wife. She power-lifted the box while I put the screws into the top!

Booooyyyaaaaahhh!!

Actually she’s a little thing, but tough as nails!! Couldn’t have finished up without her!

-- Behind the Bark is a lot of Heartwood----Charles, Centennial, CO

after looking closer it appears you can turn it in different directions. is that so?

russv

-- yknotwood.com: where to go because you don't want no stinking plastic!

Yes is can. This particular item is the one thing the previous owner did right. The hanger on this blower allows it to pivot in a full circle if it doesn’t hit anything. After adding the box to it I have about a 90 degree pivot area. I can’t complain about the guy on this aspect of the house. Now, if he had only been this good at doing other things around the house. I discover something new about once a month. Ah well.

-- Behind the Bark is a lot of Heartwood----Charles, Centennial, CO

I have two of these home made air filtration boxes in my shop. I made them to fit some two inch think pleated filters I got at an HVAC shop clearance sale. I have found that HVAC shop / contractors have to get rid of the units they remove for an upgrade and are free or almost so.
I may be a overly concerned about fine dust particles because I have a good friend that became disabled from breathing the stuff.
My clearview cyclone is outside the shop. There is a front and back door in my shop that stay open while working. If there is no airflow through the front and rear door I turn on a 30” fan to create one.
Also, each dust creating machine is connected with 6” ducting. The table saw has an older Excalibur blade guard the I modified to have 4” ducting on the back side. I originally had 1 1/2” ducting. The new model has 3” ducting.

-- Abe Low, Fine furniture, Sacramento, CA

I have been thinking of something similar using a regular box fan. Wonder if anyone has done this, and if so, does it have enough oomph to actually make a difference?

My shop is on the small side compared to a lot I’ve seen here, 11×25.

-- Ryno

Great job. Nice looking enough for my shop. Have you considered putting the filter on the ‘gozinda’ rather than the ‘comezouta’? It might facilitate monitoring filter-change-eta as well as keep the fan itself cleaner and lasting longer.

Rance. I didn’t mention it or show it in the picture but there is a filter on the Gozinda end as well. The filters are relatively cheap so I figured two would be better than one. I also have a fair amount of room so might go with a thicker filter the next time around/

-- Behind the Bark is a lot of Heartwood----Charles, Centennial, CO