Garage Air Cleaner

Nice, I have been kicking around the idea of doing something like this in my shop. Only less filtering for greater flow and cooling. Zazzy design though!

-- Every neighborhood has an eccentric neighbor. I wondered for years "who was ours?" Then I realized it was me.

+1 on what Chase said, but … I eventually got TOO lazy, and bought a used JDS system, from CraigsList.

That said ….

Yours is great. I’m envious of the nice remote, with timer functionality.

Be careful, though. Next spring … don’t be surprised if that thing sucked the knobbies right off of those bike tires :-)

-- -- Neil

You got a deal on that fan. Looks good.

this actually looks pretty cool! How loud exactly is it?

-- Nicholas, Cabinet/Furniture Maker, Blue Hill, Maine

I pulled the old squirrel cage fan out of my old furnace when it was replaced and mounted it in a plywood box w/ a coarse primary filter and a hyperallegenic stacked on top of the intake on the top of the box. It exhausts out the back via a cut out. A Stainless mesh steel table sits on top but you can use peg board to make a dandy sanding table that doubles as an air filtration system when you are not using it to sand. Any furnace installation company will give you these fans for nothing. These things move a LOT of air. This is also a great source for 1/2 HP electric motors. Yours is much better looking than mine though. Cheers.

-- Mark, Chesapeake Bay - Southern Maryland

Hopefully, some more helpful info on the subject….

http://www.twistedknotwoodshop.com/airfilter.htm

-- -- Neil

been looking for a single fan like you picked up, where did you get it?

Devnull – great idea (can I assume you’ve had Unix/Linux experience?) – I’d love to do something along those lines without spending a fortune.
Gofish – Thanks for the fan suggestion – We’re just about to upgrade our house furnace, so I’ll be getting a “free” one soon.
NBeener – Thanks for the reference to the writeup.

As for noise – If you can add some “ducting” space to the outlet, you can line it with various sound-proofing materials. waffle-type foam, or noise absorbent material.

-- Bob www.singularengineering.com - A sideline, not how I earn a living

I have one of those in my shop. It actually works quiet well.

-- Ray

It looks like a major industrial fan. I would recommend shop radio/headset hearing protection for the noise. Until you build the sound proofing, you’ll have some tunes.

-- so much wood, so little time. Bradford. Wood-a-holics unanimous president

Great project! If I may be so bold, may I make a suggestion for the noise?

It seems like you have the angle iron brackets mounted directly to the air cleaner and the ceiling. This direct connection is vibrating your house…essentially. If you could isolate the air cleaner from the ceiling with rubber, the noise from vibration will be reduced significantly. You can use a fancy product like this or you can rig sometihng up yourself using found rubber and bolts.

I picked up the fan at Home Depot, it was listed for $485 they had 3 in stock. its loud enough to keep my wife out of the garage. The noise is actually coming from the force of the air passing through the front, I had it running on my work bench for a few days and the noise was the same. Normally my garage is about 45 dB ( no tools running ), with the fan running it’s up to 72 dB.

bobkberg – yes I am a Unix/Linux Junkie

-- __A Clean Desk is a sign of a sick mind.__

I thought that fan looked fimilar, I have a larger one in my house ceiling. The auto open and close is a nice feature. Great use of this and there very quiet as well.

-- Ken, "Everyday above ground is a good day!"

I just bought the same fan at my local Home Depot here in Washington. Same as yours, it was also marked down to $60.00 from $485. Funny thing, I bought it for this exact thing. The noise issue is a little disconcerting, but I guess it will have to do. On the positive side, it will take readily available 16×25 furnace filters.

Mine’s not finished yet – or started for that matter; too many things on my to do list before I get to it. However, seeing yours has moved it up on my priority list.

-- Imagine It... Build It... Enjoy It!

great looking fan.

-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †