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A friend of mine gave me an old squirrel cage fan out of his old furnace a couple of years back. I finally decided to put it to good use. I mounted the fan in a plywood box and incorporated a furnace filter. The furnace filter is washable so I will be able to re-use it reducing waste. When the fan is turned on it will now filter the dust out of the air. I have the top adjustable to allow for different table heights using it as an extension for my table saw or router table. I can also use it as a table for many uses including supporting my thickness planer while collecting dust when it is in use. Best of all it will be circulating filtered air throughout my work area while keeping me coooler.

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Great idea! Much better than a ceiling mounted unit. So many other uses. One can always use another horizontal surface.
I now have a plan for the blower I've been saving for 5 years.
What part of IL are you in. We're from the Effingham area, originally.
 

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I built one several years ago. It hung from the ceiling. I was amazed how well it worked. Cleaning the filter, showed me how much crud I was breathing. The shop had a lot less fine dust settling on flat surfaces.
I like your idea of using it as a work surface.
 

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Thanks guys it is working out really well!
 

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I did the same thing about 15 years ago. I use a pair of standard size disposable furnace filters. The outside one is coarse and the inside one is a hepa type.
I use the top of mine as a sharpening center with my grinder and sharpening tools on it. It usually sits beside my wood stove so it can blow the heated air around the room while filtering the air. Also being movable I can take closer to the source of dust such as my lathe. While my portable vacuum dust collector gets most of the dust from the lathe there is always some that gets away and this blower gets most of that.
 

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very cool idea, great job, I might have to make one of these
 

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Great multi use build.
 

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When I mounted the fan inside the box I have the fan with the rotation on the downhill side (Sort of like having your toilet paper dispensing over the roll which is the only correct way for your toilet paper to be mounted) to prevent the fan from blowing dust into my eyes. It ends up hitting me from about waist level down. I should take a poll. Who has their toilet paper mounted over the roll and who has it mounted under the roll???
 

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Great idea to multitask…I'm in the middle of a build for a table saw outfeed table/downdraft table with a used furnace blower and motor. I'm also putting mine on wheels, but I like your idea of multiple tops. My main top will be drilled with a gazillion holes, but maybe I'll consider other tops of differing thicknesses so maybe I won't attach the downdraft top with too many fasteners now.
 

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Wow it looks great well done. Alistair
 

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It looks like you have a good design with your air system design. IMO everyone should make an effort to put some type of air filtration in there shop ASAP. Looks like you have plenty of space in your shop so I can see where mounting your AFS on wheels and move it around would be a benefit.
I don't necessarily agree that the floor model is "much better" than the ceiling mount. I see lots of commercial ceiling unit on the market for workshop, but don't remember seeing any floor model available. There must be some reason why the industry has chosen to mfg. units for ceiling mounts as oppose to floor models.
In my case, when I built my air filtration system I chose to mount it over my TS because it is the main tool in my shop and out of the way in my small shop. I needed to keep space open to be able to get around without bumping into something. JMO.
 

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thank you for posting this :), looks great

I just got a squirrel cage unit yesterday and planning to build something similar over the weekend. I too want something with casters instead of hanging it from the ceiling so i can use it for something else as well…
 

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Great idea. I really like the concept and execution and I could see it being very useful in my shop too. Thanks for posting.
 

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Your article is motivating. I saved off the fan and motor from our furnace when replaced. I'll have to get after boxing it in with a filter. My initial thoughts were to just wire in a switch and plug it in.

Is the wall switch the only switch you used? Mine has multiple speeds. I haven't been able to find a suitable speed control switch for the thing yet. Anyone have any ideas where to source one?
 

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Would a dryer's squirrel cage fan work for this or is it too weak? I would imagine that a furnace's fan would be much stronger since it has to push air throughout the entire house.
 

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Nice work…...Hopefully I can do this soon!
I have not even set up a shop yet in the new house, just kinda random, and I've been busy with a few projects that needed to get done…. dust was gettin bad! So I literally have a filter taped to the back of an old box fan, and it's workin pretty good….. your design is far superior!
 

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Tool248 I think a dryer fan would be way too small.
 

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woodrangler, yes the wall switch is the only switch I used. I cut off an extension cord and used the male end of it. My fan is only a single speed. But I bet you could use a ceiling fan switch instead of a regular switch. Wire it up on the highest speed and have the fan switch regulate the rest.
 

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Woodchucker, I'm using a washable filter. Not sure of the materials inside it. Probably not the best rated filter system but a whole lot better than what I had before.
 

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Impressive job Carbide…well thought out project. I have been planning a ceiling mount version using a box fan but I really like how you made yours a multi-purpose stand as well. Its sure got me thinking about revising my ideas on this. Well done buddy
 
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