Choosing an Air Filtration system.

I am considering the same… My lungs would love one

-- making sawdust....

I’m not sure about costs but was thinking for a small shop, ( remember just thinking ) you might be able to build your own. Seems to me it’s just a box with a fan at one end and a intake filter at the other end, as long as you buy decent (1 micron filter). Hang from ceiling.
I know some units have flow meters on them so you can see when the filters are clogging up.

I was reading through my archives of mags this week, and in the Wood October 2006 mag they tested all the popular brands. Ready for some stats?? Here ya go.

Brand: Air Flow: Efficiency for capturing .3-1 micron particles: Price
Delta AP-200 547 cfm 96% $230
Delta 50-875 587 cfm 96% $280
General 10-550 574 cfm 85% $230
Grizzly G0572 630 cfm Not given $200
JDS 750-ER 636 cfm 91% $300
JET AFS 500 264 cfm 85% $180
JET AFS-1000B 650 cfm 85% $275
Lee Valley #650 414 cfm 94% $265
Penn State AC620 239 cfm 65% $220

This review is obviously a couple of years old now, but I’m sure some of the data is still relevant. On a side note, the reviewer said that a box fan with a furnace filter exhibited about the same results as the top commercial units.

-- Let's make some firewood!

LOL, a box fan with a furnace filter. Now there’s a sight! :)

-- Chip -- Manchester, Connecticut "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."

Wow, thanks for the detailed info boyneskibum.

I don’t think I will be fashioning my own, I’d rather be making dust than building a filter. I’m sure if I was clever I could duplicate some of the trick off the shelf features (remote, indicators, ...), but I just don’t want to invest the time it would take to do a fair job.

Keep the info coming!

-- Just 'cause a cat has kittens in the oven, it don't make 'em biscuits.

Keep in mind even if it filters down to 1 micron that is still considered a large particle when talking about your lungs. I had an air filtration co. and would suggest a HEPA filter. The problem is to get a decent one is about $1000.00. I am in the process of writing a blog on basic air filtration but time is a problem. If you need help with this send me your email or phone number in a private message and I can tell you more. We all need to protect our lungs better. I’m hoping to get the blog up in about a week.

-- Bob K. East Northport, NY

As a former home renovater and kitchen and bath person we used to use the box fan with furnace filters especially when dealing with demolition. It may sound crazy but even if you can vent any airbourne dust out by blowing it through a window is great. The air filter does have some help. The drawback like one person mentioned is the size the filter is to allow what size pollutant through. I have been looking at the Delta air cleaner mainly the AP100 ($200) vs the AP200 ($300). If I enlarge my shop I would be right at the limit for the smaller one but would the larger one is overkill for my 200 sq ft shop ( I want a 400sqft shop). But here is the the latest thought is any filtration is better than none.

-- Frank O, Croydon, Pa

In a 2 stall garage/shop I have a Penn State Industries Tempest 142 cyclone dust collector with a 1 micron bag, a Delta 50-875 air filtration unit, a Delta AP075 downdraft table, a box fan with a removeable and washable filter that I keep close to where I’m sanding, and I also use a AOSafety Woodworkers dust mask. Lately I’ve been geting into a little sheet metal work. How’s that grab ya Padre ?

I also work in about 250 sq ft, in a 1/2 garage space. Hanging an air filtration unit on the ceiling is not possible. It would interfere with the garage door’s track of opening, not to mention hang down low enough to be an “obstacle” in everyday work.

I’ve ordered a 1 micron polyester filter for my DC3300 dust collector. I also have a Fein Turbo I vacuum that can connect to my orbital sander and it sucks up almost all the sanding dust. Fein also has HEPA filters for their Turbo vacs.

Don’t forget to protect your hearing.

-- "Heaven is North of the Bridge"

Well thisisn’t advice as much as it is an explanation of what I do/observed. I have a $20 box fan from walmart. it is about 20×20. I went and bought some cheap paper filters (maybe $3 each on clearance from a hardware store tt was put out of business by HD). I’m planning to try some filtrete filters by 3M, but here is what I’ve done till now. I turn the fan on and stick the filter behind it. The air movement is enough to hold the filter in place against the fan (it looks like Woodchuck1957’s item, but not as pretty). Then I point the fan to blow across my work area. I do this to blow away most dust, but the air cmoing towardsd me has been filtered.

Then, after a long day of power tool use or sanding, I leave the fan running on low over night in the garage. I ussually have a ring of brown dust (VERY fine) stuck to the filter the next morning. While I’m sure that I’m still missing a lot, it is catching something. I’ve got a real dust collector in the mail, so that is the first step, but eventually I may check out a legitimate manufacutred air cleaner. I think the quicker solution for now is to just open the garage when I’m done (or during) and let the dusty air exchange with fresh air. Just my thoughts.

I built my own and it’s very easy to do. I obtained the blower unit from a defunct furnace at my local heating and air repair company. Cost $0 (thy throw them away when they replace a unit.

The box is built from some thin plywood I already had on hand with some framing for support. The sides of the box are framed to take a standard sized furnace filter of your choice. I installed a filter on both sides to double the filtration and reduce the efficiency loss as the unit works. The fan is mounted inside the box with outlet framed and blowing out. As the unit works air comes in the sides through the filters and exits the box through the front.

I hung mine from the ceiling but it could easily be made to mount on a wall or placed on the floor. I use electrostatic filters that claim to be 90% effective down to .3 microns. I use a washable prefilter on the outside to make the electrostatic filter last longer. This unit has worked well for me and the price was right with no out of pocket expense.

tool barn has it for sale $249 400 sq of clean air
http://www.toolbarn.com/product/delta/AP200/

but I think I will try building one first

-- "so much to learn and so little time"..

Treeman,

Any photos of your fan/filter?

-- Chesapeake Bob, Southern Maryland

I’ll try to get one a little later today or tomorrow.

I’ll post it then.

Interesting stats on all the air filtration units that are out there, but, common sense would tell me that the reviewers statement that a box fan with a furnace filter exhibited about the same results as the top commercial units is bogus. A box fan with a filter doesn’t have anywhere near the CFM as a air filtration unit, plus the air filtration unit filters the air through multiple filters.

I couldn’t figure out how to post the pictures in this thread so I posted them as a project here. Hope you can see how simple this unit is.

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/12823

Woodchuck,
Now that is a FINE looking fan. The steel work is really excellent! I like it. A lot. :)

-- Chip -- Manchester, Connecticut "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."

Thankyou Padre, I’ve recently kind of found a luv for doing sheet metal work.