# Air Cleaner: Make or Buy?



## ssevey17 (Sep 9, 2014)

I'm looking for some advice from my fellow LJs on air cleaners. I'm looking at buying or making an air cleaner for my shop. I'm tired of having sawdust all over my tools after I work. I do wood working as a hobby. I was looking at buying a small ceiling mount air cleaner or building one of the box fan/furnace filter ones.

The biggest deciding factor for me is the effectiveness of the box fan ones. Are they comparable in performance? I'd buy a timered remote if I built one. My shop is a single car garage right now but I plan to build a new, BIGGER shop in the next 5 years or so. Does anyone have any experience with both? Thanks in advance!


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## Ripper70 (Nov 30, 2015)

I've got the Shop Fox W1830 for my 2-car garage shop and it works great. They make a more robust version (SHOP FOX W169) also.

Both have three speeds and have built-in timers as well, so that'll save you some effort. For $179 bucks, it'd be hard to build one for much less and they do go on sale from time to time. I think I paid $139 for mine.


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## 01ntrain (Jun 21, 2015)

Look at the Wen air cleaner. It's a great little unit, for about 1/2 the price of a Jet or Delta. You can grab it off Amazon. It's also where to buy the pre-filters, too. Has a nifty remote controls 3 different fan settings along with a timer. I just found one for a little over 100 bucks….can't go wrong, there.

It's not going to clean up your shop, entirely…..but it will help with the fine dust, which is the dangerous stuff.


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## woodbutcherbynight (Oct 21, 2011)

+1 for the WEN. Had mine given as a gift couple years ago. Works great. Do stock up on filters so you have them when you need them.

Here it is mounted in shop.


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

I built my own DIY air filtration unit, using an old squirrel cage blower from on old furnace. It works great and catches all the tiny dust that my DC misses..

http://lumberjocks.com/topics/241361


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## DustyM (May 16, 2016)

Yup, another recommendation for the WEN (pretty much the same as the Grizzly and ShopFox versions, with different paint). I have the Grizzly, but got mine when it was on sale for $125. It's surprisingly quiet, works quite nicely, and the pre-filters can be blown out several times with a compressor (using low PSI). I've examined my secondary/washable filter several times, and have yet to need to clean it out.


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## doubleG469 (Mar 8, 2017)

I was just watching a bunch of Youtube videos of builds on this subject. Matthias Wandel seems to be the one to review and copy/modify his designs. But he did build the impeller and housings as well. I do have an old motor from an electric lawn mower that I have been trying to decide what to build with and this seemed like it might be the project.

If anyone has tried this and has any good advice from their attempt I am all ears.

cheers


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## garymkrieg (Dec 6, 2017)

This EJWOX 3 Speed Remote Controlled Air Filtration System 400 CFM looks like the same unit as the WEN for less money.

Gary


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## alanealane (Oct 1, 2007)

> Look at the Wen air cleaner. It s a great little unit, for about 1/2 the price of a Jet or Delta. You can grab it off Amazon. It s also where to buy the pre-filters, too. Has a nifty remote controls 3 different fan settings along with a timer. I just found one for a little over 100 bucks….can t go wrong, there.
> 
> It s not going to clean up your shop, entirely…..but it will help with the fine dust, which is the dangerous stuff.
> 
> - 01ntrain


Yes try the Wen! They have them reconditioned on their website for $100 and free shipping. I just got mine the other day and it's very nice.


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## hairy (Sep 23, 2008)

I'm for making it. Here's mine.

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/15760

I have 2 air cleaners in my basement. 1 at the ceiling and this one down low. This one now as a radial arm saw on it.

I also use a box fan with a furnace filter taped on when I'm making a lot of dust.


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

If you can source a fan from an old furnace, building one is incredibly cheap and they are effective. I like them (shop built) better than the commercial units. I left my last shop built in the shop building some years ago, but I've now got another furnace blower and intend to build the next one. The shop in between had a commercial unit…I left that behind as well…no regrets.


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## clin (Sep 3, 2015)

Store bought aren't very expensive, so I wouldn't make one unless you would enjoy making it as a project.


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## Kazooman (Jan 20, 2013)

One point besides the price to consider when comparing the commercial units (disclaimer: I used a home brew set up for years and now have the Jet). You cannot filter air unless you move the air. The lowest speed on the Jet and similar units moves more CFM of air than the highest speed on the Wen. Comments about the Wen being quiet and the secondary filter not needing cleaning give me some concerns that it is really not doing the job very well. I vac off the primary filter on my Jet occasionally, and check the main filter bags. The latter have not required a thorough cleaning yet, but the bags are clearly discolored with the fine dust they have captured.


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## 01ntrain (Jun 21, 2015)

I would be inclined to agree with you, K-man….but the size of the shop is relevant here, too. Also how much it's being used. He's a hobbyist, with a one-car garage. The Jet is kind of overkill.

But, I would certainly go with a commercial model, anyday over the home-brew version. I'd use the furnace motor and make a good sanding table.


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## redlee (Apr 11, 2016)

I just finished this one, squirrel cage with 4 speed motor,12 intake filters and 1 out.
I have only had it going for a couple of weeks and used it maybe 4 times and the filters are noticably capturing dust.
It moves tons of air and seems to work well. 
I have nothing against commercial ones other than the price of the filters.


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

> One point besides the price to consider when comparing the commercial units (disclaimer: I used a home brew set up for years and now have the Jet). You cannot filter air unless you move the air. * The lowest speed on the Jet and similar units moves more CFM of air than the highest speed on the Wen. *Comments about the Wen being quiet and the secondary filter not needing cleaning give me some concerns that it is really not doing the job very well. I vac off the primary filter on my Jet occasionally, and check the main filter bags. The latter have not required a thorough cleaning yet, but the bags are clearly discolored with the fine dust they have captured.
> - Kazooman


My DIY (in post #4), has two speeds and moves air at 1,100CFM and 1,320CFM (measured). And that is through a 4-stack of filters (FPR 2, 5, 7, & 10). More than enough to create a circulation of air around my 24'x30' shop. Nothing wrong with commercial units other than the price/performance ratio, IMO.


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## Redoak49 (Dec 15, 2012)

The choice of one should build or buy (new versus refurbish) comes up pretty often. It depends a lot on capability, dollars and time. Yes, it would be fun to build an air cleaner but for me I would rather spend my time building other things. Everyone just needs to decide what works for yourself.

I have the Jet air cleaner and it works very well. The Wen seems to have very low air flow but the cheapest unit.


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## Finn (May 26, 2010)

I have the Grizzly ceiling mounted unit. It cleans all the air in my 22'x13' shop in five minutes. It has washable bag filter and washable pre filter. I have cleaned them both many times over the ten years I have used it. I paid $175 for it then. I am very satisfied with it.


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## Carloz (Oct 12, 2016)

Commercial units have remote, timer and multiple speed (controlled by remote) . If you like tinkering with electronics you can make it too. You can compensate for the remote by dedicated wiring but it has its own challenges ( permits liability etc) As with most things it is cheaper considering your time and materials to buy something than to make your own.


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## Timmie99 (Mar 14, 2017)

I built my own. 




Check it out on YouTube. Timtools99 Channel. It works great. Three stage unit. Two furnace style filters and then a bag type that catches really fine dust.

If you just use furnace filters, you will not capture the fine dust that is so dangerous to your lungs.


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## Reinan (Oct 18, 2017)

A friend gave me a greenhouse vent fan with a 14" impeller that I plan to make a shop air filter out of. Need to order the MERV 14 from Grainger or Zoro so I have exact dimensions to build from, figured on using a standard furnace filter for a prefilter so they would be cheap and easy to come by. Haven't started it yet, but plan to in the coming weeks.


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## woodbutcherbynight (Oct 21, 2011)

Helpful tip for those thinking of getting and using one. Take note of airflow in shop and try to set this up so it has the best chance of getting the most dust. Sticking it in a corner with a dead air spot does not work nearly as well as finding the sweet spot.

Not sure how anyone else might approach finding this spot. I had two guys with E-Vapes blowing smoke into the air and watched the smoke swirl around and put mine where it seemed to suck the most smoke quickly. Not really scientific but hey it worked.


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## Siv (Nov 3, 2016)

I made one with a box fan and filters and while it worked, it was very annoying to have to remember to go turn it off (you really want to leave it running for a while to get the dust out of the air). I bought the Wen for $100 and couldn't be happier.


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## rbrjr1 (Nov 2, 2017)

I'd rather have 2 WENs that moved and filtered the air more subtly than a jet that put a breeze in my shop (and they will).

(besides, the WEN is very quiet in an environment that already requires the use of hearing pro often enough..)


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

Another WEN

Got mine thru WalMart. Free shipping to the store.


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## ssevey17 (Sep 9, 2014)

Thanks everyone for all your input. I wanted to give you an update where I'm at. I figured I'd try the box fan first. I duct tapped a furnace filter to a box fan I had laying around. I noticed that I had some air flow coming out of the intake side. Some of the air was bouncing back off the filter.

I decided to buy an air filtration system. I just ordered a Felji 400 CFM unit from eBay ($93) but eBay was having a $15 off special if you ordered something in a 5 hour timeframe. I figured for $78 shipped to my door, I couldn't complain. I'll have to do a review on it after I get it and use it for a little while.

Thanks again for all your advice!


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## Stumble (Mar 11, 2018)

Of the ones posted I would rather have Richard Lee's over any of the commercial ones. The trick to filtering out small particles like wood dust is you want lots of filter area, this both slows down the speed the particles hit the filter at, increasing efficiency, it also reduced the static pressure the fan is working against increasing air flow. So its a win win.

The other thing is that a big filter run is pretty cheap and easy to build, just make a quick frame of screwed together 2×2 and some quarter round. you could knock out the entire thing in a couple of hours. The only trick is a large com fan to move the air, and for this I would recommend a gable fan. They run about $50 and can move 1500+ cfm.


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## redlee (Apr 11, 2016)

> Of the ones posted I would rather have Richard Lee s over any of the commercial ones. The trick to filtering out small particles like wood dust is you want lots of filter area, this both slows down the speed the particles hit the filter at, increasing efficiency, it also reduced the static pressure the fan is working against increasing air flow. So its a win win.
> 
> The other thing is that a big filter run is pretty cheap and easy to build, just make a quick frame of screwed together 2×2 and some quarter round. you could knock out the entire thing in a couple of hours. The only trick is a large com fan to move the air, and for this I would recommend a gable fan. They run about $50 and can move 1500+ cfm.
> 
> - Stumble


I think I have $40 into it incuding the motor fan assy.
Ive been using it for awhile and it actually works quite well.


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