# DIY ceiling air cleaner



## WVperchman (Dec 7, 2018)

Hey all….long time woodworker, mostly a scroll saw artist and have picked up lathework in the last 2 years. Brandnew to LJ but Ive lurked here too for a while. So heres my first post and Hello From West Virginia!! Where walnut is $2-4.50 a bdft!!!

At 46, im beginning to take the dust more seriously as I make more of it. Today i got a HF 70gal, 2hp dust collector based on their 25% coupon. Havent even set it up yet as I will wait on the Wynn cartirdge filter. Up until now, I was using the HF portable 13 gal, 1hp DC. Now before that gets somewhat retired and forgotten, I was thinking of installing that in a pine box with some MERV 15 filters in the ceiling to help with the air. Like you see other guys do with furnace blower motors. Having no experience with any of it….im wondering if my little DC would be comparable? Supposedly it has 600 some CFM (i dont have a clue on how to measure cfm), and did the calculations and my garage would need 666 CFM ( yeah i know, what a number).

Glad to be here….looking forward to chatting and goofin off with many of ya!

-Jay


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## MikeDilday (Feb 21, 2017)

It should definitely do something but how effective I don't know. I have a Jet AFS-1000B air filter and it really takes the small particles out real fast. I definitely still wear a dust mask when sanding or making a lot of dust. The Dylos air quality monitor is a great addition.


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## WoodenDreams (Aug 23, 2018)

For the wading dust in the air, you definitely should have a "Air Filtration System". The dust collector at the equipment is to collect the dust, shavings and chips. But not designed to get the floating dust (wading dust) from the air. This type of dust is hard on your lungs. You might want to do a search in the upper right corner of the page. Search "wading dust" or "air filtration". In my small shop I use the WEN air filtration system. Cost me $119. , available at Home Depot, Amazon, ebay, and etc. This unit operates on a remote, can be put on a open shelf or hang from a ceiling, has 3 speed settings, & can be set to run 2, 4, or 6 hours, or run continuously. You still should use a dust mask. You can also make your own unit.


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## ArtMann (Mar 1, 2016)

Your old blower should work fine in a home made dust filtration system. The question is what kind of box design will work best. You will need some back pressure to limit the current on the blower. You need to be able to service the filters easily.

I don't know where you came up with the 666 cfm number but that blower should do a good job of cleaning the air in an average garage shop if the design is good. A 24 X 24 X 10 foot garage has 5760 cubic feet. A 600 cfm filter will filter the volume of air in such a garage once every 10 minutes.


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## WVperchman (Dec 7, 2018)

I'm not sure where I came up with that number either but it is what was sticking in my head. I redid calculations and I was incorrect. 24×24x9 with 8 changes per hour is 691cfm. But could you explain more regarding the box design and backpressure?



> Your old blower should work fine in a home made dust filtration system. The question is what kind of box design will work best. You will need some back pressure to limit the current on the blower. You need to be able to service the filters easily.
> 
> I don t know where you came up with the 666 cfm number but that blower should do a good job of cleaning the air in an average garage shop if the design is good. A 24 X 24 X 10 foot garage has 5760 cubic feet. A 600 cfm filter will filter the volume of air in such a garage once every 10 minutes.
> 
> - ArtMann


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## F250 (Jan 28, 2019)

Glad I found this thread. I'm currently using one half of my 27×30 garage space for my "shop", and I have a 2hp Rikon collecting unit which is yet to be installed. I recognize the need for better ambient air filtration on top of the collector, but had not gotten through the thought process far enough to resolve that particular need (except to recognize that my wife HATES it when ambient dust collects on her car on the other side of the garage).

That said, I have an old air handler fan from an A/C change-out in a previous home. I expect it could be an effective DIY filter box since it was the single air-handler for a 2300 sqft home. The airflow, though, has never seemed to match up with what I expected in comparison to when it was cooling the house, and I know that I've not stepped down the voltage because it was a 110/120v switched fan to begin with. Perhaps the motor just needs to be replaced.

I'll have to research this a little more and see what I can come up with, but part of my thinking is already moving along the lines of having the intake box in my shop side of the garage on the wall farthest from the vehicle side, and then duct the exhaust back over the the opposite side of the garage to create a nice "cross-flow effect away from the vehicle.


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

Somehow, an air filtration system should be running when dust is being generated. Not having it interconnected with the machine, allows one to "forget" to turn on the unit when needed. I have one in my shop, but forget to use it.


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## SFP (Dec 17, 2014)

Might want to set up your filters progressively such as merv 4, merv 9, and finally merv 13 (about the finest I have seen. Will still filter 75-85% of sub .001 particles I believe). You won't load up the merv 13 filter as quickly. You can also vacuum the front filter with a brush on the end of your shop vac. Maintains the performance.


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## Brawler (Nov 12, 2018)

Pete you need to get your wife a "tan" colored car, problem solved. : )


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