Dangers of Dust

[Greg Plouvier]

Hi Everyone,

I have read some posts recently that mentioned builders blowing and sweeping dust out of their work areas. Please read this man's research on the subject. http://www.billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/index.cfm
If you are doing a lot of building please invest in a good dust collection system with a cyclone. If you are a casual builder get the small cyclone for your shop vac. I bought a big cyclone for my shop collector and a shop vac model from this ebay seller: eastcaroga
The ones linked to the site mentioned above are pretty pricey.
This is serious stuff guys - protect your health and enjoy those speakers you slaved over for years to come.

[dheafey]

Excellent topic!! I found a good treatment of this subject with this post. While Bill Pentz isn't a fan of the "trash can" dust collection systems, this one appears to be different than the rest and is the one I'll probably build fairly soon.

[AntonZ]

I have purchased one piece of cheap ply two weeks ago, to build a toy house for my son's little bear. Will never buy anything like it again. The dust from cutting it was very irritating, I have never noticed anything like that with birch or poplar ply. It's birch only from now on for me. And moving the saw outside, no more indoor sawing for me, however cumbersome that may be.

[Sydney]

The are some hardwoods ( walnut for one ) who dust is extremely harmful to the lungs.

[AntonZ]

This definitely wasn't hardwood, other than balsa it seems like the softest wood I ever layed my hands on. I bet the dust is harmful though, it sure felt like it.

[dheafey]

The are some hardwoods ( walnut for one ) who dust is extremely harmful to the lungs.

Check out Bill Pentz' website for a thorough treatment of the dangers of dust. I does a nice job of rating the toxicity of various woods - scary.

[pwfirst]

I've been building things for years and have a few things I always do when cutting and sanding.
Wear a mask, even a paper mask will keep out most of the saw dust. Worst woods that bother me are walnut, cedars, all treated lumbar, and anything with glue in it. Many people have specific wood allergies as well. I have a dust collection system but it is only partially effective.
When I clean my shop out from time to time the dust collects every where, on tools every nook and craney. I do use a leaf blower with the garage door open, a good mask and eye and ear protection and it makes cleaning the place much easier job. I think with the appropriate care it is fine to use. Phil

[AntonZ]

This post by Tom tickled my curiosity. Yesterday I spent a few hours to turn an old bucket into a miniature cyclone. I haven't had time yet to test it with my (tiny) table saw or other power tools. I just tried it on the contents of a bag of sawdust from my shop vac. I was positively surprised by how effective it was. All sawdust in the bucket, none appeared to make it into the vac.

Here's some pics of my miniature version. I scaled it down to the size of what materials I had available and what fits my saw and shop vac.

Detail: bucket edge.
At this time I have not yet made something that firmly closes the bucket. I routed a small circle in the top that matches the ridge on the bucket. Suction alone keeps it closed when the vac is running.


What's inside: the plumbing.


Hook it up to the vac for a test run.


The white bowl was filled with a vac bag of saw dust. All of it ended up in the bucket, none seemed to make it to the vac.


No final verdict yet as I have to see what it does on the table saw and other tools, but so far I'm pleased with initial tests. Spend some time on this if you don't do nothing yet about dust. It is simple, cheap and appears to be quite effective. Curious to hear what others do about dust.