Extractors, wood for steel

[Rick]

Hello,

I'm looking at extractors to keep the dust down.

I only work in steel/dust from grinding disc's sanders etc. But most of the extractors are for wood. Will they work ok with steel, I presume most of the dust is from the abrasive rather than the steel.? Is the suction enough? Will the filters/bags get clogged or anything else to watch out for?

 

[chunkolini]

A complicated one.
I looked into this years back and almost wasted loads of cash.

Wood dust extractors and metal dust is reckoned to be a bad mix. Never worked out what the problems where exactly, but I went with the flow. I think it was mainly very fine particle size from grinding etc. Most woodwork colectors only collect large bits, the ones that pick up the small stuff do it from very close in using a hose. Fine sawdust does not set fire to things, grinding sparks would.

Then last autumn, following advice from this very forum I bought a dirty great extractor fan, 18" axial thing something like this. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/extractor-fan...668?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2eaef27824
Sorted. a bit pricey, mine was about £180.00, but within 15 minutes of turning it on I was kicking myself for not doing it earlier. 22x28ft shed has clean air in about 2 minutes. And as a bonus doesnt get all stuffy and hot.
does get cold quick mind when it is minus 6 outside.

I mounted it on the back wall of the shed, and screwed a plastic box with one side lopped off as a cowl to keep rain out of the hole and put a mesh piece over the bottom of the box to keep birds out.

The test of an extractors efficiency? what colour and texture is your snot, and how gritty do your teeth feel after a session at work.

Take your time, do your research and dont waste your money. I spent £400 on a welding fume extractor, which extracted welding fume from over the job but did F all else. Luckily I flogged it on to a user who needed a fume extractor, not a dust extractor.

It is definitely worth investing in this stuff.

Chunko'.

 

[Drains]

Wood extractors collect the dust - any wood machining operations generate huge quantities of shavings, sawdust etc, and you want it outside in a bag, not choking you in the workshop or going all over the floor.

Metal dust is harder to suck up as it's heavy and doesn't sit in the air so much although mill scale does and so do those very fine grindings. You don't need to collect the dust and fumes, you just need to get them outside! Chunko's dirty great extraction fan is just the thing, as it shifts the fine airborne snotguff away.

 

[Rick]

How noisy are the big fans? I might go back to what I thought before. Simply sectioning a part of the workshop off for grinding and putting up with the dust or maybe an air fed mask. It's mainly to keep dust off the other things to be honest. It doesn't seem to take long to get everything covered in crap. I haven't really got anywhere outside to extract to without a lot of ducting.

 

[Drains]

You can get dirt cheap flexible ducting if that suits. Bigish axial fans aren't too noisy. I've got a centrifugal fan in my workshop which is right noisy, but it's not the right thing for the job. It shifts the air, but it's made to cope with a big system pressure, and there isn't any.
Next time I fit extraction it'll be a pair of 18" axial fans off the old workshop heaters which we scrapped. They move plenty of air, but don't make much noise, top job.

Getting everything covered in crap is par for the course I'm afraid. I seem to spend half the day sweeping up after myself.

 

[rtbcomp]

Get one with an induction motor, miles quieter than those with a commutator motor.

 

[chunkolini]

The fan I have is quiet, justs hums quietly as it sucks up discrded babies and small animals.
Two thoughts, dont plug it in to see what it does without fixing it in place. What kind of fool would do such a thing?
I have fitted it with a insulated door so warm does not escape when it is not switched on. Swiched? well I have a plug on the end of it; does the job with no wiring.
No ducting, i have it blowing into a loft space with the escape hole in an end wall.

Dont forget the dust is not just messy, I shudder to think what my lungs are like inside, this kind of dust is very nasty stuff.

Chunko'.,

 

[Welderpaul]

Glad this came up, we have a couple of Nederman fume extractors which are ok for bench work, but get in the way and don't get rid of smoke from welding.
Heres a picture of our place (Spot the H&S hazards ffs). It goes backwards and to the left by about the twice as much as what you see there. Can i hang a gert fan from the roof steels and use that to shift the dirty air out of the open roller shutter? Don't want to be messing about with ducting. Presumably if the air is flowing its shifting the rubbish out of the door?

 

[Rick]

The fan I have is quiet, justs hums quietly as it sucks up discrded babies and small animals.
Two thoughts, dont plug it in to see what it does without fixing it in place. What kind of fool would do such a thing?
I have fitted it with a insulated door so warm does not escape when it is not switched on. Swiched? well I have a plug on the end of it; does the job with no wiring.
No ducting, i have it blowing into a loft space with the escape hole in an end wall.

Dont forget the dust is not just messy, I shudder to think what my lungs are like inside, this kind of dust is very nasty stuff.

Chunko'.,

Sounds like something i'd try!

I just wear a mask. I'll probably buy a fan, and see how I get on, i don't like the fact i'll be colder though!

 

[chunkolini]

It does cool down quickly when you turn it on, what I try todo is set myself up for a lot of grinding/plasma cutting mask up and do it all at once, then tur the fan off and have a cuppa while the workshop warms up again.
Having clean air more than makes up for it going cold. In the summer it might even keep th place cool.
I got mine from these guys http://stores.ebay.co.uk/hydorventilationandcontrol. They were very helpful regards what size of fan, how to vent it and talked me through wiring it up very patiently, three wires and four holes, I dont like electrics.

Welderpaul, I doubt that would work I reckon you would just have a suspension of dust etc flying around, surely for it to work as an extractor you would need a through flow of air rather than just circulating it. Wouldn't you need holes through the walls etc.

Chunko'.