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There was a thread back in October regarding drum sanders in which there was some discussion about what dust collection methods can be effective for a drum sander. I've been doing dust collection from my Performax 16-32 into a Dust Deputy into a Ridgid 6.0 hp shop vac with a HEPA filter while running a ceiling-mounted Jet air handler with a Wynn Environmental internal filter that's rated for 0.5 micron particles. The thread got me thinking that it sure would be nice to put some numbers on how well (or not well) my set up works so I bought a Dylos DC1100 Pro particle detector last month to take some measurements.

This afternoon, I did a first test while thickness sanding a set of Ambrosia maple sides. I set up the Dylos on a tripod at head height with the air intake of the Dylos facing the sander and located next to where I was standing while operating the sander. The sandpaper on the drum was 120 grit. The sides started out at 0.140" thick and I took them down to 0.085" thick. After four passes of the two sides with just the shop vac on, the 0.5-2.5 micron particle count increased from 17,000 in the low end of the Good air quality range to 35,000 in the low end of the Fair range. After a total of eight passes that removed a total of 0.020" with just the shop vac on, the count climbed to 45,800. I then turned the air handler on at medium speed and in about 5 minutes the count dropped back to 17,000. I then removed an additional 0.035" from the sides with both the shop vac and air handler running and the count stayed between 17,000 and 22,000 which is in the lower part of the Good range. (As a reference, the particle count I measured in my house was 17,000.) After I finished sanding the sides, I continued to run the air handler for an additional 15 minutes and the count dropped to 12,000 in the Very Good range which makes me think that if I pre-run the air handler before using the drum sander, I would have an extra margin built in and the particle count during sanding would be even lower.

I didn't do sanding with both the shop vac and air handler off so I don't have a particle count measurement for that condition for obvious reasons.

Dylos gives the following air quality ranges for 0.5-2.5 micron particles:
300,000 +_____________Very Poor
105,000 - 300,000______Poor
30,000 - 105,000_______Fair
15,000 - 30,000________Good
7,500 - 15,000_________Very Good
0 - 7,500______________Excellent


I'll be thickness sanding the back and top plates later this week so I'll do another round of measurements then. Those should produce dust at a higher rate because of the larger surface areas. Running my shop vac leaves the sander and the area around it free of visible dust, but it's clear that the shop vac by itself leaves something to be desired for fine particle collection. In combination with the air handler though, the particle counts while sanding were very close to the baseline counts. So far, I'm thinking that the set up works well.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

Nice write-up, Jay!

Thanks for taking the time to share your findings.

M

Agreed and really appreciate the effort. I have the same setup without the Wynn .5 micron filter but will invest when budget allows. I had my jet air handler just sitting in my garage and a new small shop that was really getting to me dust wise. The Jet with the stock 1 micron filter has really helped with the overall feel in the shop and now run it almost all the time I'm in there.

Jay, what pre-filter do run in the Jet? I installed the best 3M filtrete filter I could find but have no idea if it helped and it's too expensive to be constantly changing out.

https://www.filtrete.com/3M/en_US/filtr ... 207&rt=rud

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Thank You and Best To All

Nice work Jay, thanks for doing that.

I use the 1900 filtrete filters. You can vacuum them clean a few times and extend their lives. Eventually, though, the fine dust blocks them. That’s good—the fine dust is in the filter, not the air.

I'm using a Wynn Multi-Vee pre-filter (12241MV). I vacuum it off periodically as dust accumulation becomes visible on the outside.

_________________
Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

Thx...

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Thank You and Best To All