Recommendation? How to catch stray debris?

PEU

PEU

Gaucho Knifemaker
Joined
Aug 6, 2006
Messages
1,157
Hi Guys, I'm in the middle of a shop reorder, new workbenches a lot of changes. I want to improve on my dust collection. I can catch about 90% steel and about 80% handle material, the balance goes into the air and I want/need to solve this.

For handle materials I use an industrial vacuum (with no dust separator) just below the grinder lower roller, but no mather the shape of the collection cone I use, debris manages to escape to the back of the grinder and from there to the air.

I'm open to suggestions! I made a short video where you can see the way the sparks fly. Thanks!

Pablo

 
I have a 20" box fan with a 20" furnace filter over the intake side. It's all mounted up, but I don't see why you couldn't tape the filter to your fan and put it just about anywhere. Obviously you don't want sparks getting sucked into the paper filter, but I find that running the fan for awhile after grinding keeps a lot of the dust from settling on everything
 
 
My grinder is enclosed and i use a 50 mm hose at the bottom/rear end to permanently vac, also have a dust seperator. If needed i attach a steel funnel with another 50 mm hose right under the contact wheel/platen and have two vacuum spots that way. In case i grind Ti, i use a bucket with water instead of the funnel but still vac. at the rear end of the housing.

Maybe you can make a housing for you grinder? would help a lot i guess.
 
I'm still debating with myself about the solution. Thanks Guys

Pablo
 
I built a 10X10 grinding room in the new shop. The bench tops are stainless steel, which is easy to clean up.
The room has a fan powered FRESH AIR-IN port that brings in outside air, and a vacuum system with a cyclone dust/spark trap to get the dust at the source. The vacuum discharge side goes to an AIR-OUT vent to the outside. Each grinder has its own dust funnel and a blast gate to close it off when not in use.
Overhead is a hanging 1 micron air filter that filters all the shop air every few minutes. It runs for 15 minutes after I shut off the vacuum. There is a port on the vacuum system that allows me to plug in a vacuum hose to clean up corners, shelves, the floor, and suck stuff out of the grinders nooks and crannies. My plan is to not let dust ever get a start.

TIP:
Air conditioning vent joints make great dust collector traps/funnels for grinders. They come in a variety of lengths and widths as well as shapes. They are metal and designed to connect to metal ducting, so they are perfect for our purposes. They are also very low cost. You might even get some free from an AC installer.
Mounted under the front of a grinder, they trap the sparks and and grit. Mounted behind a grinder they catch the loose dust sent flying backwards from the belt. They can be mounted sideways to catch the debris from a disc grinder. If you have more than one dust port, use a blast gate to shut off the ones not in use, or put some rubber sheeting on boards and just set them over the ports not in use.
 
I have this one that work really well to keep the shop air clean, and a home built one with furnace filters that works fairly well. The jet comes with better filters is why, it was the replacement for the home built one. My shop is small 13' x 21' so it will recirculating all of the air in a few minutes.

Screen Shot 2021-10-28 at 11.15.47 PM.jpeg
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
I built a 10X10 grinding room in the new shop. The bench tops are stainless steel, which is easy to clean up.
The room has a fan powered FRESH AIR-IN port that brings in outside air, and a vacuum system with a cyclone dust/spark trap to get the dust at the source. The vacuum discharge side goes to an AIR-OUT vent to the outside. Each grinder has its own dust funnel and a blast gate to close it off when not in use.
Overhead is a hanging 1 micron air filter that filters all the shop air every few minutes. It runs for 15 minutes after I shut off the vacuum. There is a port on the vacuum system that allows me to plug in a vacuum hose to clean up corners, shelves, the floor, and suck stuff out of the grinders nooks and crannies. My plan is to not let dust ever get a start.

TIP:
Air conditioning vent joints make great dust collector traps/funnels for grinders. They come in a variety of lengths and widths as well as shapes. They are metal and designed to connect to metal ducting, so they are perfect for our purposes. They are also very low cost. You might even get some free from an AC installer.
Mounted under the front of a grinder, they trap the sparks and and grit. Mounted behind a grinder they catch the loose dust sent flying backwards from the belt. They can be mounted sideways to catch the debris from a disc grinder. If you have more than one dust port, use a blast gate to shut off the ones not in use, or put some rubber sheeting on boards and just set them over the ports not in use.
Click to expand...
I'm sure you posted this elsewhere sir, but I'd love some pictures!
 
Wilton square wheel enclosed grinder, or check the Stephen Bader website for a sheet metal enclosure that fits around the Bader 3
 
i could not figure out a way, so i enclosed the area with plastic curtains and that keeps 99.8% of it from landing elsewhere in the shop. my dust collector /vacuum exhaust is outside of the curtains so it helps keep the dust from exiting the enclosed area because of the negative pressure.
 
I like to use the stuff around the shop to catch the dust. After a couple of hours it stops floating and just sits there. It's great because when you are looking for something you can tell where you haven't checked yet. It also help keep the wife from trying to claim my shop space in the basement. It also helps to give a nice scratch pattern to knives that you just completed a nice surface finish on. Since I let it build up it does this last part with very little effort. It will also help you to personally develop grit. As everyone knows grit is considered to be the most important thing in personal success. Schools everywhere are working hard to find ways to develop it in young people. To gain the most I recommend not wearing a respirator and mouth breathing. If you breath through your nose a lot of it gets lost when you blow your nose. It's take me awhile to develop this system but I don't mind sharing. I'm sure others may have done the same by accident but if you are careful and remember to run your grinder as fast as possible unless it's really necessary and try to avoid sweeping up on your bench unless you just can't see your tools anymore it will work best. If you can remember to just pile all of them on the middle of your bench that dust will just filter through to the bottom and you won't waste any by getting it on the floor.
 
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OK, now I know who it was that kept creeping into my old shop. You snuck in and stole the idea of my dust control system. I called it the Gravity Dust Control System .. GDCS for short.
My favorite part of this system is the really cool cobwebs that grow in the ceiling corners and under the shelves.

TIP:
If using the GDCS system, every spring you need to open the door and put the largest fan you borrow in the doorway. Then get the biggest leaf blower you can borrow. Wrap a towel around your head and face like Lawrence of Arabia and turn the blower on HIGH. Blast everything for about 30 minutes, turning the blower towards the door every few minutes. It takes about half an hour, but eventually most of the dust will be gone.
However, you may hear a lot of complaints from the missus and the neighbors about the cloud of choking dust and everything in 200 yards/meters getting coated with a fine grey powder. To avoid this, do the blow-out on a rainy day. 1) The dust will settle faster and wash away. 2) The neighbors won't be outside to see you do it. 3) Park your cars far down the block before cleaning the shop.
When done, strip naked in the back yard while someone hoses you off. Burn the clothes and towel, as you will never be able to wear them again.
 
okay, okay...I have been shamed into ordering an air filtration box and some 2.5 " ducting. I have spent more on clamps than I have spent on clear lungs.
The bad thing about using my Stihl backpack blower in my garage is picking up all the sandpaper scraps outside later.
 
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