Dust Collection

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General

Owner/Loaner: LVL1 Serial Number: NA Make/Model: dust collector Arrival Date: 2016 Usability: yes Contact: Paul Gossen Where: wood shop

Purpose

• Breathing wood dust is a health hazard
• Wood dust build-up around the shop is a fire hazard
• Wood dust in equipment motors and bearings shortens their operating life
• The dust collection system protects our people and equipment by removing wood chips and dust (down to 0.5 micron diameter) from the shop environment

This page highlights basic operation and maintenance of the Wood Shop Dust Collection system.

See the Dust Collector Parts page for orientation on what the equipment is, what it's called, suppliers, and build instructions

See the Dust Collector Design page for design basis, designs and design guidance for tool hoods, and tips and tricks for hooking in to or expanding the system.

Operation

Safety Rules

Fire Safety

• Hot embers falling into dust collection bins are the #1 cause of fires in dust collection systems, so ...
  • NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER cut metal on any tool that is using the dust collector
  • Do not use the dust collector with wood with metal nails, screws, or staples
  • If a cutting tool is burning wood, slow down or replace with a sharper tool
• Any fine metal shavings create a hazardous condition in the dust collector
  • Air velocity in the ducts is not enough to keep metal shavings suspended
  • Metal fires cannot have water on them, so are incompatible with our sprinkler system, so ...
  • NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER cut metal on any tool that is using the dust collector
• Two sheets of drywall act as a firewall between the dust collector drum and the neighboring work bench. Do not move this firewall.

Personal Safety

• Wear a dust mask when emptying the dust collection drum and buckets

Basics

1. Set the Gates

Open a gate to get dust collection at a tool, Close a gate to block air flow

• Dust collector capacity is one tool at a time
• Open the gate for the tool you are using
• Check that all the other gates are closed

2. Turn on Dust Collector

Flip the switch. There are 2: one to the left of the entrance to the Wood Shop, one to the right of the Cyclone.

Maintenance

Swap Dust Collection Drum

Cleaning the Filters

• Cleaning frequency depends on filter pressure drop, which we aren’t measuring yet. Expect monthly or quarterly cleaning frequency
• Filters are cleaned by blowing compressed air from the outside to dislodge the dust cake on the inside, waiting to let dust settle into orange buckets under the filters, then unscrewing the buckets to empty the dust.
• Wear a dust mask to open and empty the buckets