Shop Air Filters

Ted

Ted

The pilot formerly known as Twin Engine Ted
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iFlyNothing
Back when I was in college and working at the Jag shop, the air was filled with secondhand smoke from Marlboro Lights, aluminum and steel dust from the grinder, and whatever else. Of course I'd been inhaling the 2-stroke Detroit Diesel exhaust coming out of all the city busses my whole life.

Now I actually care about things like respiratory health, and with me spending more time in my shop, I am thinking that something to try to help clean the air better would be a good idea. It's just me in the shop, so the rate that I'm adding pollutants is only at whatever level I am working, but it would be good to have something in there to try to help get the contaminants out of the air. The mini splits have their air filters, but those are really just rock catchers and nothing that gets the real contaminants out.

The shop is pretty big - 2100ish square feet with 14 ft walls and then about 28 ft at the peak. I'm not looking for hospital level filtration, and with the Big Ass Fans there's a good amount of airflow that I can induce. But I'm curious if anyone has suggestions for a shop air filter to add. Ideally something I could hang from maybe below the mezzanine area so I don't take up floor space, but the real goal would be effective filtration.

Any suggestions? (besides start smoking so that my lungs toughen up)
 
I sell things like that, but more along the lines of a bench top setup to catch fumes at the source before they proliferate throughout the shop.
 
Collecting dust at the source (sanders, saws, whatever) would make the biggest difference. Also, no shortage of stand alone air filter units. I have one of these but there are larger versions for larger spaces. It does collect a lot of dust.
 
A lot of this depends on what you are filtering. I have really effective shop filtration for my workshop... at-the-source dust collection with a 3 micron filter as well as a Rockler circulator with a 3 micron filter to catch the microscopic stuff that escapes the dust collector.

Great for wood dust collection. Completely useless for toxic fumes.

I also wear an N100 mask whenever I generate sawdust even with the dust collector and filtration running. Not sure what the efficacy of the N100 is against toxic fumes, but I have a separate mask for that stuff.
 
EdFred said:
I sell things like that, but more along the lines of a bench top setup to catch fumes at the source before they proliferate throughout the shop.
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BOFA? (work uses that for the laser cutter)
 
I can't imagine there's much of anything that is going to be particularly effective in a pole barn/shop unless you spend a ton of money sealing air leaks and buying large-scale filtration equipment. Catching dust/etc. at the source is probably the best option to contain the lion's share of contaminants. However, the moment you open the shop bay door for 20 minutes moving stuff in/out, the dust/pollen/etc. from outside will put you right back to square one.
 
Skip to 9 minutes for data on dust removal. (Matthias has done a number of videos testing dust collection, but they are older and one would have to do some digging)
 
Judging by the title, I was going to suggest either Amazon or Ebay.
 
I would think good Nsomenumber masks would be the best idea. Put on when working with noxious stuff, take off when not.
 
Wynn environmental (https://wynnenv.com/) makes quality filters. I heard of them through wood working forums but I think they have filters for other applications as well.

I’ve been really happy with the one I got from them that I use in my hobby wood shop, it does a good job of cleaning out the really fine dust. I built a box that holds a harbor freight ventilator, the Wynn filter is on the outlet and I use standard air conditioning filters on the inlet side to catch the bigger particles.

A lot of people have used the blower unit from old air conditioners but that requires some wiring know how. Me + DIY wiring = fire hazard so I didn’t go that route. I imagine you’d probably be okay though.

Mine hangs high on the wall so it doesn’t take up any floor space. If you want pictures of my setup let me know.
 
Probably depends a lot on the contaminants. For woodworking, source dust collection and a dust mask. For metal grinding, the particles are smaller and I think more dangerous, so I'd make the mask hepa. If you add welding or non-cabinet sandblasting, then maybe a forced air mask. If you're using solvents or paint, ventilation plus the right cartridge respirator. Some things might be not worth working with at all. Silica sand, vaporized heavy metals, chlorinated solvents, etc. I worked with a lot of crazy stuff as a kid, I'm trying to be more careful in my old age, too.

Some air purifiers used to be electrostatic, and those make ozone in varying degrees. Maybe I'm overly cautious, but I'd avoid that.
 
Lots of good thoughts on here. I think if you use this evening as a typical example, I was doing grinding with an angle grinder and also welding. For using the grinder I should be wearing an N-something mask/respirator. But for welding, that's not particularly feasible with the helmet on, but also the smoke lingers around the shop for a long time. That's the sort of thing I'd like to get filtered out more than anything I think.

I'm not really looking or absorption at the source. Yes, there are options for that but I don't have a real dedicated work area where that's being done, and I don't want to move a device like that around.
 
They do make "pancake" shaped Nxx filters specifically designed to fit under a welding helmet. If you're doing stick or flux core indoors, I'd suggest a decent sized exhaust fan or welding fume collector. There's just a lot nasty stuff involved in that. BTDT. Or if you're doing mild steel, switch to TIG. It's a little slower, little more expensive, but there's so much less crap in the air. Most production shops don't use it, but you can go heavier than you think with it, with pretty affordable inverters.
 
Why not install a system to pull air through the shop? Something as simple as a box fan exhausting through an open window will pull anything bad away from the work location and towards/out the window.
 
kyleb said:
Why not install a system to pull air through the shop? Something as simple as a box fan exhausting through an open window will pull anything bad away from the work location and towards/out the window.
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The shop has HVAC, and especially when it's 90+ outside I am very happy to have air conditioning inside.
 
I just connected the dots between this thread and your RV saga... Yeah, tig won't work for that. If you can't run a local fume exhaust, I'd take it outside for that frame work. The smoke from that has to be rough, even in a big shop.

Or, you could get one of these:

https://bakersgas.com/products/miller-264575

Price crazy. And you'd still have all that smoke in the shop, landing on everything. Your shop looks too nice, and too clean, to stick weld truck frames in it. Just my 2 cents... Great project, though.
 
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