Thread: New work shop set up - wet/dry vacuum???

Originally Posted by biggest_kid

1) I (and my girlfriend) would prefer not to drill through the wall to vent, so that is out of the question.

Could you vent up through the roof? This would get rid of the heat inside at the end of a hot day

2) I could open the external door and place the unit outside, but this is a fairly large inconvenience.
- It would mean I would need longer hoses to connect to my tools, which I'm guessing would mean less effective suction. It also means I cannot work with the roller door open as the dogs would escape.

3) I could leave the external door partially cracked and try to vent outside using some pipe/ducting out through the gap.
- Solves the dog problem but then I have to find somewhere to store the pipe/ducting and some way to vent the vac (shroud, etc).

4) Should I just build some folding saw horses with my new work bench and move all cutting tasks outside and leave the work bench for assembly tasks, etc?
- Solves the dust problem at it's source, but seems like a waste of effort putting in my beautiful fold out work bench.
- Also I live in Far North Queensland, and it is ridiculously hot here during summer so can be tough conditions to work outside in. That is if it's not raining, which is more than likely is (that's the tropics for you).

I would go for #4 and for when its raining #3. If you get some 50 mm hose you can use a vac over relatively long lengths and not lose much suction. You could even make an easily removable panel say 100mm high and as long as the doorway is wide that you can seal the roller doorway down onto the panel. Insert a flange in the door way to connect hoses to either side.

A W&D vac is not going to provide enough fine dust capture for working over extended periods ie a whole afternoon and you will have to find a way to better ventilate that space. A couple of bath room fans will do it but their are better relatively low cost options available that you could put into a slightly bigger panel as long as there is a way for fresh air to get into the shed preferably on the opposite wall to the door - is there some sort of doorway into the house?

Welcome to the forum kid.

My father was in a rented place so he took the door out, got another door and put a 16" fan into it. He put the original door back in when he moved out. No holes in the wall. Something like this.
https://www.canarm.com/agriculture/v...aust-fans.html

No windows in the garage?

Pete

Can't really vent into the ceiling as then I would just be filling the ceiling with dust, which I imagine could become a fire hazard if enough dust accumulated on down lights or other electrical components. Venting into the ceiling would also look hideous.

For #3 I actually meant leave the small external door cracked, not the roller door, but I think your principle still applies. And yes there is a door into the house; like mentioned in the first post there is the roller door on the front wall for vehicle access, an internal door into the house, and an external door on the back wall out to the back lawn.

I should probably also have mentioned I do not plan on doing massive jobs, so should not be doing a huge amount of cutting inside. For example I am planning on making a dog house soon with some 70x35mm pine rails, so you know maybe about 20 cuts for that? The rest of the work will then be assembly.

Would the little bit of fine dust that makes it through the HEPA filter on the vac be significant enough to cause an issue? Maybe venting outside for the small amount of work I will be doing is over kill? Like I said anything has got to be better than nothing.

If I do not lose too much suction I'm thinking I might just try sitting the vac outside and using a slightly longer hose to connect to the circular/jig saw. Maybe buy 4-5m of 38mm clear vinyl tubing for the hose so there is no ribs to disrupt airflow and hopefully counter the suction-loss from the longer hose a bit. Being clear I will also be able to see any blockages. That way everything will be vented outside.

If that fails I may just have to suck it up and do #4.

Comment
Ryobi equipment is meant for the hobby/DIY rather than the trade market. As such there is no expectation that the HEPA filter will remain effective for any length of time.
I suspect that sanding will be your major source of fine dust. Does the Ryobi easily connect to sanders?

I quite like the idea of replacing the rear door with one with a large integral fan or a large opening like a stable door. That arrangement allows you to open the garage door and get some cross ventilation.

Don't overlook putting a decent draft seal on the door into the house. Doing that way should minimise dust entering the living space.

Originally Posted by biggest_kid

Can't really vent into the ceiling as then I would just be filling the ceiling with dust, which I imagine could become a fire hazard if enough dust accumulated on down lights or other electrical components. Venting into the ceiling would also look hideous.

I wasn't suggesting just venting into the ceiling but installing a chimney that vents it right through the roof - I can't see why it would look hideous - no more hideous than a bathroom exhaust fan.

For #3 I actually meant leave the small external door cracked, not the roller door, but I think your principle still applies. And yes there is a door into the house; like mentioned in the first post there is the roller door on the front wall for vehicle access, an internal door into the house, and an external door on the back wall out to the back lawn.

In that case I would try to always work with both the roller and back doors open as this should flush the fine dust out on all except calm days. Still locate the vac outside downstream of the prevailing wind.

If I do not lose too much suction I'm thinking I might just try sitting the vac outside and using a slightly longer hose to connect to the circular/jig saw. Maybe buy 4-5m of 38mm clear vinyl tubing for the hose so there is no ribs to disrupt airflow and hopefully counter the suction-loss from the longer hose a bit. Being clear I will also be able to see any blockages. That way everything will be vented outside.

50 mm hose will be significantly better than 38 mm.
While 38 mm is only 25% smaller in radius it will have more than twice the resistance of 50 mm hose.

Welcome to the forum.