Workshop updates 2012

[Sawdust Maker]

We have fluoros above all our lathes and mills at work and in 40 odd years I have never seen the fluoro problem. I understand that is because there is always more than one fluoro on in the room at the same time. An old techie told me that the easiest way to get around the fluoro flicker issue is to have another non fluoro light on nearby. It doesn't take much of a light to do this.

agreed

but the effect, when you see it, is very interesting
maybe one should Utube it for interest sake

[BobL]

agreed

but the effect, when you see it, is very interesting
maybe one should Utube it for interest sake

I've seen it many times but not in the workshop. We have a bunch of strobe lights at work and we run demos of the synching effect for students.

[BobR]

Well done - nice shop.

[bj383ss]

Thank you guys for all the kind words.

Today I am posting a shopmade air cleaner I just finished. I got the blower motor for free it is out of a house HVAC. This thing moves some air even on low speed. It has 3 speeds but I only need low. Only thing I purchased for this project was 2 air filters. A regular pleated 3M 1500 Filtrete for the pre filter and a 95% 5 pocket filter for the main. The filters cost me $40. These things go for $300-$400 for store bought brands so I am happy about my investment.

Here is the blower. From what I have read on the internet based on the size of the squirrel cage fan this thing moves 1200 cfm which I assume is on high speed.

Attachment 198611Attachment 198612Attachment 198613

I made a box to go around it. It measures 14.5" H x 25.5" W x 34.5"L. All the plywood is recycled from a display from work.

Attachment 198614Attachment 198616

One side of the box has 2 sides. The motor is mounted to one and the other one comes off to access the filters. I put a piece of foam between them to seal. The motor is mounted with carriage bolts.
Attachment 198617

Here are the spacers for the filters.
Attachment 198618

I decided to paint the blower motor because the previous owner smoked cigars and it had a stink to it.
Attachment 198619Attachment 198620

Mounted on the ceiling. I bolted 2 x 4's to the ceiling joist with 4" lag screws and then put 3" lag eye screws into the 2x 4's. The S hooks it is hanging from are rated for 90lbs each. I think the whole cabinet weighs about 50 lbs. I had to lower the light that was hanging in the same spot as the air cleaner was blocking the light.
Attachment 198621Attachment 198622
Attachment 198623Attachment 198624

I just simply plugged it into a power strip mounted on my miter bench. I want to hookup a timer so I can leave it on for a few hours after I leave the shop.
Attachment 198625

I still need to a finish on it. I can't decide whether to paint it blue to match my new cabinets or white. What do you guys think?

Bret

[BobL]

Good job Brett. I personally like the bare wood look.
BTW they are really good prices for the filters, here in Australia they cost quite a bit more.
I made many similar wooden and plastic squirrel cage fan filter housings in the 1980s when I was setting up clean air labs at work so it brought back many memories see your pics.

In case you are not aware those squirrel cage blowers are capable of blowing air through HEPA filters (which have efficiencies of >99.95% at 0.3 microns or larger). While it doesn't sound like there is a lot of difference between 95 and 99.95% it means they can scrub the air in a shop much faster. They have a huge surface area so can pump out a lot of air, but the down side is that they cost more, need better pre-filtering, and cannot be cleaned. Properly protected they can last for about 5-7 years.

I was fortunate to pick up a 14 smoke damaged 2 x 4 ft, 99.99 and 99.997% HEPA filters from work. I kept 4 for myself and tried really hard to give the others away but not many people seemed interested. I managed to give 6 away but the others were eventually damaged beyond repair and had to be thrown out. I have installed one of the filters in my shed and have another squirrel cage motor/fan assembly in my garage awaiting a setup similar to what you have done. When I have both of them up and running I should be able to generate the cleanest air in just about any home shop.

[crowie]

Thank you guys for all the kind words.

Today I am posting a shopmade air cleaner I just finished. I got the blower motor for free it is out of a house HVAC. This thing moves some air even on low speed. It has 3 speeds but I only need low. Only thing I purchased for this project was 2 air filters. A regular pleated 3M 1500 Filtrete for the pre filter and a 95% 5 pocket filter for the main. The filters cost me $40. These things go for $300-$400 for store bought brands so I am happy about my investment.

Here is the blower. From what I have read on the internet based on the size of the squirrel cage fan this thing moves 1200 cfm which I assume is on high speed.

Attachment 198611Attachment 198612Attachment 198613

I made a box to go around it. It measures 14.5" H x 25.5" W x 34.5"L. All the plywood is recycled from a display from work.

Attachment 198614Attachment 198616

One side of the box has 2 sides. The motor is mounted to one and the other one comes off to access the filters. I put a piece of foam between them to seal. The motor is mounted with carriage bolts.
Attachment 198617

Here are the spacers for the filters.
Attachment 198618

I decided to paint the blower motor because the previous owner smoked cigars and it had a stink to it.
Attachment 198619Attachment 198620

Mounted on the ceiling. I bolted 2 x 4's to the ceiling joist with 4" lag screws and then put 3" lag eye screws into the 2x 4's. The S hooks it is hanging from are rated for 90lbs each. I think the whole cabinet weighs about 50 lbs. I had to lower the light that was hanging in the same spot as the air cleaner was blocking the light.
Attachment 198621Attachment 198622
Attachment 198623Attachment 198624

I just simply plugged it into a power strip mounted on my miter bench. I want to hookup a timer so I can leave it on for a few hours after I leave the shop.
Attachment 198625

I still need to a finish on it. I can't decide whether to paint it blue to match my new cabinets or white. What do you guys think?

Bret

What a top job you've made of the workshop air filter, Bret.
Costing is excellant and you can be sure of having heaps less dust floating around in your work area getting deposited on everything.
I mounted two "commerical units' in a school woodwork classroom a number of years back; they were the "D.T. Teachers" majors purchase for the program for the year.
No chance of something so good in my under-house mess-shop [lol].
Again well done, Bret.
Cheers, crowie

PS - paint the ply the same colour as the ceiling so it blends in.

[Christos]

Great work in the updates to the shop.

[bj383ss]

Hello All,

Some more updates for the shop. I finally finished all the drawers and installed them. All thats left now is a maple face frame for the front of the cabinet and the false drawer fronts which will be made from birch ply and edged with Maple and then stained Walnut to match the cabinet under my main workbench.

Drawer build
Attachment 201511Attachment 201512

Box joint jig
Attachment 201513Attachment 201515

Box Joint
Attachment 201514

Slides installed
Attachment 201516
Drawers installed
Attachment 201517Attachment 201518

That's it for now.

Bret

[robbo37]

Brilliant job, when can you come over and do mine/
Robbo37

[BobL]

To quote Little Britain, "I want that one"

I'm just about to build a lathe bench and this is pretty much what I had in mind.

[Christos]

Quite a lot of work done and yes you do need to cover the gaps with the draw fronts.

[crowie]

Brilliant job, when can you come over and do mine/
Robbo37

Yes Bret has a top woodwork shop & does beaut work so you'll have to join the que for his time & expertise in your shed..........LOL

[cintamate]

Hi, I was reading your shed changes posted in 2010 and wondered about the dimensions of your shed?
Looks like a tight fit.
I'm planing on fixing up my workshop which double as a garage.I have a Triton workbench and router table. I built my own wooden workbench have circular saw and some other small machines. So I'm interested in your capacity.
regards

[cintamate]

OOps I see you joined in 2010 and your thread began in January this year.

[bj383ss]

Cintamate,

My garage measures 19' deep by 17' wide. Not that big really. Most garages over here in the states are 20' x 20'. But you gotta be happy with whatever space you have. It looks it little tight in the photos but I have plenty of room to work and can even put a full sheet of plywood on my sawhorses and break it down with the circ saw. However it is a one man shop. Things get crowded if their are two. Look forward to seeing pics of your shop!

Bret