Do fan filters work??

My father and I use a similar set up in our garage shop. Works really well.

-- The wood often tells me what it wants to be... great... now the voices in my head have company....;-P

The last photo says it all. I am impressed.

-- When All Else Fails ... Hit Delete

Hey, whatever works to get that dreaded saw dust picked up. I am amazed the amount of dust that settles on the tools and such, “After” I shut down the shop for the night. In the morning it looks like someone was working in there while I slept.

-- Larry in Hawaii,

I’ve been holding on to a box fan and spare filter for quite some time trying to decide on whether or not to proceed with this project, proceed I shall. Thanks for the post !

I have recently installed a air filtration system and was very surprised how much it has on the inlet filters. I use a central vac system for almost all my tools and couldm’t belive it. I’m a big believer now! Well done.

-- Ken, "Everyday above ground is a good day!"

Thanks for the post. I have been seeing this alot and wondered how much it really did. My shop is in the garage attached to the house and like posted above dust is every where the next morning.

I was thinking about adding a filter to a fan, I see that it works pretty well

-- steve, simple and effective woodworking---etsy.com/shop/SussmanWoodworking--

We use two in our little shop creating a slight circular air flow. The filters get changed about once a month because they always look as bad as your picture. I was amazed when we started using the fans at how dirty they get. We have a nice DC set up and still get that much. Makes one wonder about just constantly wearing a respirator.

-- Darren... Hmmmm, I got nothin.

I have a 2 cycle dust collector connected to my radial saw and still my fan with filter mounted similar to yours collects dust. At first I tried just using a piece of screen wire as a filter which could be vacuumed clean but decided the cheap air filters work better.

-- Max - Birmingham, AL

Nice job. This is a great post. Look at how many have said they will now make one or the testimony for the one they already have. Thank you George
Sign me up – guess I know what I am making this weekend.

-- (the only thing in there she says is....tap on head..........tap..........tap..... saw dust) - James www.etsy.com/shop/ZionsWoodnCrafts

Howdy Prez. You’ve got me sold. I was thinking about suspending a couple of units in the garage. The planning is over.

-- Thanks for all the lessons!

Cheap solution to a problem we all face

-- "All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then Success is sure." Mark Twain

It looks impressive, but all it does is gives you peace of mind. Doesn’t help your lungs.
The finer particles, (1-5 microns) the ones that hurt your lungs, are just being recirculated.
I don’t believe household filters are enough to trap the harmful particulates. And even if you have a fine filter, you need to be recycling it in your shop many times an hour to remove it. A typical fan is not going to do this.
This is pretty good explanation.
From Rockler
http://www.rockler.com/how-to/dealing-fine-woodshop-dust/

well the article does recommend a Jet system that filters particles by pulling them through a filter just like this home version does. I would say it would depend on what type of filter you have no? Electrostatic filter that can handle particles down to 5 microns strapped to a fan, should filter right? Spend more on filters, save your lungs is an arguement that could be made. I like the idea of the home versions with the squirrel type blowers in them because volume of air is a consideration i agree. But as the article says, the small stuff can stay in air for 30 min so if what you have is a box fan, leave it running after you are done and pick up what you can out of the air. This would stop it from landing and then being stirred back up next time you are in the shop.

-- Growing a full beard is proven to instantly improve your handtool skills...

The discussion above had me interested, so I checked out Rockler’s website. Per the website, the Jet air filters that they sell catch 98% of particles 5 microns in size and 85% of particles 1 micron in size. So, the “professional” air filters are not catching everything. It only would make sense that as long as you used a good filter, or even put a jet filter over a box fan, you’d be catching the same percentages of fine particles that passed thru the filter. In that case, I don’t see a reason to buy a big metal box with a fan in it that costs $700. I like the box fan idea, though it may not work quite as quickly, it should work just fine with the right filter.

-- The Wood Is Your Oyster