Basement Help Sawing

[Reaper]

Hey guys, question for you.I live in New Jersey and we don't usually have warm winters. Dec,Jan, Feb and some of March can be cold. My shop is in my garage and not heated. So that means no sawing in the winter. I want to make a small room almost like a large closet in my basement so that I could saw in the winter months in heat. Ahh heat. I would probably be about 15 feet from an outside wall. Heres my question. What kind of exhaust system would I use? I don't want the sawdust thru the rest of my house. The room I will make will be as air tight as I could make it. Would I need something to go outside or do they make something for inside the room? As always any help you can give me will be appreciated.......Dave

[Dan26]

I have my scroll saw in the basement right now for the same reason. I don't have it in its own room, it just sits in a corner. I have a box fan with a filter and it removes about 95% of the dust. What the filter doesn't catch falls on the floor below the saw and fan. It can be a little noisy for the wife upstairs, but mainly because I like to listen to music when sawing. I haven't had any issues with dust getting into the house vents. Hope this is useful info.

[Becky]

I was thinking of the box fan idea too when I read this but I don't scroll inside so I didn't know how effective it would be.  Sounds like it works pretty well.

I'm just impressed that you're willing to lug the thing up and down from the basement!

[MOONIE]

I agree with Dan.  I have a basemnet 'shop'  that I petitioned off and made as tight as I could.  I use two box fans with furnace filters attached. Typically only one is running, except when I'm sanding alot.   No dust in the rest of the house. Bythat I mean,  the wife hasn't complained 

[woodtinkergary]

Hi,Dave, I too have my scroll saw and a belt sander in my basment  in a 10 x 10 area that is divided off with just clear shower curtains hanging from floor joints, it keeps dust down just  in the area of the shop. I don't use a fan , I do use shop vac attached to everything , just a small one thou.  Hope it helps, wtg.

[cameronj]

Like many of you, I just have a table in part of the basement.  On it, I have my scrollsaw, drill press, etc.  From the ceiling, I have a portable air filtering system hanging (Lee Valley product).  Before I start cutting or sanding, I turn it on to start the air movement.  I let it run for 10 more minutes after I'm done making dust.  The filter needs cleaning off regularly.  It takes care of most of the dust...the rest falls on the table and floor.

[Reaper]

Thanks for the help. It seems I don't have to build a room after all. I think I will try the curtains to limit the dust and the fan.Thanks again.....Dave

[Graywolf]

My saw us also in the basement, about 10 feet from our computers. I don't use a fan or anything. The dust just seems to fall stright dow into a cup (for lack of a better term) for the most part. When I started using FD blades the dust seems and feels like powder and does't fly so bad. There is a little around the legs of the saw, but not that much. I do vacume after every project though.

[multifasited]

I hate to be the one to let in too much lite,but ,your breathing that stuff,you really should use a good mask,It's the dust you can not see thats the real problem,stay away from mbf and exotic s some of those are toxic.
Filteration especially in confined areas is very important ,I don't have a dog in this fight ,I don't sell anything ,just be careful ,That stuff is really bad for you!!

[Retired Coastie]

Hey guys, question for you.I live in New Jersey and we don't usually have warm winters. Dec,Jan, Feb and some of March can be cold. My shop is in my garage and not heated. So that means no sawing in the winter. I want to make a small room almost like a large closet in my basement so that I could saw in the winter months in heat. Ahh heat. I would probably be about 15 feet from an outside wall. Heres my question. What kind of exhaust system would I use? I don't want the sawdust thru the rest of my house. The room I will make will be as air tight as I could make it. Would I need something to go outside or do they make something for inside the room? As always any help you can give me will be appreciated.......Dave

Dave! Here is a link to the air filter I built using a furnace fan and 4 air filters. You can scale it down for your needs and space. The intake filters are standard filters and the exhaust is a HEPA filter. The fan I got for free from the guy that services our A/C & Heater system. It has 3 speeds and it works very very well. The case is plywood & poplar.

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/23971

[multifasited]

That will certainly take care of it ,another option would be to build a down draft sanding table ,same principle ,filters ahead of the fan though ,in small area may get more use ,serving both needs ,just leave it run when your sawing .

[Scroll Down]

Like the AC fan design. Just the thing on my budget.

Could you use something like a.silk screen for a filter? The fine mesh would stop small dust particles and they wash out with water.

[Retired Coastie]

Like the AC fan design. Just the thing on my budget.

Could you use something like a.silk screen for a filter? The fine mesh would stop small dust particles and they wash out with water.

I'm not sure what micron the silk screen is. It's the particles you cant see that wind up in your lungs. In my air filter the 2 filters on the intake side take out most of the particles and increase the life of the HEPA filter. The HEPA filter on the exhaust side take out the rest.

[mrsn]

My shop is in the basement. I recently moved and had to build walls around where the shop would be. Since the walls were not first on the priority list I used plastic sheeting and old sheets hung from the joists for a while. My husband hated the sheets more then the dust that I would make so my walls got moved up the list quite quickly. LOL. I use a shop vac frequently and have a box-fan-filter.
we have found that just the scroll saw doesn't make too much dust. It is sanding that really creates dusty problems.

also, enjoy being in the basement. I originally move my saw in the basement "just for the winter" and never went back out. Now the only things left in the garage are the table saw and planer.