DIY Dust Collector For Cleaner Workshop Air
A lot of dust can be generated in the workshop, especially with power tools. The dust is neither healthy nor pleasant to breathe. Effective air filtration in small workshops need not be expensive or complicated, here we show how to make a cheap effective versatile air filter for dust and particles from a box fan, furnace filter(s), and 3-D printed clips (or the handyman’s secret weapon: duct tape). For years in our wood shop we’ve used this 20″ box fan with a fine 20″ wide furnace filter taped over the back or inlet side of the fan. Having served us long and well she’s past retirement condition, so I worked in some upgrades while replacing it. I love duct tape as much as the next hacker or DIY’er (RIP Red Green), but I never liked its permanence in this application. The fan made a great air filter but no longer could easily be used to move more air for ventilation, so I designed and 3D printed some simple brackets that allow easy placement, removal, and exchange of different filters on two of our fans. At home I also use the more fiberous high flow air filters to collect the majority of over spray when spray painting. I designed the bracket in FreeCAD, 3D printed it and a mirror copy in Polymaker PLA on the makerspace’s Quidi 3 Plus 3D printer. The source FreeCAD file, STL, and Step files are included in this zip. The part is simple, but I was sure to design in generous tolerances and an access hole for the screwdriver needed to install the part (two concepts I wish the VORON team had embraced as well as Prusa has). I had to select longer sheet metal screws from the makerspace’s generous eclectic fastener collection, as the stock screws were only long enough to hold the grating on, with no length to spare. Now filters are easily dropped into the brackets and removed. There is no need for a tight fit in the brackets as when the fan is on the filter is drawn tightly to the rear grating. So happy with the first one, I printed and installed a second set on the other fan. I noticed a slight difference in the dimensions of the second fans plastic grating caused the brackets to be bent outward slightly. I could have updated the dimensions of the design and printed another set, or I could have used a knife to shave a little plastic off the edge of the fan grating, but I decided the easiest thing to do would be use a heat gun to deform the brackets on the fan, which could even have been done with a hair dryer on PLA. Bonus content: Big Feet You may have noticed that we replaced our fan’s feet with boards. We find the fans are far less likely to tip, blow, or get knocked over in the shop with the broader base, which also turns out to be more durable than the stock plastic fan feet. (The first thing I ever designed for 3D printing was a replacement foot for a 20″ box fan ) Note the base extends farther from the back of the fan than the front to better handle the force of the airflow. One fan has a base held on with zip ties, the other employs sheet metal screws. One of the zip ties had broken, that was an easy repair. While I had the back grating off I replaced the broken zip tie through the spacer we fortunately had not lost, tightened, and cut off the plastic end with end nippers so as not to leave sharp corners. The other fan had not yet had its base replaced but Tom and I decided to re-use the base from a fan that we wore out last year and chose to install it with more sheet metal screws. We carefully aligned the foot to the bottom of the fan and clamped the foot to the table, then punched the hole locations to the sheet metal. After drilling the pilot holes (not pictured) we selected four matching broad head short sheet metal screws and assembled the fan base. Voila! Two affordable versatile shop air filters with the bonus of a sturdy base. What will you make at your makerspace? The post DIY Dust Collector For Cleaner Workshop Air first appeared on Workshop88 .