Saw dust and wood dust are potential problems in all woodworking settings. Woodworking environments will always have wood and wood dust shavings, which can lead to many health and fire dangers.
What Is Wood Dust?
Wood dust is categorized as a particulate airborne pollutant. A precious tool like an industrial dust collector can be used to control dust from wood in many woodwork places. These dust collectors are designed specifically to remove particulate airborne pollutants at the foundation.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
OSHA identifies wood dust as a health and safety hazard. Continuously being exposed to wood dust can cause long-term health problems and can also irritate the skin, sinuses, and lungs.
Advantages of Dust Collectors
Other than just being good for the health, the industrial dust collector has many other benefits. The dust created from wood is a severe possible fire hazard. If it is heavily concentrated in the air and visible to a spark, it can cause an explosion. Secondly, if you are applying smooth finishes with wood, the dust in the air will always interfere and give you a finished product with many imperfections. Thirdly, machinery and power tools will have a shorter life span and wont function as well, with wood dust. This is because wood dust clogs up and affects the ability of machinery and tools to function.
Designing Dust Collectors
When creating an industrial dust collector for your woodshop, three factors must be considered. Firstly, how many cubic feet per minute of air drive is needed in your collection system in order to handle the wood dust output and your shops. Next, it is important you lay-out a system that assures your dust collector and shop tools provide supreme effectiveness for your requirements. Thirdly, you need to decide whether to use a single or dual phase collection system.
Single and Double Dust Collectors
A single dust collector tugs the wood fragments through an impeller and stores them in a collection bin or bag. A dual phase collector puts the larger pieces of wood in a bin, before they reach the impeller. The fine dust goes through the impeller and collects in a storage container. This means no pieces of metal or nails can get in and interrupt the process.