I have a 100 ft2 space that I grind metal in, my little sharpening trailer. There are days the air is clouded with abrasives and steel/iron/carbide...today was one of them. I have a big ventilation fan that I can bring fresh air in and exhaust the bad air most of the time. I don't run it in the dead of winter I would freeze, or when it is really hot (I'm wimpy, the trailer has a/c or I would burn up in July) or like today it was raining/hailing and I have to open a window, couldn't do it today.
I wear a dust mask, well most of the time ::), but it is not always doable. It fogs up my safety glasses...I will not do anything without them, so sometimes the mask has to go I have to see perfectly. I was wearing a mask today, but that did little for the fact my eyes are swollen and on fire. And really I inhaled plenty too, even with the mask, I can taste it on my tongue.
I know they make those hang from the ceiling shop dust collectors, but I have no headroom. I have to qualify this by saying I have 10lbs of stuff shoved in a 5 lb sack as it is, so floor space is not available. The trailer has a bulk head 2' from the double doors in the back. There is a window in it for the fan (and a window in the walk door) The a/c sits on the floor below the window. The walk space between the "stuff" is 2'.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/12216/trailer.jpg)
I could spare some space outside of the bulkhead, it is just storage, I could store the extra abrasives and whatnot elsewhere. I was thinking of some sort of recirculation deal. I could move my worst "polluters" nearer the back wall I think. Unless there is a better solution ? (low profile wall hanger ?) I am usually pretty good at figuring things like this out, but am kinda stumped. I know there has to be an easy and hopefully cheap ;) way to go about this. I am open to ideas if my explanation was good enough. I am not familiar with store bought products for this so I would even look that way.
I set up a window fan within my crowded shop, with a 20 x 20 furnace filter on the input side. It collects a lot of the fine dust floating in the air. Sets up a continuing air flow of air within the confined space. I use the same set-up when spray painting...pulling fresh air into a corrugated box and out through the filter on the intake side of the window fan.
May be something like this that will work for you.
See, I was over thinking it ;). $10 box fan , some furnace filters(they make some good ones) and duct tape, cheap and effective. They don't take up much space when not in use, and it is portable when I need it at a work station.
Problem solved, thanks beenthere.
Carbide is on the list of suspected carcinogens if inhaled like asbestos. My great uncle blew asbestos into submarines during wwii (industrial quantities) and has asbestosis symptoms at 90-91 years old. But he outlived all his brothers and 5 doctors so a good respirator wouldn't hurt. The guy who grinds our carbide uses a enclosed grinder with a liquid coolant to keep the dust down.
Daren,
Look in the for sale section, Osoloco had a metal dust collector with a drop box that I never went and got. It would work well for you.
Ironwood
Still for sale. Haven't gotten around to listing it on ebay yet....