Dust Collection

[Just Me]

I had a Kalamazoo that was biting me like that. I rigged up a ground strap like you used to see on old cars to take the static off of the belt. Machine is long gone now so I can't take any pics, but it was simple and it worked.

Larry

[Just Me]

On the subject of dust explosions, it will "probably" not happen in a home shop. A lot of the guys on here are small commercial and it is a lot more likely in that setting. I know of two in shops the size of mine. One was an article in a trade magazine years ago that made me study up. Blew all the walls right out of a small cabinet shop like mine. The other was a local shop that burned. It blew out one wall, and there was nothing in the shop that would have caused an explosion of that magnitude, other than dust. The local fire chief had never heard of secondary dust explosions, blamed a water heater. But everything was blown into the wall that the water heater was behind. The guys shop was a dust nightmare.

The only ones we hear about are the huge ones where people die, as that is good news material, Small country fire chiefs often do no even know about the phenomenon. From my research I learned that my shop was a prime candidate. Two overhead gas box heaters, exposed beam ceilings, poor dust collection, 55x20 storage loft with tons of fine dust. All it would have taken in a furnace malfunctioning.

It is interesting, there are actually as many as four explosions in indecernably rapid succession when dust blows out a building. In my case it could have been the heater, every once in a while they would light with a "whump" The original blast unsettles existing dust, that explosion unsettles more dust, and so on till the walls blow if there is enough fuel.

The likely hood of the conditions all being just right are slim, but by eliminating just one of the five conditions needed there is no risk at all. I fixed my heaters, cleaned up the 2" of dust on my beams and cleaned up the attic. Death by fire is not how I want to go.

The size of the building makes no difference, its the conditions. Like I said, we only hear about the big ones because of the media, and they are the only ones that get investigated. The two mills that blew up in BC recently got a lot of press because people died and the pictures were impressive on the 5 oclock news.

I'm not saying the sky is falling, just that a small amount of cleanup can get rid of the risk. There are some new regs coming down the line that are a bit too extreme for accumilated dust. Hope they back off a bit, but if you have a business that hires employees you might want to figure out ways to cut down on accumilated dust before they go into effect.

[Busy Beaver Lumber]

Just Me

I am 100% in favor of what you are advocating....good maintenance.  Even with dust collection systems at both of my facilities, I never ceased to be amazed at just how much dust escapes them.

At the home shop, at least 4 of 5 times a year, I open both garage door and set up two large fans blowing outside. I then use a compressor with a 3 foot extension wand, start at the back of the shop, and blow everything off in the shop. It is amazing the cloud of dust that leaves, even though I do it several times a year.

At our building where we bundle firewood and run the sawmill, jointer, and planer, the same it pretty much true, although with the taller ceilings and a lot less places for dust to collect, I don't get nearly the dust cloud as I do at home. Those 3 foot wands come in handy for blowing stuff off and at the building i made a longer wand using a piece of pcv to get the rafters and hard to reach higher places. Insurance agent likes the idea that I do this as well to eliminate dust buildups.

[scleigh]

For now, I only have the jointer connected to the dust collector, but hope to add a 20" planer in the future. My building is not insulated, has a cement floor and has a 14' vaulted ceiling. If I use a wood stove to heat the building, am I asking for trouble?

[beenthere]

Might be in trouble if you are venting the dust collector outside... likely will pull smoke back down the chimney.  But provide make-up air for the draft in the wood stove and it might work ok. Then will just be blowing heat out through the dust collector. There may be designs that will work around this, with air exchangers built in the system.

What do you have in mind for the dust collector and the wood stove?

[thechknhwk]

I like this thread.  Something I hope to be dealing with in the near future.  Could you guys post some pics of your grounding setups?

[mesquite buckeye]

Hook your dust collector up to your forge and you can have a real blast. ;D

BOOM BLAST, that is. ;D 8) 8) 8)

[scleigh]

I've got a 2hp Grizzly dust collector and an older Fisher wood stove. The wood stove will not be burning at the same time the dust collector is running very often. The stove will be used maybe a few times a week, dust collector less often. I think keeping the area clean will go a long way.