What are the backyard guys doing about dust in the “bay” after the foam has been mowed? I know you could spend as much as you’d like on dust control (i.e. air filters, hoses, exhaust fans, vacs, etc.) but let’s say you didn’t have all the cool stuff. I don’t think I’m alone in that I only have one room to shape and glass in.
How long should I wait after I’m finished shaping to let the dust settle before I start glassing it? Or should I vacuum the whole bay every time I need to glass? Or should I leave the door and window open for a week?
Anyone have any practical advice for avoiding dust in the glass job without spending a mint on a cyclone?
Start with a good shop vac connected to your planer. If you can find a gable end exhaust fan installed at the end of the shaping bay that will suck out a good portion of the dust that the shop vac leaves in the air. If you don’t want to cut into the walls of the shaping bay to install the gable end fan a good box fan will also work. Install a filter on either of these to keep the neighbors happy. Finally get an air scrubber and install it hanging from the ceiling along one of your walls.
If you don’t want to spend the money on an air scrubber one can be constructed for very little money. Start by scrounging a squirrel fan from a A/C unit, install it in a plywood box and put a filter on the inlet. Cheap and easy considering that they can go for $300-$400 from a tool supply store. Turn the scrubber on before you start shaping and for an hour or more after you are done for the day
I work in an 8x14 backyard shed that doubles as my bicycle and yard tools shed. When I’m done shaping a board the shaped board goes safely in the house. Next I do a full clean out of the shed using a broom, shop vac and a leaf blower to try to get as much dust out of there before I switch over to glassing mode. If I’m doing a gloss coat and really want to get dust free I mist the entire inside of the shed with a fine mist of hot water in a spray bottle to prep the space. The mist grabs ahold of any floating dust and sinks it to the ground and it also prevents you from kicking up dust. Generally I shape on Saturday and glass on Sunday.
I have an exhaust fan at ground level and i hang a box fan in the doorway to create an air current. I also made a filter with another box fan and an AC filter, hanging over the rack.
lol But where i go wrong is i hate hoses attached to my planer, so im spraying the whole room. id rather wait 3 days to glass.
Building on what Surfifty said. I built a small cyclone seperator (the kind that fits on a 5 gallon bucket) that is connected between the planer and the shop vac. It makes a huge difference in keeping the bag in my shop vac from filling quickly and clogging.
I have a place for the dirty work, the shaping and sanding, and a place for glassing. My shaping space is under my house so getting dirty isn’t a problem, but it’s open and can get a little wind blowing through. I use a shop vac connected to a 5 gallon cyclone dust collector. My planer and sanders have vacuum attachments, but any sanding or shaping without the vacuum makes a mess. The cyclone is worth buying, I think mine was under $100 USD. The way I make boards, I can generate 2 buckets of foam dust before I’m done.
I glass indoors where I have control over the wind.
Like I said above (post#3) I use a 5gal cyclone seperator. You can buy the DustDeputy, but I made mine based on the design at www.jpthien.com. His design is for a full size garbage can, but I found an article @ www.woodworkingtalk.com named “Forget the Dust Deputy” where he provides detailed instructions on making one sized for a standard 5 gallon paint bucket. It was "easy-peasy to make. Mine works really well & I actually made a second one from a 7 gallon chlorine bucket that the pool guys use. There real hard to find though as the pool guys don’t want to “part with them”. Also, when I’m shaping I use a small 1hp dust collector from Grizzly Tools instead of a shop vac. It has better draw & is much quieter than hearing the “banshee whine” of a shop vac.
If I wanted to get more serious about my dust collection what kind of slinky dust hose should I be looking for? The kind that stretches and recoils. I know foam EZ has the one but I want to see more options.
That’s the reason I make such a mess. I ditched the hose and vac because it gets in the way too much.
The vac hose can be a pain in the ass, but not having the mess can be worth it. I think the best thing is having enough height in your room to mount the hose up high above the board and then use the type that stretches. My hose is long and doesn’t stretch, and my workspace has only inches above my head, so I’ve had to deal with the hose being a problem.
I haven’t glassed in the same room that I do the shaping and sanding in for years. I think it’s better to have a separate room for resin work.
With limited space to work around and no “dedicated space”, I’ve been trying different set-ups myself, but the latest version has me shaping & sanding outside and glassing inside the garage. Fortunately, I have a large deck over the the front of my garage deck, so I drape a giant black tarp from Harbor freight over the edge, weighted down at the bottom. I also had built a couple of sidelights from led shop lights mounted on the adjustable stands from roller stands. They’re height adjustable & work really well. To keep the hose overhead ( and out of the way), I built a frame that spans across the room from pvc pie(3/4"). I didn’t glue it (so it can be taken apart when I’m done) and I use a large caribeener on the overhead horizontal part with the planer hose running through it.
This setup works great for me except on days when it’s very windy and then the tarp flaps. The first time with this setup, I also glassed & it was problematic as it seemed to get wndy everytime I decided to do a cheat coat or hot coat. I’ve finally got a space cleared in the garage, so for my next build, I will be able to do all glassing indoors.
I do all my boards in small to ultra small rooms. Nowadays I have a good aiir system + vacuum on real sander but before I do all with no precaution or cleaning with no drama. So clean brush dust on board and lam.
I used to shape and glass in a 10x12’ shed in Oceano, Ca. No problem doing both in the same room. Shaped a few, blew everything out the door, swept everything out and started glassing. Never had a problem. Even did gloss. I learned early on to not paint in the same room though. Overspray on a shaped blank is a “no-no”. Did my painting outside in the Central Coast sun. Having said that; A decent, low db vacuum like the Fein and a homemade or purchased “Cyclone” is a good investment and the solution to dust. Somebody recently gave me a whole house vacuum. The type that is installed in new homes. When the home was sold a new vacuum system was installed. The old vacuum was left in the garage and the new home owner gave it to me. Took it back to my shop, hooked it up and it worked great. Strong vacuum,low db and has a built in cyclone. SCORE!!