As far as the sanding table, yes I do have a support thru the center
It is just 2ft long 2x4's I used three and a piece of 1/2" pine board for
the front which is where the hole for the vac hose is. I put a center
support of 1" X 3". The pegboard holes are also great for holding dogs I use
dowel rod pieces for this.
The work tunes are a great idea I work for an airline so I have tons of
spongee ear plugs, they give us boxes of those cheap things but everyone
opts for the headset type so the spongees get taken home.
"Jay" wrote in message
om...
"searcher1" wrote in message
...
The 2 HP is the one that I "wood" (lame joke there) choose, however the
particle removal is only down to 30 microns. Also having a basement
woodshop
I have major dust problems. I have been able to reduce my dust by doing
several things.
1) I made a sanding table. a 2'x2'x4" box top is pegboard bottom is 1/4"
plywood I cut a hole the size of my vac hose. Now when I sand the vac
sucks
up most of the dust.
This can be noisy, yes but I bought a "quieter" vac.Also I bought a
hepa
filter for the vac.
Great idea... But how do you stiffen the top without affecting the
suction on the far side of the outlet, or is it inlet 
? I'd think
that a 2' span of pegboard would flex a bit.
2) I used an old box fan and mounted it on the ceiling raftors, attached
to
the fan is a furnace filter wrapped in cheese cloth. This helps filter
the
ambient air. and works very well for a cheap trick.
I keep meaning to try this, also makes me consider building a
hardboard box around my ceiling fans with some mosquito screen near
the roof and a filter underneath the fan. Set it to pull air upward
and it may just work!
Now instead of having heavy dust accumulation on everything it's down to
a
minimum whereas I was cleaning fine dust everyday now I only have to do
it
once a week, I do however have to vaccum the filter on the fan, but I
figure
I just open the garage door and get out the air hose and/or leaf
blower
in the filter, NOT in my lungs. Wearing those respirators is very
cumbersome
as I wear glasses.
Get a DustFoe 88 from Woodcraft ($29). It and my Peltor work tunes
have really got me to be more diligent about ear/lung safety. I have
glasses as well, but the dustfoe directs exhalation downward and is
super comfortable. It also has a dual-elastic strap that unclips in
the back so when you are not using it, it falls to your chest and
stays there. This makes you much more likely to use it. The Peltors
are comfortable and the radio makes you think of them more as a
walkman than hearing protection, so you might be more likely to use
them. Don't worry, the motors don't interfere with reception
I know these ideas are cheapees but they work and until I can afford
a
better shop with ventilation these will do.These are not my ideas I
searched
the web and got them.
On the plus side a better shop is in the works the place we are
looking
to buy has a great big modern 2 story barn. one big exhaust fan should
do
the trick!
Make sure to put in the pool on the other side of the barn
Rich
"Jeff" wrote in message
m...
I'm looking for opinions...
I just moved into a new apt that has a basement (shop). I've got a
nice sturdy bench, cheapy bench saw and various other tools (ROS being
the worst dust maker). I plan on getting some other stationary tools
and possibly replacing the table saw with a decent one soon. No
jointer or planer yet.
Man, you have a good landlord. When I was in an apartment, I had the
circular saw out for about a minute before I had the property manager
beating down the door.
The shop is about 12'x12' with very low (6'5") ceilings. My last
workshop was a porch, so i didn't worry about dust collection at all.
But my new shop is already covered in dust, and my lungs and throat
don't appreciate it either.
See the comments about the DustFoe above. Doesn't help with the mess,
but definitely works on your lungs. You may even find yourself wearing
it around during pollen or SARS season 
So I've been looking at my options... Think I've decided against a
shopvac because it's noisy and not as efficient at sucking dust.
Because my shop already feels small, I was thinking about a little DC
unit like this one:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=36853
Never noticed this one before. My shop vac is a pain in the ass
because it doesn't work so good (Its the "5.5HP" variety and still
doesn't suck up 25% of the dust, it just gives me less to sweep) and
is too big to fit under a cabinet, making it waste valuable space.
This little collector would fit well under my router in the table and
I could just aim the bag out of the opening. Thanks for the idea.
but for only $50 more, this seems like a good deal:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=45378
Is that overkill for my little, hobbiest shop? I mean that monster
will take up a lot of room! I'm leaning toward the first one because
I don't think I make all that much dust... Any words of wisdom for
me?
You won't be in an apartment forever, unless you live in the
northeast! If so, move down here to texas and buy a big old house for
less than you were renting for up north
Thanks
Your welcome