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 Will a dust collector clean the air I breathe in my shop? The two areas we get the most questions are home woodworking shop Dust Collection and clean air. The reason I say two areas is because shop Dust Collection and clean air in the shop are separate issues. A woodshop Dust Collector's main purpose is to help keep the shop clean and tidy by collecting saw dust from the woodworking machine(s) and putting it in a container or collector bag for later disposal. Contrary to popular belief, a Dust Collector does not take saw dust, especially small particles, out of the air you breathe - it is the separate task of an Air Filtration System to do so. If you have a Dust Collection System (and possibly even using 5 micron filter bags) and think because your shop looks cleaner that it is a safe environment in which to work, think again. Those small wood dust particles in the air (some too small to see) are coating the walls of your lungs the same way saw dust coats the inside of the Dust Collector bags. That's a scary thought. So, in a wood shop the only way to have a cleaner looking shop AND cleaner air to breathe is with a combination of a Dust Collector System and a separate Air Filtration System. This might sound like it could be expensive, but it actually isn't - especially when you consider what your good health is worth. A good 600 CFM Air Filtration System will filter the air in an average size 20' x 20' shop about every 5 minutes or 12 times per hour. This size unit can cost about $199 to $239. It's certainly a down-right cheap investment for any woodworker (and may even help give you a few more healthy years of woodworking!). For the past 5 to 10 years that Dust Collectors have become popular in home woodshops. There has been a lot of misunderstanding and YES even misinformation coming from distributors and manufacturers about what exactly a Dust Collector does. I hope this information helps set the record straight. |
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