# MDF Dust Disposal



## CABBY (31 Mar 2007)

Hi, How do you guys/girls dispose of mdf dust. What is the safest way. :?: Also do you occassionally wash down your workshop to remove the really fine dust, is there some way to actually prevent this.


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## Guy (31 Mar 2007)

The dust i get is usually from the festool vac, so place those in the bin, dust from the floor i usulay mix it with old engine oil and turps and once it becomes a solid mass place in the rubbish bin.


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## Intarsiaplans (8 Apr 2007)

I rarely use mdf...now to think of it had to make a curved shelf long ago, but the dust i try to get rid of it straight away caus it is a health hazard even when fallen on the floor i clean the floor straight away.

Danny


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## Anonymous (8 Apr 2007)

Hi Cabby,

Total dust removal from a scroll saw is extremely hard to achieve as dust is ejected from both the top and the bottom of the cut.
Some saws have dust extraction ports but this only deals with half of the problem.
I cut a lot of MDF and was very concerned when I read that the smallest particle the human eye can see is about 10 microns.
Dust that is harmful to us the most is the dust we can't even see !
As a point of interest, many freestanding workshop dust extractors only filter down to about 10 microns which means that harmful smaller particles are being recirculated through the extractors dust filter bag and back into the workshop. So, if dust is a concern and you don't mind paying a bit more, go for an extractor that filters out down to 1 micron.

I personally extract my dust straight through an outside wall as it's far more efficient with no chance of dust being recirculated through dust filter bags.
I originally had just a single heavy duty 'Squirrel' fan about 18 inches away from my saw that was extracting through the workshop wall. This works well and extracts a lot of air but at certain times of the day when the sun streams through the window I noticed not just large dust, but fine dust coming off the saw that's not noticable under normal lighting conditions.
I guessed what I was seeing was the fine dust we can't see but in a smoke like form.
This spurred me on to install 2 more extractors. One I put through the wall to the right of the saw and the other is right next to the saw table pulling the dust straight off the table and shunting it to the wall extractor.
The extractor close to the saw table came out of a kitchen cooker hood and shifts around 550m3/h. This set-up works well and when the sun streams in I can now see the smoke like dust being extracted very efficiently.

It's not my intention to scaremonger here but if like me you value your health, please don't rely on your machines dust port or just a single freestanding workshop extractor. In my opinion they are nowhere near up to the job when it comes to the fine dust ejected from a scroll saw or any other machine that generates fine dust.

I still get general dust settling from other machines in my workshop and every so often when the wind is strong, I open both front and back doors and blow it through using the blower function of a 'Hoover' type extractor I have attached to my Radial arm saw.

Hope this helps,

Alan


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## CABBY (10 Apr 2007)

Thank you for the replies gents. Thanks Woodman for scaring the living daylights out of me. :shock: As far as extra extraction is concerned it's a bit of a no go at the minute  Does the trend airshield do a good enough job, I don't have one, was thinking along those lines though. Thanks again for your help and advice. :lol:


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