# Workshop Dust extraction



## alanwetherall (23 Apr 2021)

Hi we have received funding fo our community woodwork workshop in corby northants. does anybody know any good dust control companies in this area. We have a workshop about the size of three garages. Need to hook up a table saw, bandsaw, thinner/thickneser, mitre saw and cnc router table. am going for the axminster craft AC11 8CE extractor with 100 mm pipeing and lots of blast gates
any help would be appreciated
alan


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## DBT85 (24 Apr 2021)

Hi Alan,

what kind of help are you after as it sounds like you've got a machine and plan ahead already?


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## alanwetherall (24 Apr 2021)

We have settled a machine. It's the nitty gritty .is is best to have rigid pipe the last few yds are 45 elbows really necessary. How close should the thickness be. How noisy are these machines we are looking to have it outside if we are allowed. Is the cyclone really worth having.etc
Is anybody around corby area who can install it
Thanks alan


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## Jameshow (24 Apr 2021)

A workshop layout pic might help. 

The the pros here can tell you where to put the gates and bends. 

Cheers James


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## LJM (24 Apr 2021)

I think that generally, in the Uk, installing it outside is a bad idea because you’ll be sucking the warm air from the building.


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## alanwetherall (24 Apr 2021)

LJM said:


> I think that generally, in the Uk, installing it outside is a bad idea because you’ll be sucking the warm air from the building.



Excellent comments. Never thought about extracting the warm air. We were just thinking about the noise. Will do a workshop layout
Thanks alan


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## Jameshow (24 Apr 2021)

The men's shed at Keighley gas a double 20' container workshop which is compact! And has the extractor outside for both noise and space issues. Once you get a few bodies doing manual woodwork in a small space you won't have a problem heating it! 

Cheers James


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## Davey44 (25 Apr 2021)

Jameshow said:


> The men's shed at Keighley gas a double 20' container workshop which is compact! And has the extractor outside for both noise and space issues. Once you get a few bodies doing manual woodwork in a small space you won't have a problem heating it!
> 
> Cheers James


We're about the same at the Acocks Green Men's Shed in Birmingham. I guess that we have a workshop that's barely 30' x 30' and we put the extractor outside too. While heating is a challenge in very cold weather, as you say, once people get working we seldom notice, especially if the tea, coffee and biscuits keep coming!


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## Sideways (26 Apr 2021)

Get help. I've experience of a better machine than this crippled and useless because of poor installation.

100mm pipe runs are too small. The machine needs a single connection and main pipe in 125mm, kept as smooth and short as possible. Y Branches and blast gates to just two or three machines that really need it.

If you have more than two blast gates open at once (and your users will all want to use it at once) it will be useless so only connect it to the essential planer + possibly sander + AN Other.

Get an NVD750 for the tablesaw crown / blade guard otherwise let the dust fall in the tablesaw cabinet and just hoover it out every few days.

NVD750 can make a big difference to a bandsaw too (users like those because they aren't as scary as the tablesaw but are good at breaking them, you need a biggish floorstander with a 3/4" 3 tpi blade that's hard for them to snap) but only if it has a dust port positioned just below the table (waste of time if the only dust port is at the bottom of the cabinet).

Mitre saw needs a high suction (NVD750 or shop vac) connected to the blade guard port. That does all the heavy lifting and nothing else matters. Attaching the Axminster machine you've chosen to a sliding mitre saw is an utter waste of time. It won't work.

CNC router in a small workshop: you will come to hate the whine of the machine. The noise over extended periods is offensive and will inconvenience everyone in the shop. Look at putting it in a noise enclosure. There may be some value in extracting the entire enclosure with the Axminster, but really you need a brush type dust shoe around the cutter connected to an NVD750 / shop vac type machine to create high suction and high velocity airflow immediately around the cutter where the dust is produced. Far more effective.

Don't waste your extractor on a wood lathe. It's super INefficient extracting a lathe so make the users wear PPE and save your valuable airflow for a tool where it makes a difference.

Shed users love belt and disc sanders because they are easy. These create buckets of fine dust and only your HVLP extractor moves enough air to have any effect extracting a big belt sander.

You already know the planer is the machine that needs this extractor the most. Don't let people plane pallet wood please. They will save a few pennies. Everyone else will be subsidising them by paying for new blades and extra sharpening when they plane through nails, screws and embedded grit ...
Pallet wood is the antichrist to maintaining your machines in any decent state of repair and accuracy.

Lastly - vet your prospective safety company thoroughly. There are some out there who are utterly incompetent. Be highly sceptical and ask to visit a couple of reference customers before hiring them.

All of this from having been where you are and seen it done wrong in so many ways ..


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