Fume extraction on tables? + water table

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gamble
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Fume extraction on tables? + water table

Post by gamble »

The smoke from my table fills up the shop pretty quick. I try to keep the water high but it disappears pretty quick, like very quick. So looking to add a little fume extractor to the side of the table above the water to help keep the dust from rising and clouding up the shop.
I can easily build a little scoop or hood, but wondering what I should hook it up to. I don't want to drop $1k on a fume extractor so I'm thinking something budget friendly. But it needs to be pretty quiet. I don't need another loud piece of equipment running in the background.
Thinking about a small dust collector or vacuum, but never tried it to see if it would work well.

Has anyone else done this or similar?

I'm almost wondering if I can do a small bucket top vacuum on a 5 gallon bucket and on the outlet run a hose from there back into my water table. So whatever smoke that isn't caught by the water will go though the vacuum and back into the table anyway.
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Re: Fume extraction on tables? + water table

Post by whiskeymike »

You might want to check out these threads -

http://www.plasmaspider.com/viewtopic.p ... ion#p84959
http://www.plasmaspider.com/viewtopic.p ... er#p111832
http://plasmaspider.com/viewtopic.php?f ... an#p102277
http://www.plasmaspider.com/viewtopic.p ... how#p80648

There are also lots of examples on weldingweb.com, homemadetools.net and the interwebs.

Might want to look at the harbor freight fan - http://www.harborfreight.com/8-inch-por ... 97762.html they have a hose that connects up to it as well. Just would need to fab the scoop. There are better fans that are less noise, but expect to spend a lot more. You can also build mufflers or enclosures that will quiet the sound.

I think the common thinking is that you need at least 1000 CFM to make a difference. Anything less needs to be right on top of the work, (like when welding, right next to the lead). I wouldn't want anything like that on my gantry. You'll need to determine if you'll exhaust or filter the air. Exhaust is nice and easy, but you'll lose your AC or heated air pretty quickly at 1000CFM. I don't think a vacuum would do what you need. A dust collector might, but plan to get rid of the cloth filters.

I just bought a squirrel cage fan out of an AC/Furnace for $25 at an estate sale that is 2200 CFM and I'm building a box enclosure and going with 3 filters - 1 cheap filter to grab big stuff, a Merv filter with a rating of 11-13, both on the intake and an activated carbon filter on the exhaust side. I'm not doing a scoop as it's not just for the table (my water table catches the vast majority). I'm building this to be a general air filter to try to catch floating dust from all of my machines as everything seems to be in a constant thin layer of stuff. I'm going to try to build an activated carbon filter myself to catch paint, welding, and stray plasma fumes. If it doesn't work, I'll be $20 in materials for the charcoal. I have a dust collector for wood working tools and normally exhaust welding fumes with a big fan and the door open.
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Re: Fume extraction on tables? + water table

Post by WyoGreen »

CNC Router machines use a dust collector right at the router that works pretty well with just a shop Vac. I use a dust pickup on my CNC router that surrounds the router bit fairly tightly that works extremely well at catching all the chips and dust. The trick is to keep the air velocity as high as possible. I've not tried it, but it seems like a person should be able to do a similar setup on a plasma torch, mounting it so it goes up and down with the Z axis.

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gamble
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Re: Fume extraction on tables? + water table

Post by gamble »

I am going to get the $139 dust collector from HF and build scoop and route it back into the table. We will see how well it works but I need another cricut. The compressor, controller and a few other small things are on the same circuit and this little fan will pull 7 amps. Trying to figure out a box to slide a filter into next
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Re: Fume extraction on tables? + water table

Post by Capstone »

I think a key principal is cross draft. I use two small HF Fans set up against a window in my garage near the table and then have another fan that blows across the table towards the two fans near the window. It's not perfect, but it was cheap. 20% off coupons and sales on the fans are fairly frequent so you can pick up a pair for less than $150. The other fan was a $20 walmart box fan.
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Re: Fume extraction on tables? + water table

Post by gamble »

Cool! That's what I am going for is a cross draft. I rather not put a hose on the gantry
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Re: Fume extraction on tables? + water table

Post by Capstone »

This is the fan

Central-Machinery - Item#97762 qty 2 x $80 regular pricing.
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Re: Fume extraction on tables? + water table

Post by gamble »

So I picked up the $139 dust collector from HF
this one: http://www.harborfreight.com/13-gal-1-h ... 61808.html
my brother does some hvac and had some 28g sheet metal. So he came buy and built a port 24" wide on the side of the table. All i have to do is drill a hole, mount a flange and hook up the dust collector fan.
However i did take the fan and a hose on the exhaust side and put it at the bottom of the water table and the water just bubbles and splashes upwards and makes a big mess. This fan is really a badass. It moves a good amount of air. However I'm not sure what to do with the exhaust side of it now. I rent my house so I can't throw a hole in the wall. My windows won't work either
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Re: Fume extraction on tables? + water table

Post by gamble »

So it's all hooked up to the dust bag for now to test it out. The fan is 660 cfm. It appears to work well. However its not enough to pull smoke from all the way across the table. So I will have to build a box for the other side as well. I like the fan though, it's nice and quiet. hardly noticeable when the compressor is running. Not sure I would recommend this fan for anyone with a table larger than mine. And I'm sure I'll loose a little suction when I build a box for the other side but I think it will work pretty well.
The fan and 1 year warranty was $159. Then another $20 in hose from the hardware store.
I think the next box for the other side I'll do myself. Still not sure if I should leave it completely open or make with slots or holes as I'm thinking that may aid in some suction.
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Re: Fume extraction on tables? + water table

Post by Yellowdodge2005 »

is there a way you take a picture of what you have I have been thinking about doing the same out my table because of the smoke problem Thankyou
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Re: Fume extraction on tables? + water table

Post by gamble »

Yea i can try
It’s kind of hidden
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Re: Fume extraction on tables? + water table

Post by gamble »

Here is the bottom made from thin galvanized sheet metal and riveted and tapped together and I screwed a flange in.
The top is just open and L shapped
The fine extractor is pretty weak, maybe moves 500cfm. So it will not suck from the other side of the table, only whatever is close
I need to make the opening smaller so it has a little more suck to it but I don’t want to take it back apart

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