Best Dust Collection System for Fab Lab?

Hi there!

We are opening a one-of-a-kind Fab Lab, and are looking for recommendations / advice on the best dust collection systems for the type of work that we will be doing in our shop.

BACKGROUND

- We have several different zones in our shop, including Robotics, Wood Shop, Metal Shop, CNC Shop, Chemical Storage, Paint Booth, etc.
- We will be zoning off our "dusty" work zones from our "non-dusty" zones, such as our office space, material storage, etc.
- See photo to get a better overview of our space: [www.screencast.com] (Yellow = dust zone, Blue = no dust zone.)

QUESTIONS

- What is the best dust collection system for this kind of fab lab?
- What are you using / would you recommend for dust collection? Air purification? Fume extraction?

I would really appreciate any insights, recommendations or advice that you could share! Thanks in advance.

Collect every bit of particulate at the source. So for the sawdust, plan on a dust collector, maybe a cyclonic unit with plenty of volume and good grounding between each component to prevent that nasty static discharge thru people or things. It is great to dump out of the workspace, but there goes your climate and you need make up air to replace it. I have an Oneida unit that exhausts back into the work space and it seems to do about 85+ % of a good job.

[www.oneida-air.com]{73B95A00-5FFF-443F-99A7-55FFD915A08C}

Next may be an electrostatic dust unit like this? [www.jettools.com]

An air filtration unit to take care of the rest of the dust.

For the vapors you may want a fume extraction hood? I don't know, but how about an old stove vent from Craigslist?

Mechanical barriers between each space are the most effective. Close the door! use positive pressure to prevent migration from areas that generate pollution to areas that cannot accept pollution.

Shop layout is the place to start. Every place is different.

Quote
kengineer
Collect every bit of particulate at the source. So for the sawdust, plan on a dust collector, maybe a cyclonic unit with plenty of volume and good grounding between each component to prevent that nasty static discharge thru people or things. It is great to dump out of the workspace, but there goes your climate and you need make up air to replace it. I have an Oneida unit that exhausts back into the work space and it seems to do about 85+ % of a good job.

[www.oneida-air.com]{73B95A00-5FFF-443F-99A7-55FFD915A08C}

Next may be an electrostatic dust unit like this? [www.jettools.com]

An air filtration unit to take care of the rest of the dust.

For the vapors you may want a fume extraction hood? I don't know, but how about an old stove vent from Craigslist?

Mechanical barriers between each space are the most effective. Close the door! use positive pressure to prevent migration from areas that generate pollution to areas that cannot accept pollution.

Shop layout is the place to start. Every place is different.

kengineer, thanks so much for the reply. We have been getting a lot of recommendations for a cycolnic unit, so we are definitely going to look more into one.

I really appreciate your insights - thanks!