Welding Tips and Tricks

For the past couple of months I have been setting up a small metal working shop in my 3.5 car garage. The 2 cars stay on one side and I have the rest of the garage to work.

My current question is about filtration. I live in Wisconsin so can't just leave an overhead door open while I work. The Garage is attached to the house so the door opens directly from the house to the garage. If I let too much more grinding dust float into the house whenever someone walks in or out, I'll be sleeping in the garage.

Has anyone tried something like http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004 ... UTF8&psc=1 in their home shop. The woodworkers seems to love it.

David

I welded a bunch yesterday in my garage and filled it with smoke as well. I have been debating for quite some time as to what I will do. I have a few solutions but never specifically thought of yours. I don't see why it wouldn't work other than the filter might filled up sooner. I was thinking of a small pusher fan used in your heater ducts and run a few ducts through the garage. I am with you on not sucking all my heat out as well.
-Jonathan

A couple of years ago I put in a http://www.homedepot.com/p/Hot-Dawg-125 ... /202812652 heater in the garage.

It doesn't take that much gas to bring the garage up to a balmy 50 degrees for a couple of hours at a time. Every time I go out in the garage in winter, I wonder why I didn't get one 20 years ago.

dfarning wrote:A couple of years ago I put in a http://www.homedepot.com/p/Hot-Dawg-125 ... /202812652 heater in the garage.

It doesn't take that much gas to bring the garage up to a balmy 50 degrees for a couple of hours at a time. Every time I go out in the garage in winter, I wonder why I didn't get one 20 years ago.

Wonder how hungry that thing would be if converted to propane? I have a wood stove and a small torpedo style propane heater out in my un-insulated shop, but it takes a while to get it up to short sleeve weather out there.

dfarning wrote:...My current question is about filtration. I live in Wisconsin so can't just leave an overhead door open while I work. The Garage is attached to the house so the door opens directly from the house to the garage. If I let too much more grinding dust float into the house whenever someone walks in or out, I'll be sleeping in the garage.

Has anyone tried something like http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004 ... UTF8&psc=1 in their home shop. The woodworkers seems to love it.

David

I had a good look, and that's an excellent candidate. It's commonly called a "smoke-eater", as it's common in bars and bingo halls that permit smoking. I'd think that would be an excellent solution, especially if you can duct it so the intake is a bit of a "fume hood" over your workbench/primary welding area.

I did NOT research it in particulate efficiency, but if it's comparable to a NIOSH N-95 or P-100 (and I suspect it is), it's suitable for stainless steel welding in a limited-ventilation space.

[Edit] I re-read the description, and while I saw conflicting claims, the data says this should be as good as NIOSH N-95.

That said, make sure you have at least "some" air exchange. I'd suggest a slight exhaust from the shop to the outside that draws air from the house, so you know fumes are not going the wrong direction.

Steve S

Thanks, I ordered one. I'll let you know how it works.

As for outside ventilation, I will crack windows at opposite sides of the garage to get a slight cross breeze. As I get more involved in metalwork I can install a move sophisticated system.

Thanks
David

FexEx must have been on fire. My Air Filtration System arrived today.

I did a couple of quick tests. I just set the unit on a 3 foot high table about 8 feet from the work piece. Using the angle grinder to cut 1/4 flat stock it sucked in all the dust immediately when set to high speed. When set at a lower speed, things got a little cloudy, but nothing like it was. After about 10 min of running on low all the residual dust was gone.

For welding I positioned the unit the same. I did a 4 X 4 pad of beads using a mig welder on steel. On the low setting you could see all the smoke drifting towards the unit and get filtered immediately. However, the welding smell remained for about 30 minutes.

Finally for a real challenge, I took an air hose and blew compressed air beneath and behind everything in the shop. This shot all the dirt and dust that had been accumulating for 10 years into the air. It looked like pictures from the dust bowl. Within 30 minutes, the air was completely clean.

So, I can say these units keep the air looking clean.... which was my initial goal for this project. But as Otto Nobedder pointed out, there are other air quality issues to think about in a shop. I'll start researching them as soon as I start to out grow the "crack a window" form of ventilation.

dfraning
soon i will be move from NJ to Del.
i presently have a 2 car detached garage but my home in delaware
will have a 2 1/2 car attached to the house.
i have concerns about fumes carrying into the house so i am
following your thread so keep posting your results.
thanks
craing

@Motox,
There isn't a big enough fan in the world to clean the air up in Jersey and sorry to tell you unless you down to around Fenwick Island, De. you still will be able to smell it.

Len

Glad to hear my meager knowledge is helping someone.

My first filter lasted just under 18 hours. Every corner had ten years of accumulated dirt and dust. When I went to bed I left the unit running on high. The moving air was enough to dislodge some of that gunk and pull it onto the filter. Tonight I am going to get out the leaf blower and give everything a a good shot:)

When researching filters I noticed that most filters referred only to non-metallic dust. I called customer service at a couple of vendors to ask about metallic dust. They said it would work just fine but because of the hazards of working with some metal, they could not recommend using their filter in a metal shop.

There are probably a dozen company safety officers in this forum who know about the air quality regulations of working with a particular material. I can only speak to the fact that filtration system is reducing the dust and smoke mess while reducing the odor.

len
not true, Sandy purged Jersey pretty well although
she did miss cleaning out the state government..
craig

After about two weeks of use, I have to say that the Air filtration system makes spending time in the work shop more enjoyable.

Even more importantly, I don't drag dust and fumes in with me when I go back in the house... which make time spend in the house more enjoyable as well

David

David,
Thank you very much for giving us a update. We all appreciate that. Sounds like this machine needs a serious look for anyone wanting to clean up air quality in their shop.
-Jonathan