I spent a day in the shop many months ago sawing a lot of plywood for a big project. I didnt own a respirator and had no dust filtration. I only used a small window fan to pull the air out of the room. At the end of the day I was physically ill from breathing in too much dust. I had flu like symptoms, extreme body aches and chills. I laid in bed for about 18 hours before I started feeling better. After that I made it a top priority to build Jay's air filter cart. I have one now and it runs continuously while I'm in my shop. I also wear a respirator when cutting wood and for a few minutes after until the air clears from the filter. I will never make the same mistake.
I am a lymphoma survivor so dust collection has become a very important topic for me. One of the things I am doing is leaving my respirator on after the saw shuts off. I see it interesting that obviously dust is still in the air for quite some time when the saw is shut off, but most videos you see the woodworkers immediately take off their respirator when the saw is turned off. But, I now see that I can monitor the air so I know WHEN i can take of my respirator. Thanks Jay!!
Absolutely the best particle meter video I've seen on You Tube for the hobbyist woodworker! I run two of those meters in my shop. Just for fun, you should put on your respirator, then about 8' away from the Dylos, do one spritz from an aerosole can, like hair spray. Sit back for about 10 minutes and watch what happens.
Jay because of you sharing your situation with us it has helped me early on think about cleanliness as a priority. The one thing that has really stuck with me is, you saying a clean shop is more inviting to work in than a cluttered dirty shop. That absolutely is true. It definitely is a motivation to walk in to my shop in the morning and see a well cleaned and organized space. I thank you so much for your content and look forward to watching your videos everytime I get the notifications. Keep up the awesome work sir!
Great information, thanks for sharing. I've been increasingly dedicated to improving the air quality in my workshop, especially now that my toddler likes hanging out with me while I work. I want to make sure that those little lungs are protected, and I'd rather verify through measurements than rely on my dusty and aging sense of smell.
Thanks Jay, the methodical approach and careful noting of results is of great value. I think its clear from your dust collection odyssey that we all need to pay more attention to the airborne particulate situation. I know I will.And what a surprise that your shop now is cleaner than ambient air or your house! Makes me wonder about my house.
Thanks for doing this Jay, those numbers are astounding. I can't believe the drastic change with the table saw. I need to work on getting a better over the blade dust hose like you have.
Great info! Obviously, your Air Filter Cart is on my To-Do-List. I been wanting to do this for some time, but after seeing your Tests, I'll move it up on the priority list. Thanks
Just attaching a couple high grade furnace filters in a "V" configuration to a box fan works pretty well at bringing dust particle concentrations down. I have tested a furnace blower with two large HEPA cartridge filters, with three levels of furnace filters and a box fan with two high grade furnace filters in a "V" configuration. They all bring the particle counts down to below "100" on the Dylos but the first one does so about twice as fast. The first one listed cost about $300 just for the filters. The box fan filters cost about $30. I use the furnace blower most of the time because it's quieter but if I'm making a lot of dust then I use both. I hang the box fan setup behind my sanding/grinding bench to pull that dust through the filter right away. The box fan setup can be made in 5 minutes using a fan, two filters, some cardboard and duct tape. You can make a fancier version but the filters will work well for well over a year so I'm still using my duct tape prototype until the filter is no longer effective. By the way. .. a filter with a good dust cake will filter 10x better than a brand new filter. The dust cake becomes a filter itself so don't clean your filters until the flow rate drops noticeably.
Brilliant video, and dust in the shop is very common question! I don't know how is in your shop, but in mine, even after 4 hours with running air scrubber (1 micron rated filter) I still see some fine dust on my led lamp on a black background. Probably I should buy this device soon.
Great video. I've done a lot of testing with the Dylos and it really helps to have a way to compare readings. A couple notes about the Dylos... 1. if the relative humidity is over 50% or so, it will read higher because it will count the water particles. Not a big deal but something to be aware of so you don't think your air suddenly turned bad. 2. The meter is adjusted to read at the flow rate that its internal fan provides. If you put it in a fast air stream it will read higher than the actual concentration. 3. The 0.5 micron reading counts all particles over 0.5 microns. You have to subtract the > 2.5 micron count from the > 0.5 count to determine how many particles there are between 0.5 and 2.5 microns. A couple other notes in case you go further with your testing. .. the filtered air coming out of your air cleaner mixes with the ambient air almost immediately so it's difficult to get the actual particle concentration at the exit of the air cleaner without a special setup. I think you proved that you don't need your respirator for the cases you tested here. You may find that you need it in some situations but probably very few with the setup you are running.
That is phenomenal, Jay! I am sitting here coughing, watching this video, because I spent about 2 hours in my little shop yesterday, with a small router - no dust collection, and no mask. Normally I wear a 3M mask like yours, but the boys borrowed it to do sand blasting... I'm going to go online and order one for them! I have asthma, and several allegies including house, barn and grain dusts, so... Dust collection is on my mind, but this video has goaded me into bumping it up on the list of must-dos! Thanks, Jay, for sharing.
Dave, with the asthma and allergies you list you were crazy to do that router work without a dust mask. The job could have waited until you got a new mask at the very least. And with that list of issues I'd say that a good dust collection setup for your shop is pretty well a must. It's not only what you spray into the air while you're doing the work. It's what gets on your clothes that you end up breathing after all the tools and cleanup is done and you're creating your own walking cloud of dust from your clothing being dusty.
Wow... great info, was always curious just how bad the air quality is and how to fix it... thank you for doing a video on this ... next thing on my list to buy is an air cleaner... already have dust collection .....
Great video and information Jay. I'm going to have to get one of those dust meters. And LOVE the lapel mic on the ball cap bill. Now, THAT'S thinking outside of the box.
Hey Jay, one of the best things you can do for your indoor air is to get a good HVAC filter and run it with the Fan set to "On." Thanks for the content. I recently bought one of these monitors and they are certainly interesting devices. I've noticed everyday things like cooking can really raise the particle count.
I've been waiting for this video since I saw it on your Instagram. The results of your testing was a big surprise to me. This shows how important dust collection is in our shops. I'm going to make some dust collection plans for my shop now, because of this video. Thanks for the eye opening information! A " fan " from your home state of Michigan! Love your Red Wings and Lions flags on your workshop walls each time I watch one of your videos! Have a Great Day Jay!
Excellent info Jay! The healthier environment the better. I'm going to build your air cleaner cart to use in conjunction with my dust collection system. Since I am without ac in my shop, I have my garage door open(weather permitting) all the time. It would be an interesting comparison / closed shop vs. open shop with similar dust collection at the source. Just to add an after thought of open shops. I deal well with pollen and our outdoor air quality. When using a variety of exotic hardwoods I sometimes have sinus issues.
Absolutely. And a cart with a furnace blower motor like mine will cool you off a LOT more than that the current fan you are using. It's a huge difference.
Excellent video, Jay. This gives me hope since I am also suffering from dust allergies. My brother died 2 years ago from COPD. That makes me a little worried. I don't want to suffer his fate.
In my mid 70s I'm living with COPD. Now I did smoke when I was younger but I quit in 1982. But damage done gets better but doesn't go away. WEAR THE RESPIRATOR!
Your video just inspired me to modify the John Heisz cart I made for my DW735 planer to collect dust and chips. I am going to add the 4 air filters like you have on your cart/planer stand and port the planer exhaust into the filter portion of the cart. Will be interested to see how well it works.
I'm going to build your air filter cart too. I'm an HVAC contractor by trade, so I don't know why I never thought of it before. At least I should be able to source the blower easily, haha. I live on the Gulf coast side of Houston, so the extra air circulation will be great. There are some months I don't work out there at all cause I'm just sweating all over the wood/plans/tools.
This was very helpful and useful. Thanks for running all of these tests. We can always do better when it comes to keeping the dust out of our lungs. Many will watch this video and think if I had all of the tools and different equipment you have then I'd have cleaner air in my shop. Even if we can't afford a dust collection system like yours, the very minimum that we can do is wear a good respirator and use a shop vac. Which is what I use. But we all know that we don't wear them the whole time in the shop. We make the cuts we need to make then we remove the respirator. After watching this, it seems like that is a huge mistake if the system we're using isn't up to snuff. I'm also a bit more concerned and more apprehensive about bringing my son into to shop for an extended amount of time to work with me. With that being said, what would you say I should get first? An air cleaner or dust collector? I'm currently only using a shopvac with a cyclone.
Jay, Pretty good job on scientific method. Been watching you on and off. Became a subscriber today. I have been reading on Bill Pentz's site, and looking at the innovations on UA-cam. Health and Safety are often overlooked in the shop. Hand tools would be an answer LOL! But I am a Hybrid guy who is milling with a chainsaw mill on a small scale I've had allergies and recently dealt with eyes burning in my friends shop as he has a garage heater and we were sanding red Oak with a fan going. needless to say it was a wake up call. Just purchased a 3 hp Dust Collector. Your video sowing the particles around your table saw was reassuring that I'm on the right road for a Hybrid worker. Thanks!
Two questions/remarks about the air in your home a) When (/how often) did you replace the filters of the system in your house? b) Do you turn of the hood (/ do you have a hood) when you're cooking? Dutch research just showed that the amount of fine dust from cooking is wayy bigger then the fine dust from a heavy road... So if you want to reduce fine dust, always turn if on / have one with a good CFM rating.
Very interesting !!t......you did an amazing job with your dust collection system. I only wish you had a much smaller space to see how you would have handled that. It would have been more in line with my garage shop. I only have about an 8' wide by 15 ' long and 6' 8" ceiling. so a dust collection system is difficult to fit in this environment. Would love to hear what others are doing with a much smaller environment. Thanks for the video! Its proof positive that a good system works extremely well.
Great information and good analysis. Sounds like the living area should be a concern also. Do you have a lot of carpet? Just remembered you have pets. A beefed up house air filter? This dust thing, as you know is nothing to take lightly. From working with cedar, I developed sinus infections that lowered my tolerance to other wood dust. Dust collection is a must and wearing a respirator is a pain in the ass but not as bad as sinus problems. Again, great video, and all woodworkers should take heed.
Nice test Jay. I know my comment is 4 years later so I wonder are you still using this monitor and what about the dust levels now that you have a CNC in the shop. That's what brought me YT searching for dust monitoring in the shop for CNC machines. Maybe you could do a update that includes your CNC.
Jay, it would be great for us small shop owners/users if you could also run an air quality test with one piece of equipment using your shop vac cart. Everyone says they're not as good, but I just purchased a Dust Deputy after seeing how well it collects the big particles and chips. I'm wondering if it'll do 80% as good or 10% as good as a full-blown dust collection system on the small stuff if I position it right.
Hi Jay ... LOVED this video. In god we trust, everyone else bring data! I am thinking about doing exactly what you've done here, get a meter and compare outside air to indoor air with various machines in use and without, to verify my dust collection really works. Unless you measure, how can one be sure the "fine dust" is handled by the shops dust mitigation machines? One question ... I use a 3m half mask respirator w/ P100 2097 pillow filters all the time. When you use yours, are you using same filters? Other thing, have you measured air flow at each machine and within your ductwork? Would like to see some vids on how to do that measurement. Keep these informational vids coming!
Hey @Jaybates I know this has been over a year since this video but I am now getting serious about dust collection and have been looking into doing something like this. How much CFM do you think that furnace blower moves?
This is a super helpful video for me. Just finished figuring out my modified version of the miter saw station and plan to integrate 6" tube behind it based on what you have been doing. Already bought bench and miter station plans, ill see if the filter cart is there, otherwise ill just patreon, because I am getting lots of value from your videos and need to do my part.
Lovely video! Thank you so much =) Just a heads up that even at 2X playback of your video, I didn't have a hard time hearing you so perhaps a slightly faster speaking rate might help convey the same info a bit quicker?
I think your next project should be a filter cart for your house. Set it to run in the kitchen or living room at night when you're sleeping. Healthier air for both of you.
You thought about getting one of those face shields that have built in filtration and venting? Mike Waldt showed one a few weeks back that I found really interesting. The fact that it blows "cool" air into the mask was a great point for me as I'm in Florida and it's like being in Satans taint at times.
Great topic and video. Can the Dylos unit be set to give you an audible alert for a given threshold? (So you can use it as a "put your mask on" alarm.)
No audible alert. But it does give you a few history settings. You can see what the previous readings were in minutes, multiples of 10 minutes, hours, and I think days.
Great video, how loud how loud is the cart and the dust collection with the tools. I would assume it makes late night working kind of prohibitive. Not that firing up the the miter saw at midnight is great for sleeping wives.
Great info Jay. I've been wanting to build a air cleaner cart like yours-where did you find the furnace blower? I've been keeping my eye out on Craigslist in the Chicagoland area but haven't had much luck. Do you recommend any second hand stores or any other thoughts on getting used equipment like that? Thanks again!
Excellent presentation, and I like where your head is at on this issue. Livonia, Michigan? Wayne, MI - in SC for 30+ yrs. How did you come to be living in the south?
Yup. Bought two of them. The large/regular was too small. When I talked or opened my mouth slightly it slipped down my nose. The next size up is XL which was way too big. I could fit three fingers between my chin and the bottom of the mask with my mouth closed. A good friend of mine used one until he was sneezing black sawdust after turning on the lathe. I don't know of anyone personally who had good luck with them.
Interesting comparisons, Jay. Glad it's working out for you. It would have been nice to have seen a spindle sander or belt sander in the mix to see what the numbers would reveal. #TeamSpindleSander lol Sorry, I just had to throw that in there... :)
You don't list your respirator in your tool list. I only mention it because I'm curious as to what you are using and this is an air quality video. I've been looking at getting an RZ mask and wanted to look at other options.
Great vid and timely for me as well. I've been looking at air quality meters and had no idea which to choose. This video and the link to Woodgears helped a lot. I see you've upgraded the band saw DC. I have that same band saw. Did I miss the video on your band saw DC upgrades? I really need to do something about mine.
I'll post a video on it soon. It's crazy simple with no permanent mods. Two flex hoses in appropriate places held in place with bungee cords. Works great and is easy to remove as needed.
Great Job Jay, I wonder what the readings are in a Hand tool only shop? Also... I might ask if you checked to see if you are allergic to the rubber in the respirator? Your entire face went red. Just asking. I believe you will also need an ambient air cleaner for inside your house. Be well my friend, I am glad you are at least taking precautions.
Cool experiment! Now you need to consider noise pollution!:-) (It wasn't that loud on the video, however...) I wonder if the type of wood being cut would change the numbers? Cheers!
I'm late to this party, but my friend has the same Dylos for his shop and I have the DC1700 Pro for my shop (the DC1100 was out of stock when I tried to buy it). At 2:49 you state the number on the left is for particles between 0.5 micros and 2.5 microns. This is not correct. The number on the left is for all particles greater than 0.5 microns. The number on the right is for all particles greater than 2.5 microns. To find the number of particles between 0.5 and 2.5 microns, subtract the number on the right from the number on the left. It would have been nice if Dylos had written the software to display the two ranges separately.
This kinda scares me. The only dust collection I have & use is a 20×20 fan with filters connected to it. I can't afford nor can I install a huge dust collector cuz I rent. Do you have any suggestions besides go outside & work.? Lol
Ambient air cleaners work really well and are better than nothing. I recommend a respirator or dust mask at the very least when working without dust collection.
Yup. Bought two of them. The large/regular was too small. When I talked or opened my mouth slightly it slipped down my nose. The next size up is XL which was way too big. I could fit three fingers between my chin and the bottom of the mask with my mouth closed. A good friend of mine used one until he was sneezing black sawdust after turning on the lathe. I don't know of anyone personally who had good luck with them.
Jay Bates 2 leaving the furnace fan running continuously will help with indoor air quality durring the heating and cooling months and keep a consistent temperature in the home
What do you thing about bandanas? I have one on my neck all the time when I'm in my shop and I put it over my mouth and nose when I'm using a power tool I don't have a dust collection system and most of my tools are hand tools anyway that don't make much dust that fly everyway like power tools. Beside, I hate dust masks - the are very uncomfortable
so if I understood what I read correctly, according to that woodgears article, even a doctor said that hobbyist wood dust exposure isn't as dangerous as we all thought for those that aren't allergic to wood dust. that's not to say that capturing it is pointless, but is it all that necessary? if you ask ten doctors the same thing, you'd get 10 different answers, I'm sure.
There's information on both sides of the coin. A LOT more on the danger side though. My father-in-law died last year after battling COPD for several years. I've seen first hand how debilitating it can be. The decision is yours and for nobody else to judge you one way or the other. I'll error on the side of being too cautious in this case. And I see absolutely nothing wrong with breathing less polluted air.
absolutely. my uncle has emphasema and watching him struggle to make a complete sentence is enough to make me think twice about dust collection. besides, who really wants to constantly blow their nose the day after working in the shop? I noticed in the second stage of cuts on the table saw in your video that your flags were billowing in the wind. was that exhaust from your dust collector or was your air cleaner still running?
I Think with the air quality as you have got it now, I personally might be fine, with your health issues, you might be ok with I light mask, say something someone would wear when cycling in traffic, that said I am no expert, please do what ever suits you sir :)
I watched your video and I had a look at the article you referenced on woodgears. I'm afraid that the readings on your air quality meter are not what you seem to think they are. This seems to be a light scattering "detector" but after looking at the photos on woodgear article it's obvious there appears to be a few basic problems with the design. (I had some experience of building these things, so it's not difficult to see some obvious "mistakes") On your video, you didn't mention the filter size on your air system. Unless you know the size of filter, it's not possible to know if your meter is telling you anything useful. There were a few occasions on your video where your meter seemed to be unable to distinguish size ranges. (On one occasion it was likely due to saturation, but most times it will likely be because there is a poor CFM estimate on your meter). An indication that your meter may not be telling you much is that your particle "counts" were too far off the natural distribution of particles in fluids. (It follows a power distribution and this meter seems to be nowhere close) The supposed size range channels of 0.3u - 2.5u and >2.5u are wrong. You may read this the wrong way, but I'll mention it for anyone else anyway.... The meter is almost certainly not reading what you think it is reading, and you seem to be misinterpreting what it is displaying. You may get some fun out of playing with your meter, but if at any time you have a certain air quality in your shop, definitely do not rely on the meter you have there to give you any meaningful info. It can't. (Just for info - your meter is most certainly not counting particles at 0.3 micron). Is there any info on calibrating your meter? If not, you could ignore what it tells you after 6 months...... if not now.
zalida100 since this shop is not an operating room, it seems to me to be a great way to monitor the overall air quality in a specific environment. Jay mentioned he measured the air quality in his home, the only filter(s) there, are for intake. While Jay does have a crawl space home, the higher levels of particulates would be expected. Repeated readings in Jay's shop at various times of inactivity as well as during a build would be more substantive of a conclusion. Breath healthy my friend
Hi Wayne - Doesn't matter what the environment is (cleanroom/hospital operating room.... whatever). What I was trying to describe was that the meter is not doing what jay seems to think it is doing. i.e. it is not counting particles. e.g. In a meter of this type, it is not capable of distinguishing between a lot of small particles and a few big particles. If it cannot do that, then the so-called "counts" it displays are not real. You see, there is a natural distribution of particles in an environment that has a power relationship by size. e.g. if you know how many 5 micron particles you have per ft^3 in a room, then you can extrapolate (to a certain degree) how many particles you will have of a smaller size. But, because of the inability of this meter to distinguish the sizes, then the "counts" in at least one of the channels will be wrong. But you can't tell which one is wrong unless you have a (real) particle counter to compare it to. I had a quick glance at some photos on the other website woodgear. There would be a problem of counts in many ways. e.g. there is no flow cell (container) for the air sample and it's very likely that you would not have very laminar flow, which means it's likely that the "detector" would be receiving multiple signals from the same particle and so double counting at least. The sample volume flow rate of 0.01cfm is not enough to reduce sampling errors enough for this type of meter. The way it estimates the flow rate is prone to a fairly big error factor. I can't say for sure, but the error in the sample flow rate may be 100% or more, depending on a few things. But this means that measurements you take maybe a couple of minutes apart could be out by an order of magnitude.(i.e.the error is not even linear) So, while you can measure a room after you have cut some wood, and get a reading on your meter, then switch on the air filter system for 5 or 10 minutes and take another reading, the reading may decrease or increase, but the point is that you have no way of knowing in which direction is the error in the reading, because of the errors in the variables "measured." I'm not suggesting that the meter is poor just because it doesn't seem capable of measuring the parameters. It is poor because it's output from 2 similar environments will likely give you 2 very different readings... for a number of reasons (I mentioned a couple of obvious ones). i.e. What the meter is saying is not statistically significant. I'm afraid it would take an essay to try to explain just the few things I noticed about this meter in the video, and i doubt if anyone would be all that interested anyway:) Obviously I have no problem with someone using a meter like this. I just thought that someone may wish to be aware that the meter was almost certainly not doing what jay thinks it was doing in the video. There is a way you could do an independent test to compare the meter readings, as long as you have a microscope and a couple of hours to spare, but who'd want to do that eh? Cheers wayne
zalida100 I understand your concerns regarding the Dylos unit. I was going to respond with measurements using Methane monitors I have used during actively housed hospitals under renovations. This point would be moot. (I do respect your intelligent response). It seems your questioning the accuracy of the unit. If you have not used this particular product under various conditions, how can you speak of its accuracy, or the consistency of its readings? I now plan on buying the same monitor to document repetitive readings under different conditions to definitively judge the quality of this unit. Any experiment has to have a base line, and preset perimeters. I'm in are you?
"A true Laser Particle Counter with 2 size ranges - small (bacteria, mold, etc) large (pollen, etc.) DC1100 features technology and engineering that allows monitoring of indoor air quality with an LCD screen that provides small and large particle counts with a dynamic bar graph showing actual count reading. Multiple modes including minute, hour, day and monitor to evaluate your air quality and store up to 30 days of air quality history for review. DC1100 Pro has all the features of the standard DC1100 but with increased lower sensitivity - detecting particles down to 0.5 micron. The large particle size range is calibrated to 2.5 microns and above." Right from the web site, does not tell what types of particles just how many it counts
zalida100 It tracks well when compared to high end laser particle counters. Also, for low counts none of the issues you mentioned should be a problem so, even though it may not be as accurate at very high particle concentrations, that's not something we care much about. If it shows a reading under 500 (50, 000 particles per cubic foot) then we can be confident the concentration is low enough to be healthy (assuming there are no toxic substances in the air). Also, it provides a consistent comparison with outside ambient air which is useful. The purpose of his testing is to determine relative concentrations. I think his test achieved what he was trying to do with little room for doubt.
I spent a day in the shop many months ago sawing a lot of plywood for a big project. I didnt own a respirator and had no dust filtration. I only used a small window fan to pull the air out of the room. At the end of the day I was physically ill from breathing in too much dust. I had flu like symptoms, extreme body aches and chills. I laid in bed for about 18 hours before I started feeling better. After that I made it a top priority to build Jay's air filter cart. I have one now and it runs continuously while I'm in my shop. I also wear a respirator when cutting wood and for a few minutes after until the air clears from the filter. I will never make the same mistake.
I am a lymphoma survivor so dust collection has become a very important topic for me. One of the things I am doing is leaving my respirator on after the saw shuts off. I see it interesting that obviously dust is still in the air for quite some time when the saw is shut off, but most videos you see the woodworkers immediately take off their respirator when the saw is turned off. But, I now see that I can monitor the air so I know WHEN i can take of my respirator. Thanks Jay!!
Absolutely the best particle meter video I've seen on You Tube for the hobbyist woodworker! I run two of those meters in my shop. Just for fun, you should put on your respirator, then about 8' away from the Dylos, do one spritz from an aerosole can, like hair spray. Sit back for about 10 minutes and watch what happens.
Jay because of you sharing your situation with us it has helped me early on think about cleanliness as a priority. The one thing that has really stuck with me is, you saying a clean shop is more inviting to work in than a cluttered dirty shop. That absolutely is true. It definitely is a motivation to walk in to my shop in the morning and see a well cleaned and organized space. I thank you so much for your content and look forward to watching your videos everytime I get the notifications. Keep up the awesome work sir!
Great information, thanks for sharing. I've been increasingly dedicated to improving the air quality in my workshop, especially now that my toddler likes hanging out with me while I work. I want to make sure that those little lungs are protected, and I'd rather verify through measurements than rely on my dusty and aging sense of smell.
Thanks Jay, the methodical approach and careful noting of results is of great value. I think its clear from your dust collection odyssey that we all need to pay more attention to the airborne particulate situation. I know I will.And what a surprise that your shop now is cleaner than ambient air or your house! Makes me wonder about my house.
Good job Jay in confirming and validating your efforts. Thanks
Love how your system is working. That is like datacenter clean.
Awesome information, it's good to know the numbers. That is proof that your dust collection system works well. Thanks for sharing this with us!
Thanks for the video Jay. Quite an eye opener for the small shop owner (like me).
Thanks for doing this Jay, those numbers are astounding. I can't believe the drastic change with the table saw. I need to work on getting a better over the blade dust hose like you have.
Remarkable results
Nice job Jay
Awesome video. Just fired up my Dylos, so this is a great reference!
Great info! Obviously, your Air Filter Cart is on my To-Do-List. I been wanting to do this for some time, but after seeing your Tests, I'll move it up on the priority list. Thanks
Just attaching a couple high grade furnace filters in a "V" configuration to a box fan works pretty well at bringing dust particle concentrations down. I have tested a furnace blower with two large HEPA cartridge filters, with three levels of furnace filters and a box fan with two high grade furnace filters in a "V" configuration. They all bring the particle counts down to below "100" on the Dylos but the first one does so about twice as fast. The first one listed cost about $300 just for the filters. The box fan filters cost about $30. I use the furnace blower most of the time because it's quieter but if I'm making a lot of dust then I use both. I hang the box fan setup behind my sanding/grinding bench to pull that dust through the filter right away. The box fan setup can be made in 5 minutes using a fan, two filters, some cardboard and duct tape. You can make a fancier version but the filters will work well for well over a year so I'm still using my duct tape prototype until the filter is no longer effective.
By the way. .. a filter with a good dust cake will filter 10x better than a brand new filter. The dust cake becomes a filter itself so don't clean your filters until the flow rate drops noticeably.
Great video Jay - stumbled on here because I'm trying to figure out an effective yet relatively cost effective solution for my garage shop.
Brilliant video, and dust in the shop is very common question!
I don't know how is in your shop, but in mine, even after 4 hours with running air scrubber (1 micron rated filter) I still see some fine dust on my led lamp on a black background. Probably I should buy this device soon.
Great video. I've done a lot of testing with the Dylos and it really helps to have a way to compare readings.
A couple notes about the Dylos...
1. if the relative humidity is over 50% or so, it will read higher because it will count the water particles. Not a big deal but something to be aware of so you don't think your air suddenly turned bad.
2. The meter is adjusted to read at the flow rate that its internal fan provides. If you put it in a fast air stream it will read higher than the actual concentration.
3. The 0.5 micron reading counts all particles over 0.5 microns. You have to subtract the > 2.5 micron count from the > 0.5 count to determine how many particles there are between 0.5 and 2.5 microns.
A couple other notes in case you go further with your testing. .. the filtered air coming out of your air cleaner mixes with the ambient air almost immediately so it's difficult to get the actual particle concentration at the exit of the air cleaner without a special setup.
I think you proved that you don't need your respirator for the cases you tested here. You may find that you need it in some situations but probably very few with the setup you are running.
That is phenomenal, Jay! I am sitting here coughing, watching this video, because I spent about 2 hours in my little shop yesterday, with a small router - no dust collection, and no mask. Normally I wear a 3M mask like yours, but the boys borrowed it to do sand blasting...
I'm going to go online and order one for them! I have asthma, and several allegies including house, barn and grain dusts, so... Dust collection is on my mind, but this video has goaded me into bumping it up on the list of must-dos!
Thanks, Jay, for sharing.
Dave, with the asthma and allergies you list you were crazy to do that router work without a dust mask. The job could have waited until you got a new mask at the very least.
And with that list of issues I'd say that a good dust collection setup for your shop is pretty well a must. It's not only what you spray into the air while you're doing the work. It's what gets on your clothes that you end up breathing after all the tools and cleanup is done and you're creating your own walking cloud of dust from your clothing being dusty.
Interesting tests. I'd say what you have done is a success for sure.
Wow... great info, was always curious just how bad the air quality is and how to fix it... thank you for doing a video on this ... next thing on my list to buy is an air cleaner... already have dust collection .....
Outstanding numbers Jay! Good to know the dust collection efforts are paying off.
Great video and information Jay. I'm going to have to get one of those dust meters. And LOVE the lapel mic on the ball cap bill. Now, THAT'S thinking outside of the box.
Hey Jay, one of the best things you can do for your indoor air is to get a good HVAC filter and run it with the Fan set to "On." Thanks for the content. I recently bought one of these monitors and they are certainly interesting devices. I've noticed everyday things like cooking can really raise the particle count.
Fantastic Analysis! Stay healthy.
I've been waiting for this video since I saw it on your Instagram. The results of your testing was a big surprise to me. This shows how important dust collection is in our shops. I'm going to make some dust collection plans for my shop now, because of this video. Thanks for the eye opening information! A " fan " from your home state of Michigan! Love your Red Wings and Lions flags on your workshop walls each time I watch one of your videos! Have a Great Day Jay!
Excellent info Jay! The healthier environment the better. I'm going to build your air cleaner cart to use in conjunction with my dust collection system. Since I am without ac in my shop, I have my garage door open(weather permitting) all the time. It would be an interesting comparison / closed shop vs. open shop with similar dust collection at the source. Just to add an after thought of open shops. I deal well with pollen and our outdoor air quality. When using a variety of exotic hardwoods I sometimes have sinus issues.
Absolutely. And a cart with a furnace blower motor like mine will cool you off a LOT more than that the current fan you are using. It's a huge difference.
Jay Bates 2 g g
Awesome video man! Those numbers were way impressive!! you're inspiring me to work on my dust collection.
Excellent video, Jay. This gives me hope since I am also suffering from dust allergies. My brother died 2 years ago from COPD. That makes me a little worried. I don't want to suffer his fate.
I really appreciate this video as I set up my basement wood shop. Very concerned about dust. Have you considered an update to this video?
Jay, big thumbs up on this video!!! You should move the cart air cleaner inside your house and do a test....
good job. it's nice to see the results of your efforts on paper. it was all well worth it
In my mid 70s I'm living with COPD. Now I did smoke when I was younger but I quit in 1982. But damage done gets better but doesn't go away. WEAR THE RESPIRATOR!
Your video just inspired me to modify the John Heisz cart I made for my DW735 planer to collect dust and chips. I am going to add the 4 air filters like you have on your cart/planer stand and port the planer exhaust into the filter portion of the cart. Will be interested to see how well it works.
Wow, your work really paid off man!
Fine job Jay on the dust collection system! You'll be woodworking for a good long time. Thanks for the great vids.
Very nice Job mr bates. Now Im scared to work in my shop at all. LOL
Outstanding Video Jay! Your information presentation is superb.
Thank you. Inspirational.
Australia.
I'm going to build your air filter cart too. I'm an HVAC contractor by trade, so I don't know why I never thought of it before. At least I should be able to source the blower easily, haha. I live on the Gulf coast side of Houston, so the extra air circulation will be great. There are some months I don't work out there at all cause I'm just sweating all over the wood/plans/tools.
This was very helpful and useful. Thanks for running all of these tests. We can always do better when it comes to keeping the dust out of our lungs. Many will watch this video and think if I had all of the tools and different equipment you have then I'd have cleaner air in my shop. Even if we can't afford a dust collection system like yours, the very minimum that we can do is wear a good respirator and use a shop vac. Which is what I use. But we all know that we don't wear them the whole time in the shop. We make the cuts we need to make then we remove the respirator. After watching this, it seems like that is a huge mistake if the system we're using isn't up to snuff. I'm also a bit more concerned and more apprehensive about bringing my son into to shop for an extended amount of time to work with me. With that being said, what would you say I should get first? An air cleaner or dust collector? I'm currently only using a shopvac with a cyclone.
Air cleaner.
Great experimental data!
Jay, Pretty good job on scientific method. Been watching you on and off. Became a subscriber today. I have been reading on Bill Pentz's site, and looking at the innovations on UA-cam. Health and Safety are often overlooked in the shop. Hand tools would be an answer LOL! But I am a Hybrid guy who is milling with a chainsaw mill on a small scale
I've had allergies and recently dealt with eyes burning in my friends shop as he has a garage heater and we were sanding red Oak with a fan going. needless to say it was a wake up call.
Just purchased a 3 hp Dust Collector. Your video sowing the particles around your table saw was reassuring that I'm on the right road for a Hybrid worker. Thanks!
It's been 3 years already? WOW. Seems like yesterday when I was watching you working out of that apartment shop!
July 2, 2014 is the day we closed on the house.
Two questions/remarks about the air in your home
a) When (/how often) did you replace the filters of the system in your house?
b) Do you turn of the hood (/ do you have a hood) when you're cooking?
Dutch research just showed that the amount of fine dust from cooking is wayy bigger then the fine dust from a heavy road... So if you want to reduce fine dust, always turn if on / have one with a good CFM rating.
Very interesting !!t......you did an amazing job with your dust collection system. I only wish you had a much smaller space to see how you would have handled that. It would have been more in line with my garage shop. I only have about an 8' wide by 15 ' long and 6' 8" ceiling. so a dust collection system is difficult to fit in this environment. Would love to hear what others are doing with a much smaller environment. Thanks for the video! Its proof positive that a good system works extremely well.
Very interesting readings Jay.....
Great information and good analysis. Sounds like the living area should be a concern also.
Do you have a lot of carpet? Just remembered you have pets. A beefed up house air filter?
This dust thing, as you know is nothing to take lightly. From working with cedar, I developed sinus infections that lowered my tolerance to other wood dust. Dust collection is a must and wearing a respirator is a pain in the ass but not as bad as sinus problems. Again, great video, and all woodworkers should take heed.
great info, been looking into those... good timing. ..thanks Mr. Bates!
@DESERTWOODWORKING
Nice test Jay. I know my comment is 4 years later so I wonder are you still using this monitor and what about the dust levels now that you have a CNC in the shop. That's what brought me YT searching for dust monitoring in the shop for CNC machines. Maybe you could do a update that includes your CNC.
What a difference this great information to know. Definitely going to look into getting a meter I would say it's a good investment.
Very interesting.....great results
Jay, it would be great for us small shop owners/users if you could also run an air quality test with one piece of equipment using your shop vac cart. Everyone says they're not as good, but I just purchased a Dust Deputy after seeing how well it collects the big particles and chips. I'm wondering if it'll do 80% as good or 10% as good as a full-blown dust collection system on the small stuff if I position it right.
Hi Jay ... LOVED this video. In god we trust, everyone else bring data! I am thinking about doing exactly what you've done here, get a meter and compare outside air to indoor air with various machines in use and without, to verify my dust collection really works. Unless you measure, how can one be sure the "fine dust" is handled by the shops dust mitigation machines? One question ... I use a 3m half mask respirator w/ P100 2097 pillow filters all the time. When you use yours, are you using same filters? Other thing, have you measured air flow at each machine and within your ductwork? Would like to see some vids on how to do that measurement. Keep these informational vids coming!
Hey @Jaybates I know this has been over a year since this video but I am now getting serious about dust collection and have been looking into doing something like this. How much CFM do you think that furnace blower moves?
Nice informative video. You might want to look at the GVS SPR451 Elipse P100 mask. It's very comfortable and much lighter than the 3M gear.
This is a super helpful video for me. Just finished figuring out my modified version of the miter saw station and plan to integrate 6" tube behind it based on what you have been doing. Already bought bench and miter station plans, ill see if the filter cart is there, otherwise ill just patreon, because I am getting lots of value from your videos and need to do my part.
Thank you very much. Patreon isn't necessary. I don't have specific plans for the cart but a I do have a free SketchUp file on it.
Thanks for sharing
👍Thanks Jay !
Lovely video! Thank you so much =)
Just a heads up that even at 2X playback of your video, I didn't have a hard time hearing you so perhaps a slightly faster speaking rate might help convey the same info a bit quicker?
Ok you just sold me on building an aircleaner.
Its definitely worth it.
I think your next project should be a filter cart for your house. Set it to run in the kitchen or living room at night when you're sleeping. Healthier air for both of you.
You thought about getting one of those face shields that have built in filtration and venting? Mike Waldt showed one a few weeks back that I found really interesting. The fact that it blows "cool" air into the mask was a great point for me as I'm in Florida and it's like being in Satans taint at times.
Great topic and video. Can the Dylos unit be set to give you an audible alert for a given threshold? (So you can use it as a "put your mask on" alarm.)
No audible alert. But it does give you a few history settings. You can see what the previous readings were in minutes, multiples of 10 minutes, hours, and I think days.
Great video, how loud how loud is the cart and the dust collection with the tools. I would assume it makes late night working kind of prohibitive. Not that firing up the the miter saw at midnight is great for sleeping wives.
The cart isn't loud at all. It was running when I shot the outro to the video. The dust collector is crazy loud but so are the tools when cutting.
WOW! A+
Great info Jay. I've been wanting to build a air cleaner cart like yours-where did you find the furnace blower? I've been keeping my eye out on Craigslist in the Chicagoland area but haven't had much luck. Do you recommend any second hand stores or any other thoughts on getting used equipment like that? Thanks again!
Contact HVAC contractors. They normally have a bunch that they will sell cheap or even give away.
Excellent presentation, and I like where your head is at on this issue. Livonia, Michigan? Wayne, MI - in SC for 30+ yrs. How did you come to be living in the south?
Read down the comments and appreciated your discussion of the ill fitting mask!
Have you thought about using an RZ mask for a different respirator?
Yup. Bought two of them. The large/regular was too small. When I talked or opened my mouth slightly it slipped down my nose. The next size up is XL which was way too big. I could fit three fingers between my chin and the bottom of the mask with my mouth closed. A good friend of mine used one until he was sneezing black sawdust after turning on the lathe. I don't know of anyone personally who had good luck with them.
Oh, okay well good to know!! Aha thanks for the quick reply.
Those masks just looks like a half a bra on your face =)
Interesting comparisons, Jay. Glad it's working out for you.
It would have been nice to have seen a spindle sander or belt sander in the mix to see what the numbers would reveal. #TeamSpindleSander lol Sorry, I just had to throw that in there... :)
KSFWG if the dust collection is set up properly, it will catch almost all of the fine particles from a spindle or belt sander.
It's never a bad idea to get a home air filtration system.
table saw cuts were particle board, but the other cuts were solid wood....wonder if that makes some difference
The table saw cuts were 3/4" hardwood plywood. Interior cores were poplar with birch veneer.
thanks for the clarification. the DC is clearly very effective.
You don't list your respirator in your tool list. I only mention it because I'm curious as to what you are using and this is an air quality video. I've been looking at getting an RZ mask and wanted to look at other options.
It's on my list of stuff to do for tomorrow. Update the tools list and create a dedicated page on my website.
Great vid and timely for me as well. I've been looking at air quality meters and had no idea which to choose. This video and the link to Woodgears helped a lot.
I see you've upgraded the band saw DC. I have that same band saw. Did I miss the video on your band saw DC upgrades? I really need to do something about mine.
I'll post a video on it soon. It's crazy simple with no permanent mods. Two flex hoses in appropriate places held in place with bungee cords. Works great and is easy to remove as needed.
I would have ranked sanding over bandsaw, that's a surprise.
Great Job Jay,
I wonder what the readings are in a Hand tool only shop?
Also... I might ask if you checked to see if you are allergic to the rubber in the respirator?
Your entire face went red. Just asking.
I believe you will also need an ambient air cleaner for inside your house.
Be well my friend, I am glad you are at least taking precautions.
Cool experiment! Now you need to consider noise pollution!:-) (It wasn't that loud on the video, however...)
I wonder if the type of wood being cut would change the numbers?
Cheers!
I'm late to this party, but my friend has the same Dylos for his shop and I have the DC1700 Pro for my shop (the DC1100 was out of stock when I tried to buy it). At 2:49 you state the number on the left is for particles between 0.5 micros and 2.5 microns. This is not correct. The number on the left is for all particles greater than 0.5 microns. The number on the right is for all particles greater than 2.5 microns. To find the number of particles between 0.5 and 2.5 microns, subtract the number on the right from the number on the left. It would have been nice if Dylos had written the software to display the two ranges separately.
Sounds like you'd be better off leaving your shop door to the house open. Interesting stuff
This kinda scares me. The only dust collection I have & use is a 20×20 fan with filters connected to it. I can't afford nor can I install a huge dust collector cuz I rent. Do you have any suggestions besides go outside & work.? Lol
Ambient air cleaners work really well and are better than nothing. I recommend a respirator or dust mask at the very least when working without dust collection.
Jay Bates 2 Hey, thanks Jay. I'll definitely try those. I really want to try the RZ mask, have you ever tried them?
Yup. Bought two of them. The large/regular was too small. When I talked or opened my mouth slightly it slipped down my nose. The next size up is XL which was way too big. I could fit three fingers between my chin and the bottom of the mask with my mouth closed. A good friend of mine used one until he was sneezing black sawdust after turning on the lathe. I don't know of anyone personally who had good luck with them.
Oh damn, that's crazy!!! Glad I didn't waste my time or money on them then. Ty again. I guess just get the old fashioned respirator or dust mask.
This entire test tells me that you either have radiant heat in your home or do not run your furnace fan all the time - which is it I'd like to know
I have forced air heating and cooling. In the spring months we turn it off and open the windows.
Jay Bates 2 leaving the furnace fan running continuously will help with indoor air quality durring the heating and cooling months and keep a consistent temperature in the home
Since I have a basement shop I tried a furnace blower. I literally pulled the flame out of my furnace
What do you thing about bandanas?
I have one on my neck all the time when I'm in my shop and I put it over my mouth and nose when I'm using a power tool
I don't have a dust collection system and most of my tools are hand tools anyway that don't make much dust that fly everyway like power tools.
Beside, I hate dust masks - the are very uncomfortable
A bandanna is better than nothing.
so if I understood what I read correctly, according to that woodgears article, even a doctor said that hobbyist wood dust exposure isn't as dangerous as we all thought for those that aren't allergic to wood dust. that's not to say that capturing it is pointless, but is it all that necessary?
if you ask ten doctors the same thing, you'd get 10 different answers, I'm sure.
There's information on both sides of the coin. A LOT more on the danger side though. My father-in-law died last year after battling COPD for several years. I've seen first hand how debilitating it can be. The decision is yours and for nobody else to judge you one way or the other. I'll error on the side of being too cautious in this case. And I see absolutely nothing wrong with breathing less polluted air.
absolutely. my uncle has emphasema and watching him struggle to make a complete sentence is enough to make me think twice about dust collection. besides, who really wants to constantly blow their nose the day after working in the shop?
I noticed in the second stage of cuts on the table saw in your video that your flags were billowing in the wind. was that exhaust from your dust collector or was your air cleaner still running?
I bet cutting with out the dust collection just eats you up inside.
I think the higher number in your house is because of the pets
I Think with the air quality as you have got it now, I personally might be fine, with your health issues, you might be ok with I light mask, say something someone would wear when cycling in traffic, that said I am no expert, please do what ever suits you sir :)
wonder if you are allergic to any specific woods?
Yes. White oak was specifically listed on my allergen report.
Maybe you should just stay in your shop all the time and create content Jay.
:)
For a respirator to work as intended, your skin where it touches the mask must be clean shaven. The beard will not let it make good seal.
I watched your video and I had a look at the article you referenced on woodgears.
I'm afraid that the readings on your air quality meter are not what you seem to think they are.
This seems to be a light scattering "detector" but after looking at the photos on woodgear article it's obvious there appears to be a few basic problems with the design. (I had some experience of building these things, so it's not difficult to see some obvious "mistakes")
On your video, you didn't mention the filter size on your air system. Unless you know the size of filter, it's not possible to know if your meter is telling you anything useful.
There were a few occasions on your video where your meter seemed to be unable to distinguish size ranges. (On one occasion it was likely due to saturation, but most times it will likely be because there is a poor CFM estimate on your meter).
An indication that your meter may not be telling you much is that your particle "counts" were too far off the natural distribution of particles in fluids. (It follows a power distribution and this meter seems to be nowhere close)
The supposed size range channels of 0.3u - 2.5u and >2.5u are wrong.
You may read this the wrong way, but I'll mention it for anyone else anyway....
The meter is almost certainly not reading what you think it is reading, and you seem to be misinterpreting what it is displaying.
You may get some fun out of playing with your meter, but if at any time you have a certain air quality in your shop, definitely do not rely on the meter you have there to give you any meaningful info. It can't.
(Just for info - your meter is most certainly not counting particles at 0.3 micron).
Is there any info on calibrating your meter? If not, you could ignore what it tells you after 6 months...... if not now.
zalida100 since this shop is not an operating room, it seems to me to be a great way to monitor the overall air quality in a specific environment. Jay mentioned he measured the air quality in his home, the only filter(s) there, are for intake. While Jay does have a crawl space home, the higher levels of particulates would be expected. Repeated readings in Jay's shop at various times of inactivity as well as during a build would be more substantive of a conclusion. Breath healthy my friend
Hi Wayne - Doesn't matter what the environment is (cleanroom/hospital operating room.... whatever). What I was trying to describe was that the meter is not doing what jay seems to think it is doing. i.e. it is not counting particles. e.g. In a meter of this type, it is not capable of distinguishing between a lot of small particles and a few big particles. If it cannot do that, then the so-called "counts" it displays are not real.
You see, there is a natural distribution of particles in an environment that has a power relationship by size. e.g. if you know how many 5 micron particles you have per ft^3 in a room, then you can extrapolate (to a certain degree) how many particles you will have of a smaller size.
But, because of the inability of this meter to distinguish the sizes, then the "counts" in at least one of the channels will be wrong. But you can't tell which one is wrong unless you have a (real) particle counter to compare it to.
I had a quick glance at some photos on the other website woodgear. There would be a problem of counts in many ways. e.g. there is no flow cell (container) for the air sample and it's very likely that you would not have very laminar flow, which means it's likely that the "detector" would be receiving multiple signals from the same particle and so double counting at least. The sample volume flow rate of 0.01cfm is not enough to reduce sampling errors enough for this type of meter.
The way it estimates the flow rate is prone to a fairly big error factor. I can't say for sure, but the error in the sample flow rate may be 100% or more, depending on a few things. But this means that measurements you take maybe a couple of minutes apart could be out by an order of magnitude.(i.e.the error is not even linear)
So, while you can measure a room after you have cut some wood, and get a reading on your meter, then switch on the air filter system for 5 or 10 minutes and take another reading, the reading may decrease or increase, but the point is that you have no way of knowing in which direction is the error in the reading, because of the errors in the variables "measured."
I'm not suggesting that the meter is poor just because it doesn't seem capable of measuring the parameters. It is poor because it's output from 2 similar environments will likely give you 2 very different readings... for a number of reasons (I mentioned a couple of obvious ones).
i.e. What the meter is saying is not statistically significant.
I'm afraid it would take an essay to try to explain just the few things I noticed about this meter in the video, and i doubt if anyone would be all that interested anyway:)
Obviously I have no problem with someone using a meter like this. I just thought that someone may wish to be aware that the meter was almost certainly not doing what jay thinks it was doing in the video.
There is a way you could do an independent test to compare the meter readings, as long as you have a microscope and a couple of hours to spare, but who'd want to do that eh?
Cheers wayne
zalida100 I understand your concerns regarding the Dylos unit. I was going to respond with measurements using Methane monitors I have used during actively housed hospitals under renovations. This point would be moot. (I do respect your intelligent response). It seems your questioning the accuracy of the unit. If you have not used this particular product under various conditions, how can you speak of its accuracy, or the consistency of its readings? I now plan on buying the same monitor to document repetitive readings under different conditions to definitively judge the quality of this unit. Any experiment has to have a base line, and preset perimeters. I'm in are you?
"A true Laser Particle Counter with 2 size ranges - small (bacteria, mold, etc) large (pollen, etc.)
DC1100 features technology and engineering that allows monitoring of indoor air quality with an LCD screen that provides small and large particle counts with a dynamic bar graph showing actual count reading. Multiple modes including minute, hour, day and monitor to evaluate your air quality and store up to 30 days of air quality history for review.
DC1100 Pro has all the features of the standard DC1100 but with increased lower sensitivity - detecting particles down to 0.5 micron. The large particle size range is calibrated to 2.5 microns and above."
Right from the web site, does not tell what types of particles just how many it counts
zalida100 It tracks well when compared to high end laser particle counters. Also, for low counts none of the issues you mentioned should be a problem so, even though it may not be as accurate at very high particle concentrations, that's not something we care much about. If it shows a reading under 500 (50, 000 particles per cubic foot) then we can be confident the concentration is low enough to be healthy (assuming there are no toxic substances in the air).
Also, it provides a consistent comparison with outside ambient air which is useful. The purpose of his testing is to determine relative concentrations. I think his test achieved what he was trying to do with little room for doubt.
skip the first 60 seconds
Skip this persons comment.
Jay Bates 2 this video sucks
Awesome information, it's good to know the numbers. That is proof that your dust collection system works well. Thanks for sharing this with us!