Woodshop Gripe 😕

Woodshop
#1

Woodshop folks…its 2am…I’m not a negative person nor do I like to post negatively, but this is the 2nd night in a row that both dust collection units have been at 5. NOT OK. I am not able to lift the cans over the top of the dumpster by myself. Now I can take the filters outside and blow them out but as this is the second night in a row I’ll be doing it and I can guarantee I will not be a happy camper over this.

Do you understand that if the Fire Marshal shuts us down there will be not only no Woodshop but NO DMS?

This is a huge concern for the board of directors and I know Andrew (@Team_Woodshop) is out of town and has plans when he gets back to ban folks who are not taking care of our machines and shop. Don’t let that be you.

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#2

Unfortunately I am out of town- that is no excuse to neglect the collectors and shop cleanliness. From now till both collectors are properly emptied and the filters are thoroughly blown out I will ask that nobody uses any tools in the woodshop. If anyone is seen on the cameras using equipment with a full collector, you will be subject to be banned from the woodshop. Don’t let that be you!

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#3

I want to thank @fedakkee for blowing out the filters. You are awesome Kee :slight_smile::unicorn:

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#4

I am clueless as to how the cleaning is done, other than sweeping and vacuum around the machines I use. Could someone scheduled to woodshop cleanup time with me so I can assist when I’m in a wood groove?

Are there any others out there that also need to know this info? perhaps this could be added to the woodshop 101 class?

Thank you,
Anita

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#5

Thanks @Kriskat30 and @Azalaket for the hard stance on this. It is something that I wish we had done from the beginning.

@meanbaby, the main concern is the Filters on the dust collection units. When they are clogged (reading a pressure of 5), the dust collection system is not working at optimum performance. These filters are held onto the dust collector with 8 or 10 hooks. I believe the current plan is to remove the filter (loosen the threaded hooks) and blow it out behind DMS. At this time you can empty the collection can as well if needed. I’ll tell you it is much easier to empty half full rather than completely full. Then just reassemble the unit and you are good to go.

Make sure to do a good job blowing out the filter, because if you half ass it, you will just hook it back up and notice the pressure is still maxed. Meaning you will have to do the process again. If you have done a thorough blow out and the pressure is still maxed, make a post on talk as the filter may be fully clogged.

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#6

I know Chris (@cghaly) runs his classes through the basic steps, and I am pretty sure Ian (@IanLee) does as well.

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#7

All my classes learn how to maintenance and check the dust collection by physically doing it. All the collectors are emptied and cleaned, the shop is swept, and all the trash is removed at the end of all my classes. I emphasize the importance of maintaining the machines as well as possible ban scenarios due to failure to maintain the machines.

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#8

I bet that most of the people who do the normal maintenance / keep eyeballs on people are out of town or out of the shop the last few days/ week, so it’s getting out of hand.

As an example, people forget to check the DC when they walk in, and inevitably every night I’m there, I end up telling someone on the jointer/planar that they need to stop and clean out the DC.

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#9

All the 101 classes include how to check and clean the equipment.
I barely use the wood shop but have emptied the cans and blown out the filters more times than I can count. Ie every time I walk in they are on and over full
If the cans are emptied on regular schedule we would not have to blow out the filters

1 Like
#10

The filters fill up with finer particulate, and will clog over time even with a perfect bin emptying cycle. Particularly the table saw DC, which tends to collect more dust than chips will clog faster.

#11

I know I am an outsider here but what if there was a video made that show this and a link
to it posted in the woodshop, so folks could refresh their memory

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#12

I think this is a capital idea. I propose three full stop periods each day, @ 11:00a.m., 4:00p.m., and 9:00p.m. (i.e. 5 hours apart) where all Wood Shop activity is suspended (excluding a job running on Multicam) and dust collectors and filters are emptied and cleaned. We did this today, in fact and it took only about 10, maybe 15 minutes. I’d also include emptying vacuums and any trash cans that need it.

The real challenge to be solved, as always, is actually getting folks to do what needs to be done and follow guidelines/rules. This is something that the Wood Shop committee should discuss and agree on at next meeting, including method(s) of enforcement.

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#13

Set an alarm to ring and to keep ringing and maybe figure out hos t shut down the power to the tools if
it rings for more that a set amount time, say 14-20 min

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#14

Any progress toward the outside or large inside collection system?

Marshall, putting it on a schedule makes some sense, but only if those that are running a large job on the planer/jointer empty as needed. My guess, and we should test this one day when we are bored, is that 15 minutes of steady planing would fill the drum up…Unless you have worked with a planer not hooked to a collection system, most people have no idea how fast the chips fly!

#15

Overall, the community as a whole has failed to maintain the collectors. Have we considered just keeping the big collectors on the high volume waste machine, and putting smaller collectors on the smaller machines or machine groups?

This is one I’m building for my garage, using a translucent bucket, removes the excuse that someone doesn’t know it needs to be emptied, is space efficient, easy to empty, and doesn’t require multiple people to help empty into an dumpster. It’s not fair to expect someone to empty 50 gallon drums of other people’s work, especially when they can’t lift it by themselves.

What about translucent buckets in place of the large on collector pans?

And is there a way to run a clearing program to blow the dust out of the filter? Kinda like back washing a pool DE filter?

I think if people could see the dust accumulating in the large pans, it would be emptied more often.

I also think if some of the collectors were smaller for some tools, people would be less afraid to try and tackle the task. A 5 gallon bucket is less intimidating than the large collector.

Keep in mind, not everyone is as skilled and technically included to get it. But eventually they will catch on, and this could help.

Just my thoughts - happy to receive comments about how the solutions would not work out, but snarky replies exhibiting self perceived superiority not necessary :wink:

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#16

To quote myself “I’ve always said,“it’s not a dust collection system problem, it’s a “people not cleaning up after themselves problem.”.”.”

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#17

Excellent point. Maybe instead of putting in a large dust collector we should put in dedicated dust collectors for the planer and/or jointer. That would make it much more obvious to the person(s) making the chips (a) when it needs attention and (b) that it’s their personal responsibility.

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#18

It’s both :wink:

:blankspace:

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#19

Yeah, it’s both. Our collectors are badly undersized for our demand. However, as soon as we move forward with fire marshall, we’ll be looking hard at an industrial collector.

Note- if the outflow pressure seen on the guages exceeds 3, the filters are being ruined, and flow has dropped to 50% of its rated capacity. At 5 on the guage, the filter will ruin in just a few hours, and flow will drop below 30% capacity.

The filters cost $275 each.

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#20

Can the numbers and what they mean be posted on the collector machines next to the gauges please?

I know there’s a reading where things need to be dealt with, but I can never remember what it is so a label would be nice…

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