Portable Air Cleaner made from Box Fan
Posted by woodworker on October 8th, 2006
Before I started on the Radial-arm Saw Dust Collector, I decided I needed to do something about cleaning up my shop’s air.
On of my woodworking magazines recently did a test of dust collectors, and as a basic comparison, or perhaps as a joke, they duct-taped a high-effencency furnace filter to a box fan and included it as part of the testing. I have a dust collector that I can connect to all of my big dust generators, but I didn’t have anything to capture the airborne dust before my lungs did.
The article suggested just duct-taping a furnace filter to the fan, but I couldn’t stand the idea of un- and re-taping everytime I wanted to change the filter. So I made a frame to hold it.
It’s pretty obvious how to make the frame, so just measure your filter and make it. I took off the front and back grills and was able to use screws to attach the frame from the back (neatness counts) and then reattached the rear grill. I cut a notch for the cord, but at some point I’m going to replace the short 5′ cord it came with with a longer one to make it more portable.
In use I just place the fan on a table or bench next to the saw, and turn it on high. I let it run for 30-60 minutes after I quit work just to help reduce the dust that settles out.
If you want to see the original article, it’s in the Wood Magazine, October, 2006 issue, “Air Scrubbers under $300.”