Small non-sparking fan source?
One purpose of the garage I’m planning is to provide a proper woodshop. My wife refers to the project as a “two car shop”, in fact. The bane of my woodworking is finishing, but the better the conditions one can create, well, the better. So, I thought I’d close off a corner as a finishing room, and vent it outside. It’s probably a bad idea to use a regular old fan, although it’s unlikely I’d ever create explosive conditions brushing on varnish. Still…
So, ever try to find a small non-sparking fan? It’s not as easy as I’d hoped. Anyone got a source?
Thanks,
Andy
“Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig.” Robert A. Heinlein (or maybe Mark Twain)
“Get off your dead @$#% and on your dying feet.” Mom
“Everything not forbidden is compulsory.” T.H. White, The Once and Future King
Replies
Would pressurizing the room and venting it to the exterior do the same thing? That way you are not drawing the fumes throught the fan.
Most common window fans use a simple shaded pole motor, nothing there to spark if you leave it on and use a mercury switch to control the outlet you plug it into. Many of the smaller squirrel cage furnace fans with direct drive motors also use shaded pole motors (no start switch)
PS: can you still buy a mercury wall switch ?? If not, e-mail me and I'll send you one, pretty sure there are a few in the old stash.
Edited 3/14/2009 10:28 am ET by junkhound
Good ideas, both of you. Not sure if I can buy a mercury switch here, but if the switch is outside the room, and the fan is outside the room, bada bing. ThanksAndy
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." Robert A. Heinlein (or maybe Mark Twain)
"Get off your dead #### and on your dying feet." Mom
"Everything not forbidden is compulsory." T.H. White, The Once and Future King
Pick up Bob Flexner's book Understanding Wood Finishing. He has a section on setting up a small, safe, cheap finishing room.
http://www.amazon.com/UNDERSTANDING-WOOD-FINISHING-BOB-FLEXNER/dp/B000H6EJ4U/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1237043289&sr=8-2"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end" R. J. Wiedemann LtCol. USMC Ret.
Canarm makes a several Agricultural explosion proof fans. I am putting in either a 12" or 18" setup. These are not as heavy as the industrial ones, but for occasional use I think they will be ok. Princess Auto (canadian co) sells the 18" one for $570. An industrial setup was closer to $1200. Grainger has quite a few too.
PS: Your stair book is great. I should be postng my custom stairs soon.
Brad
Edited 3/14/2009 11:36 am ET by brad805
Go To http://Graingerindustrialsupply.com You should be able to find what you are looking for.
Grainger was the first place I checked. I'm not willing to spend that kind of money. They started well over a grand, and were far larger than I needed. I'm going with Eric's idea of pressurizing the room from the shop side, with a 1 micron furnace filter between a cheap box fan and the finish room. I'll add a vent to the outside from the finish room, and I'm outa there for about $50.Andy
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." Robert A. Heinlein (or maybe Mark Twain)
"Get off your dead #### and on your dying feet." Mom
"Everything not forbidden is compulsory." T.H. White, The Once and Future King
Sure sounds like I'm on the hook now.................
FAN ---> ////////// ---->manually operable vent to exterior
If you constructed a plenum across the ceiling wth louvers as in the above drawing, would that create a suction enough to draw up the vapors?
Wonder if positive pressure will get all the vapors out the direction/opening you want them too. Seems to me, that a lot would find its way through you door frame and other unintended openings.TFB (Bill)
Possibly so. But a lot of it will go outside, and I'm not looking for perfection. It's not like wood finishing is even a monthly occurrence, much to SWMBO's chagrin.Andy
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." Robert A. Heinlein (or maybe Mark Twain)
"Get off your dead #### and on your dying feet." Mom
"Everything not forbidden is compulsory." T.H. White, The Once and Future King
Thks, I had looked there. The 18" version listed in the catalog pg below is the one I am probably going to go with. Those of you in the US could import this from Princess Auto in Canada for $450 US.
http://www.canarm.com/agricultural/pdf/exhaustfans.pdf
Brad
Thanks for the good words on the stair book. Pop me an email if you have questions.Andy
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." Robert A. Heinlein (or maybe Mark Twain)
"Get off your dead #### and on your dying feet." Mom
"Everything not forbidden is compulsory." T.H. White, The Once and Future King
I really appreciate your offer. I am well on my way. I started with about 700bdft of rough cherry, jatoba and tigerwood and now I am nearing completion.
Brad
Wow - that's some money in material. Post pics when you're done.Andy
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." Robert A. Heinlein (or maybe Mark Twain)
"Get off your dead #### and on your dying feet." Mom
"Everything not forbidden is compulsory." T.H. White, The Once and Future King
Grainger has'em. Spray-booth fans.
You're making this too hard. Any fan motor, hook a belt to it. Put a fan blade on an axle in a box, connect the belt. Done. Keep the motor outside of your spray booth and use the new "box fan" as your exhaust fan.
"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional,
illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous
mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is
entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end"
R. J. Wiedemann LtCol. USMC Ret.
Edited 3/14/2009 5:20 pm by JMadson
If You don't want to spend that kind of money. How about looking at a delta or other brand.Air purrifier. Go to delta web site to check them out.
I think they're intended more for dust than VOCs.Andy
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." Robert A. Heinlein (or maybe Mark Twain)
"Get off your dead #### and on your dying feet." Mom
"Everything not forbidden is compulsory." T.H. White, The Once and Future King
What money? Take an old box fan, take it apart, buy a belt, build a box, done."Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end" R. J. Wiedemann LtCol. USMC Ret.
old box fan, ya gotthe right answer, $1 at garage sales, no need even for a belt.......almost all are shaded pole motors.
that is what I got im the car repair shed, that and 10 ft of 3" corrugated pipe for the exhaust.
Here's a photo. Although the chances are very slim, there's still a chance of ignition with a standard fan. This eliminates almost all of the risk."Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end" R. J. Wiedemann LtCol. USMC Ret.