If you use any of the power tools in the woodshop, it is YOUR responsibility to empty to dust collector. There are no excuses.
It has been found beyond over-full so many times in the past few weeks. This is a danger to our machines, to our air quality, and to your projects.
Do your part
I’ve noticed that the primary centrifuge collectors are not retaining much of the dust as they did in the past and it is all going directly to the main dust collector. Does the main dust collector have an adjustment mechanism to reduce its force and allow the primary collectors tobretain the bulk of the dust. Sorry fof my ignorance.
After only 4 days from the last filter removal and cleanup - the entire system was completely clogged again, necessitating another shutdown of the shop and cleaning of the entire system. We removed 2 and 3/4 garbage cans of dust from the filter and the vortex cone. The cleaning process when this occurs results in a large amount of dust being released into the shop - no way around it. A clogged system also means the motors on the dust collector work harder and risk complete failure.
The vortex cans by some of the machines are being modified to do a better job of dropping out material. Currently they are being bypassed and not collecting most of the debris.
The red warning light is not working as a solution as is. We are going to be adding a warning alarm as well. The alarm will be computer controlled so that it filters out the false warnings due to large amounts of debris going by the sensor and will only sound after many minutes of the warning being on. The goal is to alert everyone in the shop to the fact that this important piece of equipment is in need of immediate attention. There was a consideration of just shutting the machine down, but the concern is too many people would not recognize the vacuum had shut down and would continue cutting.
If you use any of the equipment on the dust collector, you are need to check the dust collection cans and filter window before and after you use the equipment, and empty it when half full or more. If you are planing or jointing a large amount of wood, please keep in mind those processes create a lot of dust and require you to check the system as you go.
Thanks to all the volunteers who help to clean and maintain our equipment. Without you we wouldn’t have such an amazing workspace!
I think what should be changed is the approach. Right now you’re pretty much trying to solve the problem with technology and not holding people accountable. The problem is not the machines nor the rules is the users that are plainly lacking either in awarness of the rules, the function of the machines, or both. Holding people accountable like making them participate in the cleaning of the filters or at the very least making them watch a video of the process along with the promise they will communicate the process to others when they see them making the same mistake would propagate the awarness. Repeat offenders should be dealt administratively. The release of large ammounts of dust into the air also hurts the space financially as it clogs the filters in the Blue Ox boxes overhead since this filters are not cheap. Which brings out another point. I don’t think many people know or realize the ammount of effort and resources the space puts into the air quality. Most people dont even notice that dust in the air disappears rather quick due to the work of those blue boxes. To give a perspective, when i put a new filter it weights about a pound or so. When i change them five to eight weeks later, they weigh three to four times more due to the ammount of dust they collect.
One thing i do to help out is when people ask me a question, weather is about machines or techniques, my last words to them is: make sure you clean your mess and the area when you finish. Maybe having signs with “CLEAN AS YOU GO” at doors and all over the shop might just work. Users would have no excuse then. Last time i was there two people asked for my help and both did clean up when they finished.
I’m a new member. I have taken the woodshop safety class, which only spent a brief amount of time on the dust collection system. Maybe are full blown (pun intended) class on the dust collection systems and what to do about them would be a good idea.
Please don’t add an alarm. I don’t want to be startled when I’m operating a power tool.
I believe the alarm was considered when the light was put in place but im not sure why the light won. Personaly i dont think either will work without people being aware what is for. Also, last time i was in the shop of all the people there, I was the only one without somekind of airpod or similar music listening device in the ears. Im not sure if an alarm can be heard over those. I much rather have a strobe light, that is annoying for most people and would make them do something. But there are some people with medical conditions that a strobe light may trigger an adverse reaction. So, back to square one. In my opinion hold people accountable, make them aware of consequences. Once you get two or three, they’re going to obviously tell others they see not cleaning and hopefully create a domino effect. But it will require everybody’s participation. Like safety, cleaning is everybody’s business not just some people cleaning after others that make a few cuts and think they are not required to clean.
I’m the one who wired up the warning light. The system we have was really just meant as a minimal, proof of concept device. I didn’t add an audio alarm because of all the false positives the system gives, especially the flickering. Those would be straightforward to reduce: just replace the relay I used with a time delay relay, something that won’t activate until it has a signal consistently for 10 or so seconds.
The tendency of the bag to pull away from the wall can be helped by reducing the leaks around the windows, which will allow the vacuum pulled by the attached hose to work properly. I replaced the left most window a while back, but I misjudged one aspect and it immediately cracked. It was still sealed better than before. Someone has piled a bunch of sealing tape over that, but no one has touched the right side window, which leaks air like a sieve.
They both need to be replaced and properly sealed. I have screws for the right side window, and I have files for exactly laser cutting new acrylic windows. I think I already posted those to the Asmbly Google drive; if not, I can.
I think some warning system fixes are worthwhile. But I think Jose is right that there is a user/cultural aspect.
One thing that might help: more reference materials on shop procedures. We teach them in WSS and MSS, but teaching isn’t always 100% consistent with the fine details (I know I forget to mention particulars too often), and people understandably can’t remember everything from these classes. I’ve been working on a Metal Shop Procedures Manual that people can refer back to. When done, I want to leave enough copies lying around the metal shop to almost be a nuisance. And these can be updated as needed.
Another thought might be to signal/alarm it after N hours of runtime. Some friction may be that you have to get everyone else to stop their work to empty it and/or just assuming that the next guy will empty it when they are done.
I like that idea. More of a “hey, this needs to be dealt with soon” rather than “Fix this now”. I really would prefer to avoid having to stop in the middle of a project.
