Dust Collection Equipment
JET 650 CFM Single Bag Dust Collector, about $200.

Delta 500 CFM Single Bag Dust Collector,  about $180.

An incredibly cheap solution to the problem of providing enough ventilation if sanding in the cabin of the boat.  About $20, and available anywhere.

Jet AFS-1000 / 708620G  Air Filtration about $240.  Very effective at removing small dust particles.

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Dust Control Basics

Boatbuilders and woodworkers share a danger: exposure to dangerous chemicals. We usually take precautions around paint and solvents, but one dangerous chemical is often overlooked: wood dust.

OHSA, the US Occupational Health and Safety Administration, publishes two kinds of "allowable exposure" ratings, a rating for continuous exposure (8 hours or more) and a rating for "short term" exposure. OHSA set the continuous exposure limit at 5 milligrams per square meter, and for short term exposure, 10 milligrams per square meter. How much wood dust is that? For a 20 x 20 foot shop with a 10 foot ceiling, your average two car garage, a single teaspoon of wood dust would exceed 10 milligrams per square meter. Wow.

That’s equally distributed, of course. Which doesn’t happen all that often. But our proximity to the tools spewing out dust puts us closer to the source, and might mean that we are getting more dust exposure than we think.

Dust Collection Systems

Professional dust collection systems capture sawdust at its source in large shops. They can be pricey, and if you’re only building one boat, they are probably out of reach. But if you want to see what's available out there for about $200, on the left are two selections with good reputations from Amazon.com's Tool Crib store (click the links to go to Amazon.com's descriptions of them. If you find a good deal at Amazon.com, and purchase after clicking through from one of our links, it helps support messing-about.com).

These home systems, that hook up to a single machine, can be purchased for less than $200. Dust collection systems are rated according to cubic feet per minute (cfm) of air they move. If you are considering purchasing a system, keep in mind that most home shop tools need at least a 350 cfm unit, that you can hook up to whatever machine you’re operating. The 350 cfm system will take care of any of the following:

• 10" table saw
• 14" band saw
• 6" jointer
• 12" disc sander
• 16" drill press
• Oscillating spindle sander

Radial arm saws vary, from 350 to 500 cfm, depending on brand, so you might want to check with the manufacturer on these saws.  Both of the dust collectors above can handle it. Also check with Penn State Manufacturing and Grizzly, both are said to be good dust collectors at economical prices (sold on the web.)

There are easy solutions to the problem that don’t cost a fortune, especially if you're just "building ONE boat" (why don't we believe you?).  So don't dispair if you can't spring for a dust collection system.

Ventilation

Ventilation works wonders in reducing exposure to dust. In nice weather, open all the doors and windows. On calm days, when there just isn’t any breeze, clouds of wood dust can still billow up around us. On these days, reach for that common box-style fan for "assisted ventilation." I prefer to place the fan behind me in a door or window opening, blowing the dust away from me as I work, and providing me with a stream of fresh air. In enclosed areas, such as the cabin of our boats, I prefer to have the box fan blowing air out of the front hatch, bringing fresh air into the cabin (and I try to remember to work with the sander between me and the fan.)

Dust Filtration

When its cold, you don’t always want to have all the doors open. You might try a dust filtration system. Shop filtration systems by themselves can cut down on airborne wood dust at a fairly economical cost.  Especially if oversized, as the example from JET at left is.  (I like JET products; they usually rate well in the reviews by tool magazines, and their prices are usually reasonable.)

The commercial units still take up valuable boat-building dollars. An alternative is our common box fan again, with a furnace filter in front of it. This low-tech solution can be made pretty efficient with the new allergy filters that trap smaller particulate matter. Some shops build elaborate boxes to house the fan and hold the filter,but the fan can easily hold the filter in place once it is turned on. Simple, low cost, and it works. If your going to worry about the filter falling off, a couple of strips of duct tape can assist, or you can make clips to hold on the filter. Here's a quick and dirty shot of mine. I'm using the same size furnace filters as in my house furnace, but if I wasn't so "thrifty", I'd buy the 20" square ones that are the perfect size for these fans.

Dust Masks

Dust masks are also recommended by most experts, and most of us have them already in our arsenal. Wood dust is relatively easy to filter, so almost any of them work, and can be bought at the local home center very inexpensively. If you have a close cropped beard, the rubber half-mask style fit better than paper masks. And for serious woodworkers with full beards, consider getting a face shield style that blows filtered air down and across the shield to keep dust out. They are pricey though. Check at places like Woodcraft for these face-shield masks.

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