Can I use a airbrush spray booth to collect dust from sanding

[Glomar]

I am looking at portable airbrush painting booths such as this one and I was wondering if it would be good to collect dust from sanding. I live in a relatively small apartment so I am looking for ways to cut down on dust from sanding and was wonder if this could do double duty. I appreciate any insight! 

[Oldsalt1950]

It can be done, but realize you will be cleaning it up very often.

[mtaylor]

You'll need to figure out way to add a vacuum cleaner or equivalent to it.  That would cut down even more dust in the air which you will get with just the box.

[Roger Pellett]

Keep in mind that wood dust can be an explosive as are some paint fumes.  Therefore, make sure that the motor that drives your exhaust fan has an explosion proof motor.

[Mercator]

Spray booth are to redirect fumes and paint overspray (trapped in the filter), wood dust will clog the filter and overtaxe the motor. A shop vac would be a better option.I build a booth that I connected to a quiet shop vac, Freud and Festool make some excellent quiet one but they are$$$$$$$ but a "silent" shopvac would be the way to

go in an apartment.

[Bob Cleek]

I would expect that it wouldn't be worth the effort. I think the spray paint filter is going to be much finer than would a sawdust filter and the sawdust would clog it up pretty quickly, meaning you'd be stopping all the time to clean the filter. The best sawdust collection device is a good vacuum attached to a sander that is intended to have a sanding vacuum attached, but in a small apartment that isn't always effective enough because the exhaust air has to be clean enough that it isn't just sucking up sawdust and just spraying fine sawdust all over everything.. Even with something like a shop vacuum, you'll still get a fair amount of airborne sanding dust in your work area. I have found the best approach is to sand outside whenever possible. A large fan directed over the working area blows must of the sawdust away. Working indoors on small projects, it's often quite effective to set up a fan that simply blows across the work area towards an open window. 

 

In terms of reducing the amount of sawdust, the less one can use powered saws and sanding machines, the less sawdust will end up in the shop or work area. If one uses a sharp knife as much as possible for cutting, a good scraper for fairing, and chisels for shaping, the resultant waste is shavings and chips, which, being larger, don't hang in the air, aren't inhaled, and are easy to clean up with a bench brush and pan. In the days before electric motorized sanders, grinders, and saws, there was a lot less dust in woodworking shops. Learning to sharpen good edge tools will eliminate a lot of sawdust and save on the purchase of a lot of sandpaper, too.

 

 

[DocRob]

Like most of the above comments, I would say the booth you have chosen is not suitable for sanding dust. There are different padded filters which would clog rapidly with sawdust. I own a spray booth similar to the one you are showing, but have enhanced it a bit for bigger models and better suction. I wouldn't use it for sanding though, but the basic construction in combination with a small industrial vac cleaner might be worth trying. 
Using a booth limits your ability for handling a lot, you can't lets say sand a hull in there, so generally I think, like mentioned above, it's better to use tools, which have a vac cleaner port and collect the dust where it emerges.

In case you are interested ,I show some pics of my booth which was enlarged using a big container made from transparent plastic. I cut an opening into it's underside, more or less the size of the booth, without the plastic sheets and connect both with duct tape. I used some ropes of LED's for lighting wrapped around the transparent box. If you find a way to install a powerful vac cleaner instead of the booth, it might work. The planes in the booth are 32 scale, the box is ca. 60 cm wide.

 

Cheers Rob

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wool132]

I built a spray booth out of ½" plywood with a tempered glass window along the top a few years ago.

When using enamel or other smelly stuff, I vent it to the outside. I don't bother venting it for acrylics to save on HVAC expense.

I originally used a plain old furnace filter. Like you, I got to thinking that it could double as a sawdust collector so I replaced the filter with a 3M Filtrete 1900 to catch the very fine sawdust. I didn't bother with an explosion-proof motor. The density of dust particles or smelly aerosols in the booth is nowhere near hazardous levels. Also there's a filter between the motor and the contaminated air.

 

I now use it to collect dust when using my chop saw which has no vacuum attachment. I also use it with my disc sander with a Miele vacuum attached to the built-in dust port (mainly to keep the interior of the sander dust free).

 

I could use it when sanding parts by hand but it's much more convenient to do that at my bench. There, when sanding, I wear a KN95 mask, run an air cleaner to catch the fine particles, and vacuum frequently.

I echo Bob Cleek's recommendation to avoid sanding when you can use an X11 blade (or similar), a chisel, or a small plane. The latter is especially useful when tapering planks or masts, spars, etc. The larger plane to the left in the photo below is a Stanley 12-101 small trim plane. The one on the right is a Lee Valley Veritas Miniature Block Plane. For reference, those are 1" squares on the hobby mat. 

Warning: The Lee Valley website, along with the ones for Festool, Byrnes Model Machines, and the Lie-Nielsen Toolworks, is a Restricted Web Site in the No Surf Zone. Visiting a restricted web site unless under the direct supervision of the Admiral is strictly prohibited. 🙂 

 

Jonathan

Edited June 5, 2022 by wool132

[robert952]

A great thread for those of us with restricted work shop options.  

 

@wool132 Thanks for posting and labeling the picture of the miniature planes.  It's tidbits like this that make this site a valuable resource tool.  I've been pondering the issue of sawdust with my next project. 

 

I would probably would have found Lee Valley site...eventually.  But, it might have taken a long time to find that specific treasure trove. 

 

The Admiral says I can use some of the money collected from our garage sale to buy something.  (I may have convinced her of how much money I can save by buying a collection of tools.  😁 )  The Admiral liked your warning and made a comment that she would hate to restrict my access to these adult sites.