Measuring the amount of dust and particulates in shop air

[jar45]

Does anyone have experience measuring the amount of dust in their shop?  My shop is in the basement of my ranch house.  The back end of the shop is also where the central, forced air heating system is located.  I use an Oneida cyclone vacuum when running the TS and Miter saw.  All my Festools are connected to a CT 26 E when running.  Hanging from the ceiling is a JDS air cleaner.  But, if asked, were these vacuums and cleaners affective at keeping the amount of dust and or particulates at a safe level, I could not give you an definitive answer.  I don't know what is a safe amount or the actual amount of particulates in the shop air.  All I can say, if the dust controls are used, I don't cough or choke, except sometimes when waking up in the morning.  I was looking at some instruments for monitoring dust offered by Dylos,  (http://www.dylosproducts.com/) but have not pulled the trigger to order. 

I welcome any comments.

John

 

[mouppe]

My hepa air purifier runs on an automatic setting for dust and odours. It never leaves its minimum setting when I'm using my ts55 or Festool sanders with a ct vac, ie the dust in the workshop is barely detectable. If I drop a pinch of sawdust in front of the sensor it switches to a higher fan setting. Similarly if I open a jar of shellac within seconds the fan increases.

So although I cannot tell you what the dust levels are, empirically I can tell you they are very low.

 

[SittingElf]

I think Peter Parfitt has done at least one video on dust measurement.

Yup.... found it!

Here you go. Hope it helps!

Peter Parfitt. New Brit Workshop - Dust Measurements

Cheers,

Frank

 

[jar45]

Thanks for the comments and video link.  RL, can you share the brand name of the HEPA air cleaner?  I like the fact that it is monitoring the air quality and making flow rate changes as needed.

Thanks
John

 

[mouppe]

Thanks for the comments and video link.  RL, can you share the brand name of the HEPA air cleaner?  I like the fact that it is monitoring the air quality and making flow rate changes as needed.

Thanks
John

It's a Blueair 450E. I'm really happy with it. My previous unit was a 600 series and that was excellent too.