I'm not sure if any of you have a Delta air cleaner in your shop, but if you do, this might help you out
I bought a Delta 50-860 air cleaner a few years back and have been happy with it's performance but was a little sticker-shocked at the price of the replacement outer filters. (~$35 for 2) Delta says that the filters are 12" x 24" but in reality they are about 1/4" shy making the readily available filters from normal sources too large. My quick and dirty solution was too make an adapter so that a "true-sized" 12" x 24" filter would fit.
I didn't document this as I went so some of the steps were not photographed, but I think it is simple enough that you will get the idea should you want to make one yourself.
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This is what the unit look like with the outer filter removed.
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This is the unit with the adapter installed.
The adapter is a 12" x 24" piece of 3/4" plywood that has saw-kerfs in the back to match the edges of the unit. To mark the area to be kerfed, I held the plywood up to the unit and traced the outline of the case on the wood. Then simply cut kerfs approx. 1/4" deep on the inside of the lines. My case was neither square nor straight so some kerfs had to be widened slightly but was an easy job with the TS-55. When you are done, the plywood should slip over the edges of the unit. You can then open up the interior of the plywood to allow air-flow. Nothing critical there but I did leave a center strip to help support the center of the filter.
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All that is left is to wrap the edges to keep the filter in place. (I used 1/8" hardboard) This pic shows the backside with the kerfs and after being wrapped. (remember I said this was quick and dirty!)
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This is the final result and it sits happily in in place without any fasteners. I considered installing weather-stripping to help seal the filter but since the original designers didn't feel it was necessary, I followed their lead. Also, I can't vouch for the filtering ability of the big-box filters vs. the Delta replacements, but to the naked eye they look very similar.
John
I bought a Delta 50-860 air cleaner a few years back and have been happy with it's performance but was a little sticker-shocked at the price of the replacement outer filters. (~$35 for 2) Delta says that the filters are 12" x 24" but in reality they are about 1/4" shy making the readily available filters from normal sources too large. My quick and dirty solution was too make an adapter so that a "true-sized" 12" x 24" filter would fit.
I didn't document this as I went so some of the steps were not photographed, but I think it is simple enough that you will get the idea should you want to make one yourself.
[attachthumb=3]
This is what the unit look like with the outer filter removed.
[attachthumb=2]
This is the unit with the adapter installed.
The adapter is a 12" x 24" piece of 3/4" plywood that has saw-kerfs in the back to match the edges of the unit. To mark the area to be kerfed, I held the plywood up to the unit and traced the outline of the case on the wood. Then simply cut kerfs approx. 1/4" deep on the inside of the lines. My case was neither square nor straight so some kerfs had to be widened slightly but was an easy job with the TS-55. When you are done, the plywood should slip over the edges of the unit. You can then open up the interior of the plywood to allow air-flow. Nothing critical there but I did leave a center strip to help support the center of the filter.
[attachthumb=4]
All that is left is to wrap the edges to keep the filter in place. (I used 1/8" hardboard) This pic shows the backside with the kerfs and after being wrapped. (remember I said this was quick and dirty!)
[attachthumb=1]
This is the final result and it sits happily in in place without any fasteners. I considered installing weather-stripping to help seal the filter but since the original designers didn't feel it was necessary, I followed their lead. Also, I can't vouch for the filtering ability of the big-box filters vs. the Delta replacements, but to the naked eye they look very similar.
John
