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adrianm
02-10-2012, 04:13 AM
Nice setup Adrian! On a new thread so this one doesn't get hijacked - any chance you could post some info & pics on your enclosure for some of us? Does it reduce sound levels? Would you do it again? Assuming you have time that is :)
Thanks much, Gerry

As requested. It does occur to me though that you might have thought that my whole ShopBot was in an enclosure given the picture I posted last night. It's not, it's just my workshop walls you can see in the picture.

The 2.2hp dust extractor is stored in a purpose built enclosure at one end of my workshop. There is a cyclone type lid device on top of an old water butt that catches the heavier chips with the dust going into the bag at the bottom of the extractor.

This extractor has a cloth filter bag on top. I used to have a filter drum but the first roof I had leaked and ruined it.

The lift out plastic door is to make bag changes easier and to let some light into the workshop as the enclosure partly covers the main window.

The workshop has four inches of insulation in the walls, ceiling and floor so, as the enclosure is outside that, the noise is almost non-existent. The air rushing up the hose is louder than the motor noise.

It worked so well I did the same setup at the other end of the workshop and hooked all my other tools up to it. As that one isn't controlled by a relay on the 'Bot I have a remote control to turn it off and on.

Obviously one drawback of this setup is that the warm air from the workshop gets extracted outside. I've never noticed the temperature dropping much even with both on. My heating is powered by sawdust which I have more than I can possibly use so the cost of heating the workshop isn't an issue anyway.

adrianm
02-10-2012, 04:17 AM
More pictures

steve_g
02-10-2012, 04:33 AM
"My heating is powered by sawdust"


OK... you can't just say that and not give us details! Do you pelletize the sawdust or are you injecting a stream? How much effort is required on your part to keep it operating? Are you burning as you make the dust or do you have to store a summers worth of sawdust to burn in the winter? Is it a commercial system or something you created? Any info is appreciated.

Thanks
Steve

adrianm
02-10-2012, 05:20 AM
Not as grand as it sounds. I have a burner built by an engineering firm in the UK. You fill it up with sawdust and it has an air channel to the bottom which means the air flows right from the bottom to the top. Once it's lit (at the bottom) it sounds like a jet with it's afterburners on for a while and then it settles down once the air flow is adjusted.

The workshop is so well insulated that getting it too hot is more of a worry than it not being warm enough once it gets going.

A large sack lasts nearly two weeks and I create about one and half of those a week so I never run out. In the summer it just gets put on the fertilizer heap or dumped.

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/balsawood-123

I'm looking into getting a second hand press to create sawdust pellets so I can get a wood fired heating system for the house as well. It's currently oil fired and, with the rising cost of that, it's costing me over three times more than it did ten years ago when I first moved here.

mark_stief
02-10-2012, 10:05 AM
Adrian
It sounds like home reading your post I also burn my sawdust for heat but in the summer time I have a pellet maker to press sawdust into pellets I make 20-25 tons per summer for my own use and to sell to customers
P.S. I also sell the pellet machine and do demos here at the shop to help customers get started making pellets:)

myxpykalix
02-10-2012, 10:45 AM
I started this thread to talk more about burning sawdust for heating here:
http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14488
so as not to over take the dust extractor posts.:D

gene
02-10-2012, 09:59 PM
what do you use as a binder for the pellets to hold them together and what type of wood are you using?:confused:

mark_stief
02-10-2012, 11:39 PM
Gene
I get used or new veggie oil for my binder and also add water to bring the moisture up and it's all kiln dried shavings from the shop and as far as the type of wood if God and Mother nature grow it I use it anything from red oak to all the ones that i can't even say their names:)