A really easy way to attach the filter to the fan is to use vinyl siding "J Channel". A 1" thick filter fits perfectly in the channel. Remove the intake grill from the fan and using the same screw holes and screws attach the J Channel to the fan leaving one side of the J Channel open so you can slide the filter in.
My mom has had a cough for 10 plus years. Spent all kinds of money, including multi trips to mayo to try to figure out what was wrong. Never could stop it. About a month ago I seen this filter showing up in your videos. I put one in my living room and my sinuses improved. Suggested my mom try one. She did and her cough is gone. Thanks!
Suggest you also use an activated carbon filter behind the dust filter to filter out the VOCs and other chemicals that are in the air and stop using any type of fragrance fragrances perfumes Etc check out stuff about multiple chemical sensitivity he activated carbon filter will help using combination it will also help it last longer when used together with the dust filter hope that it's helpful
Just some tips, filters with that high of a MERV rating are really overkill for what you're trying to filter. A MERV 13 would be marketed towards laboratory/institutional settings, heavy smokers, etc... You can catch all that fine sawdust with something around a MERV 7 / 8 without issue, and get the benefit of cheaper filters + better airflow. Higher MERV means finer particle screening (tighter mesh) at the detriment of reduced airflow. Better airflow means more suction (therefore dust catching capability) and less strain on the motor. Another GREAT tip is switching up to 2" (or higher) air filters. 2" vs. 1" means 2x the surface area for filtration so it can 'hold' more dust, and gives an additional boost to airflow due to 2x the air permeability. I've found my local Menards (which I know you have access to) to be the absolute best in terms of price / quality on these filters. Their house brands BestAir / True Blue have the 2" versions for VERY reasonable prices. Love the channel!
A MERV rating of 13 will capture the particles we can't see, which are the ones that kill us. Using less, as mentioned, is a waste of time. Quality systems capture 1 micron particles which is what the MERV 13 will do. You will see a ton of dust in a cheap filter but it will not catch small particulate.
It's a really good thing you made these filter fans, because according to the CDC (Center for Disease Control) sawdust is a group 1 carcinogen, regardless of wood species. Asbestos is also a group 1 carcinogen. Some people will never feel any affects from sawdust, while in others it can cause anything from minor allergies to respiratory infections, all the way up to and including cancer and death. The more extreme of those conditions are usually found in industrial settings, but even weekend warrior DIY types can be affected, depending on other health and lifestyle conditions. A good quality respirator is always a definite must, although for those of us who rock beards, the facial hair can decrease the effectiveness of the respirator.
They used to sell box fans that had brackets/rail already attached to them that would receive a filter. Don’t know why they stopped. This is simple enough to build vice spending $300/$500 on a filter box.
Agreed...same color tape as the fan makes it look like it's supposed to be there too. However, I typically use the 3 or 4 in merv12s. They allow much more airflow
@@brentmelloni3826 From what I've seen, you want to make sure it's sealed, i.e. all the gaps between the filter and fan. Otherwise particulates will take the path of least resistance escaping through the sides. I think tape might work better than bungies? Have you tried this for yourself Brent and did it make any difference in the dust?
I still use a Mask while working when I'm not in a rush or lazy but I use a blower motor out of an old furnace. Build a nice box to hold motor and slots for filter and mount to ceiling. Works great and keeps dust to a minimum, especially while staining or whatever. Another option, look into down draft sanding table. Some just ideas for you. Thanks for all the videos you post!
You could also put a prefilter in front that would catch larger items and save the more expensive HEPA filters first. Grab a bag and put around the filter or use the bag the filter came in and start putting it on from the bottom while changing. Great video on the filters!!!!
This is the best fan filter build I've seen here on You Tube. No fancy box build or using 3 to 4 different layers of filters. Yours is easy 1,2,3 its done. Great job.
Nice simple solution. I would only question the choice of mounting with the filter at the bottom. When the fans are turned off, even small vibrations would cause some of the dust to rain down.
Cool idea. It seems like you'd end up saving money buying or building a scrap shed. I'm not even a professional handyman and I have a problem throwing away good scrap. But unless you live in the boonies and have a bunch of old barns and sheds you have to draw the line on scrap somewhere.
I have something similar in my garage, but I use a washable filters that I got for around $20 each (I have 3 of them). The reason I went with washable filters is that I figured I would burn through MERV 8-10 filters fast enough to pay for the washable filters in no time. It did cost me a little more up front, but I think it has more than paid for itself at this point.
I just tape the cord down. This works great! Your gonna have a fan on anyway. I've also given them(box fans)a wider footprint so it doesn't knock over so easy.
I thought it was cute when you were explaining about getting rid of stuff you haven’t used in six months and how you hate clutter. And there in the background of the video hanging on the wall of the shop was a toilet seat cover. Yeah. It was worth a chuckle. Carry on You’re my kind a guy.
I removed the plastic grill on the intake side and this increased the flow by eliminating the static pull. The filter shielded the fan blades and there was a noticeable sound difference. Give it a try.
I just use 2" painters tape and tape a 20x 20 filter (or two) onto a cheap fan for each job site I have. A better filter (with a cheaper one in front of it) will remove most of the airborne dust. I often leave it with the home owner to continue clearing the air. I use a version of this next to my lathe to blow clean-ish air toward me as I turn/sand. before I had a downdraft table I placed one on the end of my workbench while sanding. It is easier to remove dust while it is being made than to 'dust' an entire workshop or worksite. I still have one of these operating in my basement to help clean the air, It helps clean the air as my wife setup a craft area down there and has asthma. Pro-tip: get the best filter you can find, to remove as much airborne particles as possible & put a cheaper filter in front of it to help prolong the life of the expensive one. Also use the best shop vac bags, like the ones for drywall dust, it makes NO sense pumping dust back into the air.
If I can see a a personal use for materials -- I'll keep them around for at least a year. I used to save materials with the thought of offsetting cost to customers -- not worth it at all. Doing so didn't save enough, or any in the long run. I wasted too much energy keeping everything organized and safe. I agree, let the big box stores be the stock room.
These work great for sure. All I would add is a 3m face mask with particle filters is much more efficient and comfortable than the ones you are using. You can change the filters to protect you when using chemical products ... CA glue, VOC finishes etc.
after seeing your video - definitely going to clean out all the material I've saved for 30 + years 'just in case" hah-ha ! great idea with the fans and filters!
Nice work ! Don't forget the bearings on most box fans are designed to remain in a vertical position relative to the ground, NOT the horizontal and not much off vertical. If you are going to hang any fan significantly off the vertical, make sure its bearings (and the fan) are rated for non-vertical use! Unfortunately, fans that are designed to accommodate a variety of mounting locations are likely to be more expensive. For example, most Vornado fans and some Air King fans can be mounted horizontal to the ground.
Look around on youtube and you'll see very nice DIY air filters for the workshop. They are made in the shop so it's right up your alley. I'll be building one this year. The manufactured filters are just too expensive.
Yeah. Still not sure why there’s all these other videos where guys are engineering these crazy boxes when your set up works just fine. This is on my to do list for my shop for sure. So simple
Not sure if it was mentioned, but I'd like to see you use that IR thermometer to measure the temp of the motor of one of those box fans running for an hour or two with a MERV 13 filter on it vs without
I have this in my house. All I did was taped the filter on all four sides so it wouldn't fall. The pressure from the airflow is enough to keep the filter air tight enough. It literally took me about a minutes to do everything.
HOME DEPOT sells LASKO box fans under $20. The spec on their site shows the fan produces up to 2500 cfm. Filters will reduce that, however with the number of fans such as you are running, you are exchanging a large amount of air throughout your shop in a short amount of time. Excellent video! Thanks
Could you shop vac the dirty filter a few times in between the full take apart cleaning to save some time and effort ? I also use my small Makita 18v lxt blower to clean my other filters rather than high pressure air. I think it's safer for the air filters as HP air easily ruins the paper elements. Thanks for the video.
Seems like an exhaust fan to the outside would good idea. Living in Atlanta I do all my cutting, sanding and spraying outside on my driveway even in the winter. But it's only about 10% of my work.
I need to figure that one out. Right now its winter and in the 30s and 40s most of the time. I close off the one car and open the over head door about a foot and put a fan on the floor when I'm spraying.
Maybe a commercial exhaust blower instead of exhaust fan. That should work even with outside doors closed. The fans and filters are a good idea for residual dust but I hope you figure out a better way to vent it to the outside instead of just catching some with your filter/fans. It would annoy me to clean those all the time.
Oh geeze, I wished I'd seen this a few months ago. I did find a few poor tutorials on youtube about adding a filter to a box fan. But they were bad. I needed one for cutting down on the overspray when spray tanning. This is a constant conversation on the forum I belong to. I should share this as we're all looking for an affordable solution. I pad $65 for one from a spray tan company. I knew it could be done cheaper, but I wanted a professional looking unit and didn't have the time to work on it myself.
You can get similar fans, the same size and shape for $17. I've had one in my room and its ran almost constantly for 3 years and is just now starting to vibrate.
I just setup two fans in my shop last month. Easy to find used fans on craig's list for $5. They work awesome! How often do you replace your filters? Do you just continue to blow them out?
I haven't replaced them yet. I have been blowing them off outside. The Merv 13 filters are kinda pricey so I need to get as much use out of them as I can.
I notice the grille that protects the filter is facing outward. There’s a different guy on RU-vid that built one for his home.He has the grille facing inward. Which method is best?
Are they furnace filters? I'll have to look them up. I have been taking these ones outside and blowing them off and seems to be holding up pretty good.
I believe it was an electrostatic furnace filter. I have mine set up on each wall (four of them), all blowing clockwise, so they circulate and filter the air pretty well. I don't have one that I move around like you do, but I also have a vacuum system setup, so it would probably be overkill. I got the filters for like $10 each, but that was at a Habitat for Humanity, so they're probably more than that normally.
Great channel; just found you about a 1/2 hour ago. FYI, would be a lot more safe if you weren't holding the metal in your hand when using a drill or drill press. I have several friends with bad scars on their hands from doing that... I almost lost 2 fingers doing the same. Just make a simple jig to hold them, use vise grips, or instead of a 2x4 in the vise, use a 1x4 that's lower than the top of the vise and drop them in there... if the metal can't spin out of your hands, then it can't slice you open. Also saw a few comments about installing the filter on the front... using the back is better. Your fan will last longer without that fine dust in the motor (just like your lungs).
Great idea!! Where is it best to place the filter? In front or behind the fan? I got a Lasko fan from Walmart for $ 20.00 and a good 3M filter for $ 16.00 I’ve taped the filter in front of fan and it’s working very well! I’ve noticed the dust in my bedroom has significantly decreased quite a bit! I’m just wondering if it’s better to place the filter behind the fan.
2:20 you have your bandsaw blade guard set way to high for those cuts. Also if you don't like the cord penetrating the filter, it should work just as well if you put the filter in the front of the fan.
I turned my box fan on put the filter against the fan and its held there on tape or anything else. If I turned it off the filter might fall so will put a bit of duct tape bottom and top.I think this is one of those KISS moments
Wonder how difficult it would be to take apart that fan motor housing, remove the power socket from it, and hang it out the side of the motor, secured with zip ties so it wouldn't flop around and get in the blades? Then the power cord could plug into it inside the fan grill, and exit out a new hole in the side of the fan.
Save money on filters. I take fan & filter outdoors and clean with a leaf blower, then give the filter a light spray of WD40, (helps trap the fine stuff). Mine is not a "production" shop, so I get years out of a filter.
merv 8 should be sufficient for what you are doing. Would aslo improve air flow to the fans. 13 is thick enough to stop viruses, bacteria ect. 8 would be perfect for dust
I'm cutting and routing a decent pile of MDF and I think I'll be building one of these tonite. My son will be disappointed. MDF dust makes the best boogers.
think you need to be careful with mdf dust due to the chemicals - I think formaldehyde is one of them but its been a while since I used and checked out. Was an article in a paper years ago about the health problems developing with kids due to the amount of gassing off of chemicals in Bedroom furniture which used certain mdf and similar boards with certain bonding chemicals. Ikea went over to safer stuff years ago and may be it has become the norm but I would check out especially when your son has his whole life ahead of him.
I've had pretty good luck with a trash-picked over-range microwave fan, an extremely slapdash box, and furnace filters. On high, that sucker moves some air. If you go that route make sure you grab the run-capacitor too.
The Handyman If you put some activated carbon on the filter, it will scrub the fumes. You can also get furnace filters with the carbon in them already, but they're pricey. Regardless, I like your plan of having your fans distributed throughout. Seems to me the effect of any fan will be localized, so with any decent size shop quantity is probably a lot more important than quality. Love your vids! Keep up the good work!
If you're using it for woodworking dust collection a MERV rating of 3-4 is sufficient. Don't waste your money on the higher rated filters. Wood dust particles are rather large and will easily get caught in the filter. You'll also get better air flow and more suction without bogging down the fan.
I ordered these 20 x 20 x 2 inch merv 13 filters and they seem to work better than the 20x20x1 that I was using. @t More surface area? Anyone care to comment on 1 inch vs 2 inch effectiveness?
