Page 88 - Australian Wood Review №103 2019

WORKSHOPS
Why It’s Time to Upgrade
Your Dust System
For Troy McDonald finally improving his dust collection setup was a personal journey…
’d like to open this article with two important
Iconfessions. First, I’ll confess to having no formal
qualifications in dust extraction or ducting design. Whilst I
love my woodwork, I have little interest in the formalities of
friction losses in ductwork and fan static pressures. So this
is an account of my own personal journey in dust extraction
shared in the hope that it may provoke thought about
your own situation. Thoughts that I hope may have you
questioning the adequacy of your own extraction systems as
I did when I embarked on this journey a few years ago.
So why is this important? While effective dust extraction
techniques are endlessly debated, there is one constant
on which the science is aligned. That is the health risk
presented by ongoing exposure to fine wood dust. Many of
us woodworkers work to self imposed health standards not
recognising that the risks of exposure to fine dust increases
over time. The recent publicising of silicosis exposure to
88 Australian Wood Review
those working in the stonemasonry and kitchen benchtop
industries should serve as a sobering reminder of the need
to manage our personal health risks over time. Like many,
I remained accepting of the risks until I embarked on a
redesign of my workshop several years ago.
It was then that I removed my trusty 2hp single stage
collector from the corner of the room where it had stood
for 10 years to find a caked layer of fine dust lining the
wall. Only then did I realise my dust collector was a
glorified chip collector and dust blower. That afternoon
I dedicated a few of hours to relocating the extractor
outside the workshop, piping it in through a makeshift
arrangement of PVC duct.
I’m embarrassed to admit that it took me another two
years to finally improve the system to a degree that I’m
now satisfied represents an acceptable (but arguable) level