Every woodworker needs to be concerned about breathing wood dust. Especially if you are working with some of the exotic woods like Cocobolo, and the other Rosewoods. They can be very toxic. I advise you to google "wood toxicity" to learn about the hazards. I have been working on improving the dust collection in my workshop.
Here is my new sanding box, mounted on a table alongside a sander. Both are connected to the big vacuum seen in the corner.
It took a little ingenuity, a few hose clamps and duct tape, but I got it all put together and working nicely today. I was trying it out with a sander and a piece of koa in the above picture. I am very pleased- seems to work fine. I am expecting far less dust in my shop. There are two blast gates on that wooden transfer box at the back of the sanding box.
The blast gate is wide open. You can buy a sanding table ready made, but I bought the kit from Grizzley Industrial which contains four of these panels, a construction plan and a plastic hose port and made my own box with 1/2 inch plywood. With ten feet of hose, a couple of fittings, the plywood and the kit I have less than $100 invested. A small price to pay for clear lungs. I will also wear an inhalator when doing any sanding.
This will give you a sense of the size of the box. The black rings are rubber. The red stubs are adjustable and are for holding your workpiece from sliding around on the sanding surface should you be using an aggressive sander. I now have every machine in my shop connected to the dust collector except the bandsaw. I think that will be the next project- anyone want a good used bandsaw without a dust collection fitting? $400 and it is yours.
