Fence or Ambulance

I could have also titled this “Source or destination”

Would you prefer a fence at the top of the cliff, or an ambulance at the bottom?

Following on from the previous article, there is one thing that has been annoying me with heavy construction, specifically in occupied buildings. Unlike the precautions I take in my workspace (shed), there is so little (as in “none”) control of dust at the point of origin – the construction industry appears to rely on cleaning up afterwards rather than dust minimisation techniques.

While sanding down some of the walls in my home (part of the whole fix-up – I’m getting better at plastering), I’m using the Festool ETS 150/5, with a Cleantex CT36 and Oneida cyclone.  Just on startup, if you don’t wait for the vac to kick in, you can physically see the cloud of plaster trying to billow out, before being sucked straight back into the various ports on the ETS.  The rest of the job, there is no dust, nothing to clean up, even when sanding in the walk-in wardrobe – there was no dust on the clothes at all.  Let alone in my lungs.

Something like the industrial sized Microclene unit for a worksite

or a small unit suitable for a workshop

This is one decent step towards capturing dust that is produced before it fills the room and settles on all the surfaces.

You can improve the collection further by adding a shield to the collector

or even place the unit right at the source of generation.

Whether that be an air filtration unit nearby, or on-tool dust collection, or a combination of both.

One way or the other, the results are always better when you actively mitigate dust production at the source, rather than cleaning up later.  What would you prefer – using and cleaning a filter, or using your lungs as that filter?