This is the second time I’ve come into the woodshop and the main extractor bag is full, with the sawdust going up into the filter.
This is unacceptable, replacing the filter costs £200, apart from the cost, an inefficient dust collector is damaging to the health of members.
If you use the mitre saw, planer, bandsaw or router and the bag is full. It is YOUR responsibility to empty it. @mbg has put instructions on how to do it on the filter, so there is no excuse.
I’m not willing to drop any names but I don’t believe I was shown how to empty these extraction bags during my woodshop induction. I’m happy to learn about it though.
@Tomdhu How much and how often do you need sawdust? Are you willing to provide your own bags to pick up? I’m not sure if this is something we would make changes for but if you provide more logistic ideas maybe the woodtechs would give the thumbs up for it.
We don’t cover the exact process in the basic, we just (or at least should) mention to empty it if full. It’s usually the router table or planer that fill it up anyways. It’s pretty straightforward, there are instructions on how to empty it on the filter. I’ll add some kind of label to the tools connected it to check first as well. Should probably add something else near the bag ti indicate what “full” actually is (about 3/4 of the visible bit). If there’s any other ideas on how to communicate that the bags need to be changed, I’m all ears.
Happy to explore this if we can find a way to make it work. The bags get changed at an irregular cadence and we’d like to avoid a buildup; we also like to reuse bags - that’s what concerns me but if we can figure something out then I’m all for it, rather it gets composted than sent to a landfill. There’s sometimes a bit of mdf and plywood sawdust in there, not sure if the glue in those matters as well for what you’re doing.
We’ve looked at this as an option before, but have no way of knowing what woods are being cut or used with the various machines. If we go ahead, it’ll need to be noted that the wood cannot be free of contaminants, such as mdf or treated woods.
I just need the occasional big bag - like a mail bag size every 3 months or so. It’s great for adding to the compost to offset all the green matter from grass cuttings.
Pretty much any saw dust will do or very thin shavings.
