Hello,
This is my first post to the forum. I am setting up a small
silversmithing studio in my basement, and I would like to buy an air
filter/fume absorber, a quiet one with preferably HEPA filter. There
are many products out there, but I was wondering if you could make
any recommendations.
Thank you,
Almila
When I started out my workshop was in a cellar, ie under the house.
I put up with that for a couple of years but had to change due to the
following reasons.
2.Fume problems from the gas enamelling muffle
3.polishing dust getting everywhere
4.fumes from the fluxes and the oxy propane brazing torch. So unless
you planning to do say, only a couple of hours a week. The 1st
reccomendation is dont put your worshop in the basement. secondly the
other no no’s above will affect your health.
No filtering unit that would make it a safe place to work is small
and cheap enough for your needs. If you are short of space, what I
would do is use another room upstairs? like a bed room and sleep in
the basement. Depends how badly you want to do the silversmithing.
silversmithing and jewellery making are a little different.
As you know its a question of scale. I sought out an old deserted
farm, so as to have all the space and workshops I might need. Been
here some 40 yrs. The only limitation has been my ideas and time!!
Ted
In
Dorset
UK.
Almila, I got Hako fume extractor recently from Rio Grande, and it
works very well. It has a powerful draw and comes with a baffle box
that muffles the sound very well. It’s really pretty quiet. It wasn’t
cheap, but I’m very satisfied with it.
There is no problem working in an enclosed space like a basement.
But it’s better to ventilate the space rather than use a fume
extracting machine that doesn’t expel that air to the outside.
Ventilation systems that will remove the fumes from soldering,
plating, kilns, etc, don’t necessarily need to be expensive but they
need to work and to replace the air that’s sucked out with fresh air.
There has been a few threads over the years that cover this subject,
and you might find it useful to try to find those. I have ventilated
a one person studio with 3 stations for less than $2000 US, including
hoods, fan, ducts, wiring and complete installation by an HVAC
company. It’s not a lot of money when you think about what it does
for you and how many years it will continue to work.
Mark
Hi Almila,
The Quatro Basic is a great all around vacuum and filter for the
bench. It has the filtration and cleaning ability of the Quatro
Collect All without the high power suction (which you really only
need if running at two benches with one filter) at a third of the
price. I bought one for each of my studio Jewelers and they love them
for keeping bench grinding out of their face and the fumes from
soldering (even though we use firescoff and no pickle). A movable
nozzle will really help put the suction where you need it most.
Gesswein or Stilled carries them. Being an Eco conscious jewelry
creator, I also set up a low cost HEPA filter that is always running
in the studio to capture all the other dust and toxins that will hang
out in the air that the bench filters don’t pick up. You can pick one
up cheap used on Craigslist and replace the filter or get a new one
for around $50-80.
Also, keep some ivy and big leafy plants in your studio as they go a
long way towards cleaning up the air of toxins and providing you
oxygen. Go ‘green’! They also lend great ‘creation’ energy.
Create with Love,
Justinder