Fume and solder station venting

Jewelry Discussion
1

I would recommend that you try to visit A high school community
college or University Chem Lab and look closely at a fume hood.
You should be able to see how these are built.

Kitchen hoods are useless for safe venting

A fume hood is made to properly exhaust the space it incloses. The
air exhaust flow required is measured as a term called “face
velocity”. A standard face velocity requirement is 100 ft/ min. This
means for an opening of 1 square ft (12" by 12") you need a fan
exhausting 100 Cubic Ft per minute. This is obviously too small
an area to work within so you will need a bigger opening and a
bigger fan.

The best Jewelers soldering stations I have ever seen were about 2
feet wide with an opening 2 feet or a little higher . They were
about 12 feet deep as well. This was adequate for the soldering
equipment and a Crock pot for pickle They were able to have the
illumination level turned down so the metal color was easier to
see,

Ideally the station would have a false back panel . This would
force the exhaust to vent at the top of the hood as well as at the
bench top level providing exhaust at both levels… You will see
this in a factory built lab hood at a chem lab.

A lab hood is also provided with a double hung window that can be
closed or opened up or down. Look at the chem lab hood.

This could be made of metal or a fire proof material like Hardy
tile backer board. ( Home Depot or Lowes )About $10 for a 1/4"
thick 36" by 60" piece.,. The example stations were homemade of
plywood but flame resistant would have been better. They could also
be used as a lab hood for etching, plating anodizing etc.

This same shop had a nice very simple homemade enclosure for his
buffers. The buffers were enclosed in a plywood box with a sloping
transparent ( probably plexiglass) window sloped across the front.
Below this there was a slot opening big enough Sort of like a glove
box or sand blast cabinet without the gloves. an exhaust fan to
match or exceed the opening should be added. This unit blew to the
outside but could have vented thru some furnace type filter
(HEPA better)… The inlet area could be arranged to be reduced . This
will save on heating or as here in Texas the AC > remember you
need a fresh air intake equal to the exhaust.

SMOKING is what kills – the contaminants may just help a bit.
Everyone I have known ( buried some) with serious lung problems has
been a smoker for a lot of their life.

jesse

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2 
       The best Jewelers soldering stations I have ever seen were

about 2 feet wide with an opening 2 feet or a little higher. They
were about 12 feet deep as well. This was adequate for the
soldering equipment and a Crock pot for pickle They were able to
have the illumination level turned down so the metal color was
easier to see,

If it takes about two years for a Cadmium based solders and Flouride
fluxes to cause a serious illness-- I am about 47 years overdue. In
the summer of (I think 1958 - or 1959) I spent more than a day
around the clock repairing the results of an explosion in the copper
piping of a Liquid Oxygen plant cold box The space was still well
below - 100F and in a space about the size of a refrigerator –
I used well into the second 50 Oz coil of Easy flow 35 cadmium
bearing solder and several jars of Handi flux… Huge Brazing tip
-Hot in front and freezing behind The box was filled with Magnesa
carbonate powder (dust) insulation. I’m still here-- never smoked…
This is not a recommendation or endorsement of the practice…
Cadbearing solders went out about 25 years ago.I had a lot of
stamina back then…

Exposed to all sorts of Chemical plant fumes off and on for 40 more
years.

Build a good vent system. Please don’t smoke.

jesse

Note From Ganoksin Staff:
Looking for a soldering station for your jewelry projects? We recommend: