Hello to all on the list! I have been reading for several months and
have learned a great deal, and want to thank all of you.
I have been making a pretty good living selling beads and
custom-beaded jewelry (mostly with 14k findings) for about five years
now. My plan was always to learn more about jewelry fabrication, but
happily I experienced more success than I expected in the beading
niche and time sort of got away from me as I built my present
business. A little more than a year ago I finally began learning a
little silversmithing. I am a rank beginner, but I am definitely
hooked. At some point I may advance to the point that I will want to
see if I can rent or share studio space, but right now I just want
to establish a small safe soldering area in my home. I am in the
process of searching for a new home right now, and in order to
separate the soldering area from my business workroom, I=92m probably
going to have two basic options–the garage, if it=92s large enough,
or a small added separate building. However, I am finding that many of
the Home Owner=92s Associations in my area are not going to allow this
kind of building, or alterations to the garage either. Of course,
there=92s no way of knowing whether an HOA will allow a particular
modification of a property until you move in and present your plan.
All HOAs around here are similar on paper, but whether they are
liberal or picky in interpreting and enforcing their regulations
varies radically.
If I can set up both a general ventilation system and a fume hood
exhaust system in my workshop in my new housing situation, I will, but
since doing some research, I=92ve been wondering if I can put together=
a
=93Plan B=94 for a safe soldering area if a ventilation plan can=92t b=
e put
into practice.
The article that gave me hope that this might be possible was this
page from ganoksin:
Particularly this paragraph: =93Air purifiers that filter toxic
particles out of the air are an excellent alternative to ventilation.
They are more economical to install, as long runs of ducts do not
have to be installed. They are also cheaper to use as the air is
returned to the shop and does not have to be heated or cooled. They
also have an environmental advantage, as they do not expel toxic
substances into the atmosphere.=94
The need for true HEPA air filters is also discussed in this
article. So I gave some thought to how to replace both a dilution
ventilation system and something like a hood exhaust with filtering,
and came up with these ideas.
For a general filtration system, perhaps a unit something like
this:Multi-stage Air Purifier Fine Dust Chemical Gas Odor Removal
For at-the-spot air purifying, Rio Grande has a unit they call
SolderPure with a HEPA filter and a cone on a flexible hose that can
be positioned directly over the soldering area. It=92s on page 407 of
the catalog that I have at hand.
The first unit, depending on the model, is around $600-900.00, and
the SolderPure unit is $929.00 exclusive of shipping.
Are two units overkill? On the other hand, would such a setup really
be about as safe as a general ventilation and hood fume system, and
effective enough to be worth the money?
All your comments or suggestions for my =93Plan B=94 would be greatly
appreciated.
Debrah