# Workshop ventilation



## Peteroo (Aug 17, 2011)

Hi 
I am planning a 50 square metre workshop with a sophisticated ventilation system working through sound baffled air vents. Unfortunately I have no experience in the various disciplines involved in this project. 

The workshop will be square or rectangular in shape and have a rectangular enclosure in the centre. That enclosure will be about 3metres x2 metres in size. In it will be the various dust extraction devices to serve the height adjustable work benches and machinery around the outside of it's perimeter walls. Air will be extracted through this room to the outside air via sound baffed air vents in it's walls. To supply air to the workshop and so to the central room, will be sound baffled air vents in the perimeter walls of the workshop. The main ventilation fan will be a silenced fan. 

Has anyone else tried to do this project in a residential area? If so, may I ask what are the particulars and specifications of the project like baffled air vent design, and fan size? What are the other considerations in a project like this? The dust extractors will be good quality with exhausts of between 1 micron and .3 of a micron. 

Thanking you in anticipation 
Peteroo


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Can't help with your inquiry Peter but I'm sure someone will be along to give you some advice.


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## kklowell (Dec 26, 2014)

I can't help you either, but just wanted to comment that it sounds like a nice setup, and a quiet one too.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Peter; why in the middle of the room? For shorter pipe runs?
To be honest I'd hate giving up wide open work space for pretty much _any_ reason!
Your cabinet saw will take up the most real estate, and assembly/ finishing a lot more.
Try these for working out your floor plan...
Grizzly Industrial® Workshop Planner
Shop Layout Guide - Issue No. 288


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## chessnut2 (Sep 15, 2011)

DaninVan said:


> Peter; why in the middle of the room? For shorter pipe runs?
> To be honest I'd hate giving up wide open work space for pretty much _any_ reason!
> Your cabinet saw will take up the most real estate, and assembly/ finishing a lot more.
> Try these for working out your floor plan...
> ...


Dan........thanks for these links. I think they will help me greatly in laying out the basement workshop that I'm allegedly going to start on soon.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

You'll need to clean the air going out before it gets to the baffles or they will soon fill up with debris. I would still try and have the duct so it will come apart as it may in time anyway. I didn't check out Dan's links but usually all machines go around the outside wall because of DC ducting and wiring issues. In some cases where there are support posts the machines can go around the post. A table saw is usually the exception as it needs free space on 3 sides minimum. The fence side of the blade could go near a wall but if there are other tools or benches on that wall the end of the saw still has to stick out farther than everything else does and front and rear for at least 10 feet on both sides if possible (you plus a sheet of panel in length).


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## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

DaninVan said:


> Peter; why in the middle of the room? For shorter pipe runs?
> To be honest I'd hate giving up wide open work space for pretty much _any_ reason!
> Your cabinet saw will take up the most real estate, and assembly/ finishing a lot more.
> Try these for working out your floor plan...
> ...


Nice...like I didn't have anything else to do today...who's gonna take care of the stuff I had planned...????

Thanks for sharing the links...perfect for laying out my new expanded space...


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

I found the Grizzly link one a lot more practical to use; the other one is pretty basic.

For anyone who read the '50 sq m' part, a sq. m is 10.8 sq. ft, so Peter's looking at about a 550sq. ft. area.
For comparison's sake, a 24' x 24' dble garage is 576 sq. ' so yeh, Peter, I'm envious!


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

...but I _still_ wouldn't compromise the working space with a structure in the middle of it.


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## Peteroo (Aug 17, 2011)

Hi Danin
I thought that it would be appropriate because the air drawn through the silenced fan, from the perimeter walls and enclosure , being my priority, would have shorter distance to go. I make and use height adjustable workbenches and have two of them, the one on my router forums profile and a new router bench, and a triton table saw. It seemed most practical to have these dust making machines congregated near the enclosure in a central place. Later, when I add machines which need volume dust extraction, they too will be catered for by the enclosure in the middle. Thus the noise and dust and ventilation will hopefully not bother me too much and the exhausted air from this area will not bother my neighbours. 
regards 
Peteroo


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## Peteroo (Aug 17, 2011)

Hi Chuck
I mainly use pressure shop vacs. At present my only machine is a Triton series 2000 table saw. 

To clean the outside bound air I plan to use a ceiling air cleaner for the dust and an old Aironic negative ion generator for any odour. Can anyone help with the configuring of these devices and the silenced exhaust fan within the enclosure in the middle of the shop please?


On the green height adjustable workbench I use a Festo plunge saw on a rail and catch almost 99.999% of the dust from the saw and the table top chute in the saw cut line of travel(refer my pictorial article in Britians "The Woodworker and Woodturner" magazine Nov 2012). 

The router bench, not completed yet, is catered for once again by the shopvacs. The router plate accepts the Incra clean sweep inserts and with them and the Incra fence I also get almost all the dust. 

In the future I plan to build a sanding table with dust extraction underneath which may sit on the green bench. 

When I finally settle down I will perhaps buy a planer thicknesser and a bandsaw. These can be wheeled over to the enclosure for their dust extraction. Once again it's all in the planning now. I really need advice about noise baffled ventilation vents and fan sizes and types to pull this big dream off. 
Regards 
Peteroo


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## Peteroo (Aug 17, 2011)

Thanks old55
Peteroo


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## Peteroo (Aug 17, 2011)

Thanks ken
Peteroo


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## sunnybob (Apr 3, 2015)

If you are in the middle of a residential area, the extractor noise is the least of your worries.
what youre planning is way over the top for a wood workshop. Take a decibel reading from a router table or mitre saw cutting hard wood. Thats the noise you need to worry about.

The extraction just needs a large vent with soft flaps inside to allow the air to slow below supersonic speed to make it quiet.


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

I was once involved with the design and planning of a clinical manufacturing facility for making pharmaceuticals where some of the rooms required a complete air exchange every minute and needed to have negative pressure compared to the room next to it. So what I learned from that is if you are going to be venting air to the outside you need to have a way to also draw air into the room. 

Re-reading your post, I think you are addressing that with air vents in the perimeter walls? I'm with Bob (Sunnybob) in that the dust extraction is far less noisy than the sound of a router or table saw or planer. Wouldn't it be easier to build an enclosure outside the shop for the dust extraction system that could be insulated for sound deadening and free up the space in the center of your shop?


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

I had never heard of the Triton 2000, which seems to be a versatile workcenter design that revolves around their circular saw. I've looked at the saw at Rockler and it is something of a tank. I see why a workcenter like this would be appreciated in places where shop space is severely limited. Take a look, here's the five parts of their video combined.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Gaffboat said:


> ...Wouldn't it be easier to build an enclosure outside the shop for the dust extraction system that could be insulated for sound deadening and free up the space in the center of your shop?


Center of the shop space is a precious spot. I get the idea you're going for, but this will push your tools toward walls, which is not the best placement for most of them. Also, putting the DC outside (or inside on one end of the shop) will free up space so you can put up an enclosure for finishing. You'll want to keep that as dust free as possible, perhaps that could be the air intake area as well. Draw in filtered air through that space, then into the shop. Just thinking. Like a lot of us here, I have a fraction of that space and have become quite careful about tool placement.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Continuing the idea of my previous post, If I had the space, I'd consider starting with the walled off finishing area on one end of the shop and then an assembly area, then tools that make either chips or low volumes of dust. As I continued toward the other end of the shop, I'd have the table saw, other saws and big dust producers closest to the far wall. On the other side of the wall would be a lean-to with the DC, possibly built inside the shop to make it easy. I think you can see that I'd want the air flow to go from clean to dusty across the length of the shop, with lots of room to sweep up, using a long hose attached to the DC unit. I'd get everything high enough off the floor so that I could sweep and vacuum floors all the way to the walls. Infrequently used stuff would go up high, including carrying cases and the like. Wood would be stored nearer the middle, against the wall on a cart so I could pull it out for cleanup. At present, my small shop is about the size of a single car garage, and I'd really love to have at least double that space. My thoughts anyway.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Peteroo said:


> ...When I finally settle down I will perhaps buy a planer thicknesser and a bandsaw. These can be wheeled over to the enclosure for their dust extraction.
> Regards
> Peteroo


I'd rather carry the wood to the tools. Other than sheet goods, they will be far lighter than moving a tool, and many tools will lose adjustment if you move them. I suggest you reconsider this idea.


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## jettalina (Mar 3, 2021)

This might sound a bit outdated, but I'm very curious to know how your final building looks like and how did you manage to overcome the obstacles you've had to face? I'm also thinking of building a similar thing sooner than later.I'm asking since I'm planning to build a house that is in a very remote area with a lot of extreme weather patterns. So far with all the information and data collected I'm pretty confident that an exhaust fan will work just fine, but I would love a second opinion. After all you had to deal with my harder situations for sure!


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Welcome to the forum @jettalina


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