fan/blower brands

[bigcreek]

I need to get a good fan to suck the metal dust away from my 5x10 table and out the wall. I want one in the 4500 to 6000 cfm range or maybe two in the 3000/3500 cfm range. I dont care about sucking heat out. What are some good fan types and brands you guys know of? There used to be one advertised on this site called turbo fan?? or something like that it seems like. I read some guys say it worked great but cannot find it now on here. I look forward to hearing your reviews.

Thank you,

Josh

[Redneck]

I improvised on mine.....I boxed in the underside of the table and used an old furnace fan to create a downdraft table. It is quiet and works great as long as you keep the open areas on top of the table covered.

[bigcreek]

Redneck like the squirrel cage type?

[Bigrhamr]

This one is still listed on this site: http://plasmaspider.com/shop/plasma_exhaust_fans.html

I don't know anything about them but it's something to compare with anyway.

[Redneck]

Yes, the squirrel cage type. They move a lot of air and are quiet. I use cardboard to cover the open areas around the sheet and where I have removed the cut parts.

[mdwalker]

Whole house attic fans work good too and move alot of air.

[Kentuckyfarmer]

Look at the type used on grain bins shoupp mfg or sloan have the best prices They will run non stop and are made to move a large amount of air
Mike

[Copp3r]

I thought I'd go "out on a limb" and try the turbo fan shown on this website. In short... I LOVE IT !!!! I'm running a PlasmaCam table and have had a sloped tray made for the underside of the cutting table with a pull out tray in the middle where all of the scraps slide down to and the opening for the turbo fan at one end.

This fan has pretty much ELIMINATED the fumes and crap. I can stand right next to the table without wearing a mask.

No, I don't have any connection to the product.

Cheers,

Copp3r / roger

[weldor2005]

I went with the 12" one from northern tool. it pulls over 3000 CFM. Again, like others, if you keep open surfaces covered, it does a fantastic job. It is a loud fan however. I typically wear my shooting muffs when I have it on, or ear plugs if i need to do other things.

[tnbndr]

The average squirrel cage type fans from furnaces only pull about 1200 cfm at the most. You want to move a lot of air so I would look toward the turbo fan.

[bigcreek]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Those turbo fans are priced pretty cheap and Ive only heard glowing reviews on those. Im thinking of getting two of them and have them both sucking from one of the long sides of the table, space them apart 5' or so. I just dont want dust. Dust sucks, so I sure dont want to end up with something too wimpy.

[planetxfred]

There is a lot of variation between different squirrel cage fans. Mine is an older belt drive unit from an oil fired furnace. Lets me keep the motor out of the air stream. The duct from the table to the fan is straight, short and adequate sized. The airflow is a measured 2000 cfm & does a great job provided I cover most of the open area (no more than about 1 square foot of open area. As a sheet gets used, I cover open areas with 2X2 pieces of 1/4" Masonite.
Fred

[bigcreek]

So say a person had two 2000cfm fans he was going to use on a 5x10 table. Do you guys think it would be more effective/efficient to put them both on the narrow 5' wide end of the table and suck out the air along the entire 10' length of table, or space the fans 5' apart or so on the 10' wide side of the table? Would they suck the air pretty good you think from the long end, seems like that is a pretty good stretch.

[bigcreek]

planetxfred how big of a table are you using with your 2000 cfm squirrel cage?

[tnbndr]

Josh, are you enlosing the sides of the table, I assume, and then tapping into the panels? I would do the two on the sides rather then the ends, less obstructive. All the commercial tables that I have seen and used have the air being pulled from directly below. In other words the enclosure is shorter and the exhaust tap is along about 6' of the bottom. Then a triangle shaped expanded metal cap is put over the opening to keep debris out and parts that fall in are deflected to the side so as not to block the opening.

[planetxfred]

Mine is a 4X4 Plasmacam. I boxed in the outside and put a "ledge" around the outside at top to block off all but the actual cutting area, I use Masonite sheets to cover open areas. The 1/2 hp squirrel cage works great, and is quiet.
Fred

[james.davis]

I bought a 6hp shop dust collection vac.(Habor Freight) removed the bag and piped directly to my table.I have a concave
metal plate above the pipe so sparks won't go in the pipe to the motor.Under my grids I put expanded metal to catch any
drops,also at the very bottom I have a removible catch tray for any smaller drops .I put a welders screen all the way around my table and a fan in my roof. I have no smoke or sparks in my shop.
Jim

[james.davis]

This is the expanded metal under the grids.
Jim

[skiwithnoskis]

J.davis
Do you have any more pictures and or cut files of your down draft. I really need to build one for my pcam

[james.davis]

I'll have to take some measurements and make make drawing up if you want ? It's going to be a couple days I've got
a bunch of things going on right now.
Jim

[skiwithnoskis]

I'll have to take some measurements and make make drawing up if you want ? It's going to be a couple days I've got
a bunch of things going on right now.
Jim

I would really appreciate that
Thanks
Bb

[Reid53]

I am looking to add a downdraft to my PlasmaCam DHC2. I have seen the exhaust fans that are advertised here and was wondering if anyone has used them and how they like them. Thanks, Reid.

[HammerDownJustin]

I went with the 12" one from northern tool. it pulls over 3000 CFM. Again, like others, if you keep open surfaces covered, it does a fantastic job. It is a loud fan however. I typically wear my shooting muffs when I have it on, or ear plugs if i need to do other things.

I have a friend that runs one 12" from northern on a 4x8 and it works good. I just got cheap and decided to try the 8" from harbor freight. 20% coupon it was about $55 to my door and looks identical to the northern one and my table is 4x4

[Reid53]

HammerDownJustin, how do you like the fan you got from HF? Does it take away all the smoke from your table? How quiet is it? Thanks for the info. Just trying to decide on what to use at this point.
Thanks,
Reid

[weldor2005]

I went with the 12" one from northern tool. it pulls over 3000 CFM. Again, like others, if you keep open surfaces covered, it does a fantastic job. It is a loud fan however. I typically wear my shooting muffs when I have it on, or ear plugs if i need to do other things.

I have a friend that runs one 12" from northern on a 4x8 and it works good. I just got cheap and decided to try the 8" from harbor freight. 20% coupon it was about $55 to my door and looks identical to the northern one and my table is 4x4

Yea, Mine is the 12" on the 4x4. I currently am in the middle of a long move and probably will redesign. It works good as stated above, but I just enclosed the walls and did nothing with covering the top outsides of the uncuttable part of the grate? I think that I will design more of a slopped one with a cleaning tray as right now I have to periodically take a side off and sweep it. I will probably use two trays, one expanded metal for smaller parts and then one solid for dust that dont make it out the fan.

As for getting a fan with a belt so the motor isn't in the air stream. I got to say that I expected the inside of the blower fan to be caked with crap after a while, but it moves enough air that it didn't have any build up on the inside what so ever, Not even with expected magnetic forces from the motor.

end rant.