down draft vs. water

[bakerj99]

i want to add a downdraft system to my table but it seems that everyone is doing the water and was just wondering why

any pros and cons woud be helpful

thanks
baker

[Big John T]

While I have not tried a down draft, I have tried all sorts of ventilation schemes and the water is far better in dust reduction. With water the fine dust that covers everything in the shop seems to go away. Rig up a temporary test pan of water and you will see what I mean...

John

[bakerj99]

thanks for that info

baker

[magico14]

Originally Posted by bakerj99 i want to add a downdraft system to my table but it seems that everyone is doing the water and was just wondering why any pros and cons woud be helpful thanks baker

I have both but Today I prefere the down draft table. I switched to draft 3 months ago when I bought my first Sideros Engineering down draft table with its Sideros' dust collector. I am really happy. and the price was good

[bakerj99]

is there any way that you could post some pics or would you be willing to email them.

thanks

[landmark]

I'd guess most go with water because to get a good capture velocity on a 4x8 area you need a massive! fan. Most people put way to small a fan.

[bakerj99]

my thoughts on that were just to use multiple fans. i have a 5X10 table so i was thinking about using 18" exhaust fans, 2 and maybe 3. there is just TO MUCH THINKING going on in my head, i think that i have it figured out and then scratch that and start over. i even have a couple of squirrel cage fans that i had though about using. when im cutting .25 material @140 ipm the smoke just rolls around like a fog that keeps getting thicker by the second. i just dont want to do one thing and it not be enough so i dont get the results that i want.

thanks

[Yamahamer]

I have used both and both have there pros and cons.
The big con with down draft is the dust and with mine the pattern you burn out the parts.
When cutting alot of small parts you loose alot of vacume. But mine is a end vac not centered.

Water cons is just table clean out is messy.

My first post, so I hope it makes sense?

[landmark]

What I like about the water table is it doesn't require more power to run big fans, the water will help with the warping of thin sheet, and I during the winter less heat gets pumped outside. But on other hand. 5x10 worth of water weights alot.

[WSS]

I cut 1/2"+ steel and am using a air table with a big fan at one end below deck and a smaller fan mounted high blowing down on the table. I will be switching to a water table soon. It is a must for us. after six hours of cutting, everything is coated with black magnetic dust. Very dangerous to breath I hear.

WSS

[bakerj99]

here was my thoughts on the fan process,

with the table being 13' long divide it into 3 fan sections

have the fans strong enough to have the air cycled out of the area at least 6 to 8 times a minute but still be strong enough to have a filter or two

and then what about baffles for the sparks? no clue what so ever on that aspect other than those sparks might catch a filter on fire and i dont need that

i can figure out the cubic footage but i dont know how to figure out the resistance of the filter elements. this might sounds like over kill but my goal is to be able to have the doors cracked and not wide open in the winter. i really dont want this to be the "smoker project". by that i mean i dont want to have finally finished this project and realized that there was a better way to reach my goal and start all over again. i do that all the time with smokers but i can sell them, i dont want to have to sell the table and worry about competing with another person.

so now my fingers hurt, so any suggestions
thanks
bakerj99

[magico14]

Originally Posted by bakerj99 is there any way that you could post some pics or would you be willing to email them. thanks

Sure, I am gonna send you some pics of my down draft table, post your Email, I happy to help a collegue