My workshop has a small alcove, which is currently home to all the "dirty" equipment - sandblaster, surface grinder, bench grinder, air compressor, and eventually, the welder. The sandblaster is a particularly bad offender - every time it is used, the house floors get a fine coating of abrasive dust...and the entry to the house is 3 corners and 2 doors away. A greater amount of dust undoubtedly ends up in the precision slideways and leadscrews of my machines.
A 50x25mm rolled hollow section was used as a curtain rail. This was anchored into the 2 walls forming on the sides of the alcove. (Note the stock rack on the left hand side - this can accommodate stock up to 3.5m long. It is made from 4 angle brackets dynabolted into the brick columns).
The rail was held with some unistrut brackets "U" brackets. These allow convenient access to bolt / unbolt the rail when necessary. The bracket was held to the wall with 2 M8 Dynabolts.
To hang the curtain, some C brackets were made using various pieces of 4-5 mm scrap bar (most of these came from disassembled printers and photocopiers - these are a goldmine for precision ground silver steel). The internal dimensions are 80x30mm. A bar bender is surprisingly handy for projects like this, as a bracket can be made from scrap material in a few minutes.
A thick PVC tarpaulin, measuring 2.4 x 1.8m was used as the curtain. Not only are these essentially rip-proof, allowing you to scrap it over sharp edges, it is also fire-proof - which is important given the amount of sparks and weld spatter that might be generated. It is also a smooth, non-absorbent surface that can be hosed down for cleaning. I avoided canvas for this reason. I considered using the cheaper polyethylene tarps, but decided that it would be too frustrating to use due to it's thinness.
Hopefully this cuts down some of the dust....not having dirty house floors would be a good start!
No comments:
Post a Comment