School Master Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 I have read every post on this site I beleive about ventilation of the workstation. I just moved into a new house and the last step is ventilation of my shop. After all my reasearch, I think the "squirrel cage" blower/fan is the way I am going to go. Okay now which one is enough? Obviously I want to go as big as possible, but around 500 CFM is the most I can find. Some gable fans are double and triple that. The gable isn't really possible since my shop is in the basement. Help me out fella's any info is helpfull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 (edited) If you can manage it, a remote ventilator fan is the quietest option. Here's a link to remote ventilators: https://www.google.com/search?q=remote+vent+hood+blower&oq=remote+vent&aqs=chrome.3.69i57j0l5.6325j0j7&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8 Any ventilation system for paint spraying or plastic melting and pouring works best if it is drawing from a confined space, as opposed to just drawing air out of the shop in general. You should probably look at building some kind of spray/melting booth or hood, so you can get a good airflow away from both your house and your lungs, and still use some kind of respirator if you're melting inside a closed space, like a basement. Edited December 27, 2013 by mark poulson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
School Master Posted December 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Thanks Mark, I was planning on making a hood and running flex home from the fan to the hood and out of the shop. My shop is completly enclosed from the rest of the basement, so that's good. I just want to make sure I do an important job like this correctly. And yes, I where a respirator 100% of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bass100 Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 I run a squirrel cage fan and I have 4 lines coming out of my box: two for plastics, one for lead, and one for airbrushing. You can put a dampner into each line so you can control how much air flow you would like. I see you are also in cold country so you may experience the problem I have which is when I turn on the fan it gets cold quick. I don't know how many CFM's it has. I have been running the same motor for about 10 years now. I have posted on this before but if you go to your local heating and air conditioning installation company you can get a used motor for less than $50 versus a couple hundred for a new one. Once you have the fan installed there is a question you will never ask about a brand of plastic and that is how much does it smoke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
School Master Posted December 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 Bass, I've read all your posts about the subject, I was hoping you would chime in. I will check around town and see if I can find one. I just wanted to make sure I was getting something on par with what you have in terms of power. I love the idea of multiple lines coming off a box too. I will probably try to do a similar thing. Is yours pretty loud? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bass100 Posted December 27, 2013 Report Share Posted December 27, 2013 I used 3/4" wood to make my box so the motor is not loud at all but you will hear the sound of air being sucked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted December 28, 2013 Report Share Posted December 28, 2013 Just be sure the fan you buy is what is called explosion proof. That is important when you're venting dust and fumes. Basically, you don't want a motor that has brushes because it makes sparks as the motor spins. That's fine for power tools, but not for exhaust fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...