The Shelfords on sun 16 mar 97
Well, the roof is on the garage, and it looks like a temporary studio can be
set up in a month or two. I asked a question a few weeks ago about air
filtration systems, but I don't think there was any response. Does that
mean that no-one has any experience, advice, comments? I know Bailey makes
them (from their ad in CM). But are they effective in cleaning silica dust
etc from the air? How well do they last? Are there other systems that work
better? Is there a less expensive alternative? (Besides wearing a dust
mask ALL the time). I don't intend this to be a replacement for normal
caution and cleanliness, but my last studio was pretty dusty - you can clean
the floors and working surfaces, but not every blessed thing in the studio
every day!!!! Agate ware does involve a lot of extra trimming at dryer
stages than you would normally work. So if anyone out there has anything
to say about all this, I would REALLY appreciate it.
Thanks.
- Veronica on Thetis, where it is snowing, for heaven's sake! And the hail
had hardly melted! This is supposed to be SPRING out here!!!
____________________________________________________________________________
Veronica Shelford
e-mail: shelford@island.net
s-mail: P.O. Box 6-15
Thetis Island, BC V0R 2Y0
Tel: (250) 246-1509
____________________________________________________________________________
Ken Nowicki on mon 17 mar 97
Veronica,
In regards to your Q about air filtration... I am also interested and
learning about it as well, as I am converting a 2-car garage into my stuido.
I am currently reading a book I ordered from The Potters Shop called
"Ventilation" by Clark, Cutter, McGrane (ISBN: 0-941130-44-4). It's geared
for artist's craftspeople, public & art school officials, community art
centers, theaters, museums, and commercial shops that all want to be sure
their spaces are porperly ventilated. It's basically a handbook that explains
in a step-by-step hashion how to design and install an effective ventilation
system. I believe the price was around $19.95 or so... you may want to pick
up a copy yourself.
Good luck...
Ken Nowicki - RakuArtist@aol.com
Sherman Oaks, CA
Richard Ramirez on mon 17 mar 97
Hello Veronica,
Hey, do I know about dusty ceramic rooms! In a classroom full of students(on
a good day, 35 for 45mins. for 5 periods a day!)(ages 14-18)On top of that
custodial staff has been cut down so much, that they have about 10 min. to
empty trash cans and sweep my classroom( room measures about70'x120') I'v
numerous things to suggest about dust. First, watch out for cleaning your
work when in the bone-dry stage, do the clean-up work in leather-hard stage
both to avoid dust and easier to handle work, bone-dry too
fragile.Secondly,how do you dispose your shavings,trimmings and things like
that? Trash cans or recycle bins, do they have lids? Make sure anthing that
generates dust has a lid. That goes for storage, too. Now the next biggest
thing to consider is the type of circulating air you have or like to have?
From what I have read and what I've learned, avoid any system that pulls
the air past your nose and up only to have it come down somewhere else in the
room, if it wasn't sucked up the first time around. What I would suggest
would be a series of vents, around the ceramic room, at the bottom of the
wall where it meets the floor, plus enough air from above to push all dust
away from your nose down to the floor and out the vents. More then likely
your room would have to be quite airtight to control air flow. Well, thats my
suggestion, hope that gives you something to think about.
Good luck,
Richard Ramirez," The Clay Stalker"
The Shelfords on tue 18 mar 97
Hi Richard -
Thank you, those were very helpful suggestions. I am particularly
interested in the idea about ground level suction for the ventilation system
- makes a lot of sense, if it can be done. It won't be feasible in the
temporary studio (garage, for the next year or two) but the permanent studio
is still on the drawing boards and I think I'll incorporate your idea.
Semi-dry trimming seems to be a necessity for the particular type of agate I
have been doing, but perhaps one of those ground level vents could have a
flexible tube attachment, which could be directed at the wheel-head as I am
working (wearing a mask OF COURSE) sort of like a dust extractor on a table
saw. Minimize the distance and noses-to-pass before the dust is filtered.
- Veronica
Richard Ramirez wrote (snips):
> First, watch out for cleaning your
>work when in the bone-dry stage, do the clean-up work in leather-hard stage
>both to avoid dust and easier to handle work, bone-dry too
>fragile
> From what I have read and what I've learned, avoid any system that pulls
>the air past your nose and up only to have it come down somewhere else in the
>room, if it wasn't sucked up the first time around. What I would suggest
>would be a series of vents, around the ceramic room, at the bottom of the
>wall where it meets the floor, plus enough air from above to push all dust
>away from your nose down to the floor and out the vents.
____________________________________________________________________________
Veronica Shelford
e-mail: shelford@island.net
s-mail: P.O. Box 6-15
Thetis Island, BC V0R 2Y0
Tel: (250) 246-1509
____________________________________________________________________________
Ed Reiss on mon 7 apr 97
I asked a question a few weeks ago about air
> filtration systems, but I don't think there was any response. Does that
> mean that no-one has any experience, advice, comments? I know Bailey
makes
> them (from their ad in CM). But are they effective in cleaning silica
dust
> etc from the air? How well do they last? Are there other systems that
work
> better? Is there a less expensive alternative? (Besides wearing a dust
Hi Veronica,
Penn State Industries in Philadelphia, PA has an air cleaning system
advertised as removing: sawdust, drywall dust, cement powders, coal dust,
aviary dust, welding smoke, and non-volatile paint over-sprays. It uses
ASHRE 65% filters for particulates 3 microns or larger.
Two models: 465 CFM and 930 CFM at $239 and $339 respectively.
I cannot vouch for this unit as I have a custom dust collection system in
my woodturning shop, but I can highly recommend the people and customer
service at Penn State. I have been doing business with them for four
years...they will bend over backwards to help out.
Their toll free number is 1-800-377-7297 (ask for Rose)
Regards,
Ed Reiss
Berea Kentucky
mgitlis on sun 3 sep 00
=20
I'm planning on purchasing an air filtration system for two clay =
classrooms. We have two rooms about 980SF each in a community center =
where we teach children & adults ( about 50 a week). One room includes =
mixing glazes. I'd appreciate any suggestions and reccomendations. =
Thanks
John Baymore on tue 5 sep 00
I'm planning on purchasing an air filtration system for two clay
classrooms. We have two rooms about 980SF each in a community center wher=
e
we teach children & adults ( about 50 a week). One room includes mixing
glazes.
Hi. I think that it is GREAT that you are addressing this important issu=
e.
Couple of thoughts on your studio air quality question. This might be an=
angle on the problem that you haven't considered yet.... or you may have
already have been through this process and you are nearing the end of the=
air quality battle. Maybe this thought is a little usefull......... mayb=
e
it is redundant.
You have 50-something good air filtration units in your room already. =
These are the respritory systems of the faculty, staff, and students
working there . Unfortunately, those filters work all too well. If
you let the "junk" get into the air to start with....... those filters wi=
ll
start working. Generally they are a lot closer to the sources of the
problems than the (typically) ceiling mounted general air cleaning
units....so they get to clean the air a bit BEFORE it reaches those
mechanical filter units. You can think of them as the (unfortunate)
pre-filters for the mechanical unit ....... they "protect" the air
cleaner unit. So the key to this whole problem is to NOT let it get into=
the air to start with.
General room air filtration units are used as the LAST line of defense in=
the air quality battle........ not the first. You message doesn't say
exactly, but if this is your first attempt to look at the issue in the
classroom, you might want to look elsewhere first to spend the money you
have. If you have enough left over afterwards...then add the general roo=
m
HEPA units as the finishing touch.
General air particulate filters are intended to get the last tiny little
bit that can't be better controlled by other methods.
The KEY issue in control of airborne toxics is not letting them get into
the general room air suppy. To get control you probably want to be looki=
ng
at the dust / fume / vapor producing activities and identifying those tha=
t
can be =
1.) modified to decrease the volume or alter the nature of airborne toxin=
production
(example...... shaking out sheets of canvas for slab rolling is a=
bad studio habit that produces lots of difuse dust.)
2.) localized or isolated to make control easier
(example ..... a hot wax pan is situated in only one specific pla=
ce
in the studio within a small enclosure.)
3.) captured through local ventilation pickup
(example ....... a spray booth with appropriate face capture
velocity for the materials being sprayed is set up for using an =
airbrush or spraygun.)
4.) dealt with through general dilution ventilation
(example ..... a small fan in the kiln room that gets the little
bit that the local pickup from the electric kiln chamber misses.)
5.) eliminated as too difficult (or too toxic) to control within reasonab=
le
or available bugetary constraints
(example ..... the OSHA workplace lead standards are so expensive=
to meet that lead materials are not used.)
In approaching all these issues, AFTER the evaluation done in step one
above, ventilation processes quickly come to the fore.
The first line of ventilation defense is what is called "local pickup". =
THIS is the first place to spend the real money. Slot hoods, fume hoods,=
portable hoods, and all that constitute local pickup. Capture the junk a=
s
close to the source as possible. (Look at good quality current woodworki=
ng
equipment for ideas of local capture of dusts. The pickup is right at th=
e
cutting head or blade and enclosed as much as possible.) Use any natural=
tendency of the effluent to your advantage... for example hot gases tend =
to
rise.....gringing wheels induce a directional air flow to the dust
created...and so on. After localizing the process that is producing the=
stuff you want to get rid of (example..... any sanding/grinding/drilling
and so on is done only in ONE single location....not just anywhere anyone=
feels like it), a strong pull is created to capture the junk being create=
d
so that the flow is pulling clean air through the breathing zone of the
person working there and the junk is then pulled away from that zone. =
Then you need to think about where the junk you just caught is getting
exhausted... so that you don't pollute another location inadvertantly. O=
r
just dump it back into your make-up air and bring it right back into the
room air!
There are standards for the capture velocity of air movement for particul=
ar
types of airborne junk and types of units being vented.... see a book lik=
e
"Industrial Ventilation" (ASHRAE publication) for good info. Marc Ward
handles a number of ventilation products as does Bailey...talk to them
about your needs. If you have employees like faculty members and staff
working in the room, you might want to contact the center's personnel
department concerning possible OSHA compliance issues.
I'd tend to wall off (and local ventilate) the glaze mixing operation fro=
m
the general classroom space. That operation contains many of the more
toxic materials (in fine dry dust form) to one smaller space and makes
control much easier. Pull a slight negative pressure on this space
relative to the classrooms (with a small amount of general dilution
ventilation) and air will move INTO it from the classroom. Then place
local pickup slot hoods at the working station(s) to contain the dust
produced by weighing and mixing operations.
If the kiln(s) are in the same classroom, then I'd look at walling them o=
ff
too as soon as possible and adding local pickup as well as dilution
ventilation.
Once the junk gets into the general room air.... you need to turn over a
LOT of air pretty quickly to get the levels down. Moving all this air is=
generally expesnsive. If you are exhausting it out of the space..... and=
you live in a climate that utilizes air conditioning, heating, or both...=
.
than you have to consider the cost of the heated or cooled make-up air.
Make sure that the filter unit actually filters OUT what you need it to
filter out. Be really careful on this one..... ask a lot of questions...=
do
some research on specific unit claims. For ceramic dusts you typically
need a HEPA filter element as the final stage in the filter unit for
pneumoconosis producing / carcinogenic dusts like free silica (.05 OSHA
PEL). Dusts and gases are different...and require different filter units=
.
Nothing worse than to THINK you are protected and find out later that you=
were wrong. You are better off with nothing in this case..... at least
you'll try to be careful when you KNOW that junk is in the air. If you
BELIEVE it is not there....... you can easily get careless and complacent=
.
If you are in serious doubt about how to approach all this....... get a
ventilation engineer involved with some initial consulting. For only a f=
ew
hundred bucks of consulting time you can get some really good professiona=
l
advice. Before you do much of anything, read "Artist Beware" by Michael
McCann and "Keeping Claywork Safe and Legal" by Monona Rossol.
I have a Bailey air filter unit in my studio. It has appeared to work fi=
ne
for the last four or five years (no mechanical breakdowns), so in that
sense I can recommend it. It is the backup to the rest of the stuff I
utilize. I also have local pickup stations in the glaze lab and on the
grinder, a local pickup hood (with side/rear curtains) over the clay mixe=
r
(hot wax pan goes here too), and general room dilution ventilation as the=
first lines of defense. All studio cleaning is by wet method, I am caref=
ul
about dust producing habits, and I have eliminated use of most of the mor=
e
highly toxic materials. My kilns (gas and noborigama) are outdoors in op=
en
sheds.
So....... I am sure you'll get a lot of other posts on this. Read it
all....... weigh it all....... and have at it.
Best,
......................john
John Baymore
River Bend Pottery
22 Riverbend Way
Wilton, NH 03086 USA
603-654-2752 (s)
800-900-1110 (s)
JBaymore@compuserve.com
John.Baymore@GSD-CO.com
"Earth, Water, and Fire Noborigama Woodfiring Workshop August 18-27,
2000"
Nancy Guido on wed 29 aug 01
The Village Potters Guild (Plymouth, Michigan) purchased the air filter unit
made by Aercology from Axners several years ago. I liked it so much that
when husband said my new studio was almost done and time to order it I did,
however, when I did I was told it was no longer available. So I called
Bailey since the air filter system looked the same, I got the same story, I
figured it must be produced from the same company with Bailey's name added.
Then I called Axner back and found out why it wasn't going to be available,
but was told that if I ordered it before the end of June I could still get
it, so I did and I have it. I think it is a good filtering system, works
good at the potters guild. I don't think it is available anymore. However,
I think it's worth the call to Axner (ask for Roberto).
Nancy G.
Gail Dapogny on tue 24 sep 02
Does anyone have knowledge of the Bailey air filtration systems, either the
older "Smokebuster" model or a 750H or (especially) 1800H.?? Any feedback
would be very much appreciated.
Thanks, Gail
Gail Dapogny
1154 Olden Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48103-3005
(734) 665-9816
gdapogny@umich.edu
http://www.silverhawk.com/ex99/dapogny (single historical photo - no longer
registered with Silverhawk)
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