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glaze mixing ventilation was bin tables

updated tue 31 may 05

 

Ruth Ballou on mon 30 may 05


Deborah,

My husband built a ventilation hood modeled after hoods used in labs.
The cost was less than $200. At the time, I was mixing glazes in my
basement. While I could wear a mask while mixing glazes, I was
concerned about residual dust in the air that can hang around for
hours and be stirred up again later. The hood was constructed out of
plywood, flexible pvc drainage tubes, an attic fan, and miscellaneous
venting pieces. Oh, and lots of duct tape. It worked quite well.
Basically, the hood was a three sided box, open on the front, with a
top where the exhaust fan was placed and vented to the outside
through a small window. There was also a short apron (6 inches or so)
of plywood coming down from the top edge of the open side. This
helped to create turbulence within the hood, and keep dust within the
confines of the hood. We set the hood on top of a table. It was large
enough to store good size containers of commonly used chemicals, so
that I could measure out chemicals within the confines of the hood.
The scale was placed right under the fan where I measured everything.
It seemed to do a pretty good job. I consulted with someone who knew
about the appropriate size of ventilation fans before building the
hood. Of course, I'm sure a ventilation company would be happy to
custom build you something.

While I've always been concerned about silicosis, I've read lately
about various auto-immune related diseases that are also suspiciously
tied to exposure to silica. As I understand it, women's immune
systems are quite different from men's. It makes sense to me to be
extra careful when it comes to silica and a lifetime of exposure.

Ruth Ballou
Belgium




On May 29, 2005, at 9:33 PM, Deborah Wickham wrote:

> Wondering if anyone has designed/built their own bin tables for
> storing raw
> materials? I'm getting ready to create the garage into a glazing
> room and
> would love to put in a proper bin table, but they are very pricey!
> Also if
> you have any ideas re: venting.
>
> thanks!
>
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