thinking of an air dust filter for the trainroom

[voldemort]

Our house is old.  It has hot water heating (ie, no forced air).  As a result, it rarely needs dusting.   EXCEPT for my train room.  Which is on the third floor.  I know where the dust comes from.  I make it.  With sandpaper,  cutting discs etc.  The room is carpeted.  I'm thinking of trying to put some kind of a room sized air filter in primarily to decrease the dust that ends up on my rolling stock.  I know- cover it, put it away, vacuum, don't make the dust etc. 

I've been looking online.  I have a background in occupational health.  There seems to be two groups that come up when I google- the workshop sized overhead air cleaners.  Which would be excellent for my outside workshop (especially with my son's activities there).  I think they'd be too large, too loud and move too much air.  Otherwise there are a lot of cube/rectangular air filters that feature HEPA filters.  My concern is dust, not viruses and bacteria.  With the dust I make I know it will clog too fine of an air filter.

Anybody have suggestions of something in the middle?

BTW said son knows his dad and for Christmas got him a small air filter that removes lead etc from soldering fumes.  With Covid, he's regularly making bowls from giant chunks of trees- they're spectacular, but out a giant chunk of firewood you get a bowl and a much much larger pile of lathe shavings.

[peteski]

Not sure if any filter will handle the amount of dust in that room, Any possibility you could separate the dust-making area from the layout?  Build a dividing wall with a door, or at least hang some sort of a ceiling-to-floor curtain? Some people make lifting canopy for their layouts, to cover them when not in use.

[voldemort]

Sorry, I wasn't clear.  The woodworking workshop is in the garage (a separate building, a separate problem).  The train room is on the third floor of the house.

[Kentuckian]

A friend used an inexpensive box fan that he had on the floor of the train room. He taped a disposable furnace filter on the intake side and left it running on low most of the time. I think his house had a forced air system, and he hated the dust!

[nkalanaga]

I've also heard of the box fan/furnace filter trick.  It would be cheaper than a purpose-built air filter, and if it didn't do the job, the fan would probably be useful next summer.  Plus, I'm sure t he filters themselves would be cheaper than the ones in the fair filter. 

The last time I bought filters for our furnace/AC, I noticed that the store had several grades, but all listed the same particle sizes.  The only difference was how long they "should" last between changes.  The cheapest were rated for three months, and I'm sure yours will be clogged long before then!

[Steveruger45]

This you tube university link shows a few options for cheap air filtration based upon 20” box fan and furnace filters that might be of interest.

[John]

This you tube university link shows a few options for cheap air filtration based upon 20” box fan and furnace filters that might be of interest.

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These work great

[porkypine52]

WOW!!    I've used single filter version of a box fan filter for years.  Never even gave it a thought of making a box fan cube filter.  Looks good------Now I've got another project.

[voldemort]

That is elegantly beautiful.  Can you imagine the fortune of name brand filters needed to be replaced in an amazon air filter for each set of four?

I'll put one under the train table.  Probably put it on a timer

Thank you everyone

[Chris333]

I may try the box fan thing in the basement just to see what it picks up 

[voldemort]

I remember reading years ago that if you lost an item on the space station, it always surfaced on the air filters.   

A zero gravity wave in my house could help me find a crapload of stuff I've lost over the years

[djconway]

I remember reading years ago that if you lost an item on the space station, it always surfaced on the air filters.   

A zero gravity wave in my house could help me find a crapload of stuff I've lost over the years

Think of all the Micro Trains springs and screws that you could recover.

[porkypine52]

Take a length of sewing thread and put it through your spring before installing, tie string ends together.  Install spring, then cut and put thread out when finished.   

Take a dish towel and  lay one end on work bench [or work surface], place other end in your collar [like napkin], or belt [do it how you want].  This so any part--spring--etc etc, dropped, won't go straight to the floor  it will end up in the towel or whatever material used.  I've got a shop apron that works great. 

[peteski]

Take a length of sewing thread and put it through your spring before installing, tie string ends together.  Install spring, then cut and put thread out when finished.   

Take a dish towel and  lay one end on work bench [or work surface], place other end in your collar [like napkin], or belt [do it how you want].  This so any part--spring--etc etc, dropped, won't go straight to the floor  it will end up in the towel or whatever material used.  I've got a shop apron that works great.

Yes a jeweler's apron (I think that is the official name) works great, but you have to wear it for it to work. 

I had one made for my by me seamstress neighbor.  I had her saw in a strip of Velcro (the fuzzy part) at the bottom edge, and I have strips of Velcro hooks under my workbench.  That works really well.  But  if I'm in a rush and forget to put it on for a quick work session, that it the time that I end up dropping something.  And of course when I do wear it, I rarely drop anything !  And last week I was wearing the apron when a small part dropped into it and bunched off onto the floor!