DIY Workshop Air Filtration Box

For way too long I’ve put off this project on the to-do list. And lately we’ve been doing a lot of sanding in the workshop, preparing for lighthouse Christmas tree toppers. So it was time to get this project completed and breath a little easier… literally.

This project was mostly captured on video and that video appears at the end of this blog post. So here’s a just a short summary of the project and if it interests you, then grab a favourite beverage and watch the 20 minute video.

The concept is simple enough, a fan and a motor to drive it, then place it in a box and put a furnace filter on the air intake side of the fan. Taking it one step at a time I mount the fan and then the motor. There was some experimenting with motor placement and how to best keep the belt on the pulleys. Once it was running, I was curious about the volume of air being produced so I used a hand held wind meter. There were a few mysterious electrical issues with the motor that I never did determine why, but the motor eventually started running as it should.

With that part of the project complete it was simply a matter of cutting out panels to make the box and then assemble them. I put the project on wheels. Several of the work stations in the shop are mobile. That’s what happens when space is tight.

The box was complete within a couple of hours and test runs proved successful. The to-do list has a little more breathing room now.