What are you using for homebrew fume extraction? Particularly I'm interested in what people are using for hose. Looking for something to pull the fumes away from the mig and plasma without sucking all the heat out of the shop. It can get cold here.

At the advance auto parts I used to work at, they used an oven exhaust hood over the battery charging station to suck out any hydrogen gas. You could probably take an old oven hood, box in the inlet and hook a flexible dryer hose to it and a drop cord, so that the hood could be placed near where you are welding. Might be ghetto, but it could work on the cheeep.

I use the two big doors at the entrance. I tried to use a couple different vent fans, but I never weld near them so they didn't work well. The idea of having a big ass hose that I have to move around with me isn't going to happen either. Sure the shop is cold. Insulated jumpsuit in the winter. Non-Insulated in the summer.

I use the two big doors at the entrance. I tried to use a couple different vent fans, but I never weld near them so they didn't work well. The idea of having a big ass hose that I have to move around with me isn't going to happen either. Sure the shop is cold. Insulated jumpsuit in the winter. Non-Insulated in the summer.

The jumpsuit approach only works down to about 0 deg F (not including windchill). It sucks having wrenches stick to your hands. We usually have snow on the ground here from just after Thanksgiving to early-mid April and I get plenty of wrenching in the cold for my taste.

I use box fans with furnace filters taped to the back of them. But I don't weld a lot either. If you get the cheapest one thats a step up from the super crappy blue ones they work good for most fumes and paint overspray. If you don't have anything above your shop and have some attic space you could just vent a regular exhaust fan into there and that way you wouldn't dump all you;re heat completely out of the building. Or just use a couple heavy duty bathroom exhaust fans, they'll be slow, but they won't suck all your heat out and would start moving some of that air. I've done/seen this done as well and it worked ok for what we did, light fab.

yea cheapo box fans are perfect.. just have it suck the fumes out of your station and into the rafters or another portion of the shop so you're not losing the heat but you're breathing the fumes right there.
My buddy and I made a set up for Media blasting his car using 2 13 dollar box fans from lowes and some furnace filters to get dust out of the room so you can see.. they got clogged quick but worked.. i would imagine something similar would work for you..
http://i309.photobucket.com/albums/kk363/pyrowaves/Camaro/IMAGE_143.jpg

obviously you dont need the plastic room but the fans will work for you

Any time you extract air you are going to have to replace it. If your garage is loose construction it will give up some airchange to a point.

My fav are these they close up when not in use and can get small enough to do what you need without to much loss of heat.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200331273_200331273
there is alot of different manufactures even lowes can special order them.

Any time you extract air you are going to have to replace it. If your garage is loose construction it will give up some airchange to a point.

My fav are these they close up when not in use and can get small enough to do what you need without to much loss of heat.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200331273_200331273
there is alot of different manufactures even lowes can special order them.



Umm, as nice as that sucker is, I could probably find a cheap window off CL or at the Habitat store and shove a box fan in it for WAAAYYYYYY less money. This guy wants homebrew, not $300.00 a piece!!:eek:

You can get the shutter seperate from grainger.com and slide a 20" box fan in behind it to be cheaper.
I was just using mine as a reference, I got my out of a old shop that they was tearing down. Buying them new they can get ching ching pretty quick.

Are you looking for homebrew ventilation for a welding/cutting table or something that works for all over the shop? This makes a big difference. Probably your best bet for the entire shop would be to make a big sheetmetal box and fill it with filters. Put it up above the ceiling with two vents coming back into the garage. One as an input the other an output on the other side of the shop. Put a good squirrel cage fan on one side. As the front filters fill up, pull them and add a new filter to the back side.

The only way to rid yourself of welding fumes is to actually vent them outside which means the heat is going out. Your best bet in this case would be to build a little box on the wall with a small squirrel cage fan. Plumb some 2 inch PVC around the shop like the central vac system. Then you can just attach a short flexible hose to where you are welding or cutting and turn on the fan. You don't need a lot of suction. Just enough to pull in the fumes. Build a metal end for the hose though so you don't burn it. you might even be able to make this double duty and put a dust collector on it and use it as a central vac with a big shop vac on it. Just put a check valve on the small fan so that it can only blow out. When you vent you use the small fan. When it is time to clean up you fire up the shop vac.

That is what I want to do so I don't vent AC out of my shop, but I have to get AC first.

Yeah, I was looking for something with a small diameter flexible hose to clamp on my welding table that vents outside. I kinda like the central vac setup idea. The correct fume extractor cloth hose is pricey stuff. I could probably make a shroud for a box fan pretty easily if I can figure out what to use for hose. Never even considered the box fan with a furnace filter. I have an old fan and an extra filter so I may give it a shot. My biggest problem is available funds. The power my computer used typing this already put me over budget:laughing:

Hell get some Hvac vent flex duct and pull liner of insulation walah it will do the job. I work around it day in/out it would suffice for exhuast hose.

You can get different sizes 4,5,6,7,8,10,12,14,16,18 etc

Here a example of what im talking about
http://www.hartandcooley.com/tools/online-catalog/flexible-air-ducts-and-air-connectors.aspx