Home built airborne dust collector question

[RichAFix]

First off, this isn't directly a tear drop question but I do use the woodshop to work on my teardrop and all my real life friends are knuckleheads (all my earthly friends, I wouldn't say such things about my Teardrop friends) so I really have no one else to ask but you. I need an airborne dust collector for the woodshop. I can find a bunch of websites that say how easy it is to build but none give you instructions on how to wire the blasted thing.

Basically, I am taking a furnace blower, building a box around it and putting a couple filters on the intake side of the box. The furnace blower I found has 2 wires coming out of it (both black) going into a goofy looking plastic plug and a green wire (ground, see I am not a complete moron but I am not too far away either) that comes out of the motor and attaches to the blower cage. On the the motor it says the following:
V115 - Hz60 - RPM1050 - Amps6.40
and the following on the blower cage assembly:
Single Speed Blower CFM 790

Here is what I am hoping to achieve:
1. I would like a timer to shut this contraption off automatically after a timed amount (I would think 1 hour max would be sufficient)
2. I would like to be able to control the speed, perhaps 3 different speeds
3. I would like to have it stay on occasionally if I am not using the timer feature.

Here are my questions:
1. Can I do the above with the motor I have?
2. Even though the blower cage assembly says "single speed" can the motor still be multiple speeds?
3. Can I buy what I need cheap and perhaps at the local hardware store?

Here is what I am thinking I need to do:
1. Run one of the black wires to a 3 speed switch (similar to a ceiling fan switch).
2. Run the other black wire to an on/off timer switch that has a rotary dial that also has a constant "on" setting.
3. Get a cord with a plug from the hardware store and connect one wire to the other pole on the timer (that isn't used by the wire from the motor) the other wire on the other pole of the 3 speed switch (that isn't used by the other wire from the motor) and connect all the ground wires.
4. Stand real far back and get one of my knucklehead friends to plug it in.

All kidding aside, it seems real simple in theory but I don't claim to know anything about this. I obviously want this to be safe. Is this correct? What gauge wiring/cord to use? Is there a switch and timer that is meant for this? I know that my (store bought) dust/chip collector produces a lot of static and grounding is important. This would be a plywood box and all the switches would be in electrical boxes. I assume I could use plastic boxes since I have ground wires that would connect all the grounds.

Help!? Please don't hesitate to call me names if this seems unrealistic or unsafe.

[Miriam C.]

1. Can I do the above with the motor I have?
2. Even though the blower cage assembly says "single speed" can the motor still be multiple speeds?
3. Can I buy what I need cheap and perhaps at the local hardware store?

I am going to jump out on a limb here and see if it gets cut off............

I would take the information to the nearest Radio shack or motor supply retailer. They will be able to tell you if it will work.........

[eamarquardt]

Yup, IMHO you can probably modify a furnace squirrel cage blower to filter air by building a box for it. Or, you could just exhaust the dusty air and suck in clean air from the other side of the room. This might work better as you'd get a cross flow in the room. Of course, if you live where it's cold (I don't) this might not be a good option.

WW Gainger (or mabye even Home Depot or Lowe's) has timers that replace standard light switches with a knob you twist to the desired interval and the switch turns off after the time runs out. If you can't find one, lemme know and I'll find one and let you know how much I can get you one for. You'd have to make sure the timer is stout enough to carry the current of the motor you're using.

If it's a capacitor start single speed motor (as most of the older ones are), NOPE you can't modify electrically it to run at three different speeds. However, if the fan is belt driven (some of them are, some of them are direct drive) you can replace the single groove pulleys with step pulleys and get a mechanical speed change. This might take a bit of figuring to make sure you get reasonable speeds and don't overload the motor.

Me, I'd just stick with the single speed fan (as the motor and fan have been designed to work together) and see if that meets your needs.

If you need a fan/motor I have a couple "in stock" and the price would be "right".

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Gus