As I am waiting for my 40 watt lasered H2C to be delivered I have been working on ideas for smoke extraction for the laser. Also for 3d printing. But for the moment more on the smoke from etching and full on cutting with the laser.
I was going to put the H2C in our hobby room. My wife does wire jewelry and the like. So I didn’t want her or myself breathing in all of the nasties. I myself am very sensitive to pollutants. I get dizzy real fast on many chemicals. Spray paint and all.
My wife on the other hand could take a hit from an exhaust pipe of a Mack truck like it was a bong with the water replaced by gasoline and finger nail polish remover. So I feel the need to save her from herself.
I have a new fully insulated and air conditioned workshop/garage I built but would rather not have the printer in there because of my woodworking and all I do. I keep it very clean but even with the dust extraction and all, things still need to be wiped off routinely.
So I decided on the smaller garage in my house. I recently walled up and insulated where the garage door once was. It is fully air conditioned and heated. There is also a man door that goes into the house. It is an exterior door and it has a good full seal around it.
So I bought an AC infinity 4’inch inline fan and a gate to vent outside. They make some great wpm ec fans. I have a few I use on other things around my house. They can go very slow, are quiet and very efficient.
In general the idea was to just power suck all of the smoke out while burning and etching. I know this will work for that. i would also remove the filter in the H2C when I put the laser unit in. As far as using it for printing I do understand the need for the heating of the chamber and all. So a very minimum vacuum would be needed. I have watched many videos and read a lot on the subject so with that and my own ideas it may be what I do.
But I also am considering that even the smoke being powered out is still being blasted on things on its way out of the chamber. So I was wondering if there was a small air vacuum pump that I could connect to a smaller diameter very flexible hose with maybe a small flared funnel that will ride on the laser head very near the spot being burned. Suck the smoke locally at the source. I know that it will need at least a certain volume capability to keep up with a full burn through wood. The pump side of the hose would eject the exhaust into my 4 inch to the outside without traveling at all through the chamber. The size hose I am considering should be no bigger than a half inch. Preferably more in the quarter inch range.
I would need for the hose to be very thin, flexible and light so that the head doesn’t even know it is there. Just sucking air and not any liquid or full solids so this should be attainable. Kind of like the little blower on my Dewalt scroll saw. Just for sucking instead. Any ideas on a pump like this?
One thing to watch out for is when you say vacuum pump, those are frequently meant to pull on things not passing too much gas - like vacuum chambers. When they pull on atmospheric pressure they tend to generate lots of their own smoke from pump oil and it’s also hard on the pump. It happens when you first start roughing down a vacuum chamber but in short order the pressure and flow rates drop and the pumps can operate as they are designed.
You need to make sure whatever pump you use is designed to run in essentially free air at atmospheric pressure on both sides and pass fair volumes of air.
I have a vacuum pump for my HVAC systems. Yeah, I am not looking to vacuum “down” the chamber with this idea. Pretty much want a very localized suction (smoke draw) at the point of burning.
Now if I stick with just the big fan plan (during printing) I would want to create an infinitesimal vacuum in the chamber. Just enough to not allow any fumes into the air outside of the case. I see some looking to create this without pulling much heat out. A lot of trial and error. Would need to have different speed settings on to match the printers fan on whatever filament is being used it seems.
But that is a gradual time project. ■■■■, I have never touched a 3d Printer in my life yet. Although I am quite mechanically inclined so that is a plus. And I get off on finding solutions and order where this chaos.
But for now I want to see if I can get the smoke drawn out directly at its source while cutting and etching. So none of it is drawn through the case.
I don’t want to use a weed shack for my printer like some do. Really hate that idea. Bought an enclosed printer. Don’t want a second atmosphere barely larger than the case. ■■■■, I don’t even know if I will like this hobby. I may. I believe so. Worse case if I do really like it and my experiments fail (although I have a lot of faith in finding a way) I can build a small walk in closet for the printer in the room. Maybe a 6x6 footer. I build houses so I can conquer that in an hour or two. But will work on my other ideas first as I prefer not to cram things up too much.
I really need to get the printer delivered (another story on another thread) so I can learn it and all of the details and other issues I may not foresee when trying to do this.
You may look at plumbing the vents to an air filtration system, rather than trying to design a vac system for it. Never done either, but it seems like less work in my head at least. There are several out there already “designed” for 3d printers. Many people opt for filtration in leu of exhaust. Also, remember the H2C already has an exhaust fan, for any needed assistance would be minimal.
I think you need a pump which can move high volumes of air. That should suck in all the smoke and debris coming from cutting and etching.
What is a big challenge to accomplish, is a good routing of your hose. The laser has a fire sensor on the tool head, so you definitely don’t want to block that.
At the same time, you want to make sure that your hose doesn’t get caught somewhere or that it blocks the motion of the tool head.
I don’t cut or etch any wood. I merely engrave stainless steel and some (anodized/painted) aluminum so luckily I don’t contaminate my machine a lot.
Be prepared that the firmware will ask you regularly to clean your machine when you work with wood.
Yeah, I would probably have the hose on the same support as the lasers hose. That is why I would want it very light and flexible. I will have to figure out how small of a hose diameter that could pull enough air volume. A suction hood designed with the laser would have been nice. Understanding the laser option is just a little addition and not as a full bore laser machine. I really believe this can be done and hopefully one day I can post a successful idea. Once I have the machine in hand I can get better ideas maybe.