Safety notes

Dust collectors are not known to be dangerous, but building a blower for a dust collector does involve potential for pieces to go flying at high speed. The edges of the impeller moves at about 230 km/h (145 mph), so there is potential for harm.

There is also risk of overloading the motor, which, combined with an open frame motor, may make for a fire hazard from overheating and dust buildup.

Last but not least, if you use poor quality filters, you may end up with excessive fine airborne dust.

Woodgears.ca cannot be held liable for injuries that you may incur building or operating your dust collector.

Some safety tips

• Use the best quality plywood that you have for the impeller. Do not substitute with OSB, particle board or MDF.
• Cut the impeller blades out of solid wood, preferably hardwood. Do not make these out of particle board.
• On initial spin-up of any rotor or impeller, stand clear of any direction that flying pieces might go if it were to fail. Make sure the motor is fastened to the work bench.
• For the completed blower, do not look into the blower outlet while it is running.
• Use a power meter, or RPM meter to ensure that the blower does not overload the motor beyond it's rated power or below it's rated RPM.