sanding room?

[Los_Lobos]

Good morning, I am thinking that with all the boxes I have been doing recently that maybe I could take and hang a couple of tarps from my ceiling to create a sanding area. It would be 15'x10' and I would have to hang a light inside. It would just be hung from the ceiling with eye hooks, so I can put it up and take it down. Any issues with doing this that anyone knows of? Would this create a possible explosive area? Fire maybe? It would not be airtight but still would have a great deal of dust floating around. I did build a sanding bench some time ago with a squirell cage fan and filters but it is to small to do any good in the entire shop but it may work pretty good in this enclosed smaller area. Thanks, Les

[TDHofstetter]

No issue with fire or explosion, even with very very fine sanding dust. Before it can get to a flammable concentration, it'll be far too dusty for you to work in.

[Mark T]

Tim is absolutely correct. The dust concentration would have you run out long before the atmosphere became unstable.

However, I am not sure how you could get tarps tight enough to floors and ceilings to keep all the dust in the containment. You can probably make it better, but I would think 100% containment would be hard to achieve. Have you considered building a downdraft dust collector table... even into a simple shop vac? Maybe coupled with the tarps, it would keep the dust levels in better check.

Just a thought.

[Leo Voisine]

Les,

My biggest concern would be with breathing.

[carlcivi]

I saw something in a magazine or on the net where there were temporary rooms you can make like in a basement with all the proper hardware to keep it secure once it is erected. But i don`t no where i saw it, but it is out there. Carl

[Los_Lobos]

Thanks for the replys guys, yea, I know I can't contain it all but thought this might be a fairly cheap and easy way to keep some of the dust out of the rest of the shop area as long as it is not a safety issue. I just use dust masks when sanding right now but if
I create a smaller area I will break out the respirator.

Thanks, Les

[rhull]

I did something fairly simple for a "finishing area" using pvc pipe, tape, and plastic sheeting.

[Ruffnek]

Les,

There are no safety issues other than respiratory with your idea but unless you have some way to evacuate or filter the dust-laden air, I don't think you will really be accomplishing anything.

Now, if you had an air filter hanging directly over the closed in area, that would help with keeping the dust from permeating into the rest of the shop.