I just got around to setting up the beginnings of what will be my full time rod building and fly tying room in the basement.

I have an older home without much ceiling space, a beam that'll knock your lights out if you don't duck, and it is a one room-open format.

I've chosen not to do "high dust" activities in my room. The lathe and grinder are out in the garage for now. I am quite surprised to see those that have it all in one place.

My question for those guys who've been nice enough to post pics of their rooms and email them to me...

What do you do to keep the dust out of the finish when coating?

I've run my first coat down there and I can see that I have a dust issue already?

Tell me the secret?

Domenic Federico
Infinity Rod Creations

Drying boxes are a great solution for dusty areas. They are cheap and easy to make.Good luck!

Might you have a source for plans for a drying box? I understand the idea behind them, but seeing as I am sometimes creatively challenged, I'd love to get an idea of where to start :)

Scott Kinney
The Longest Cast Fly Rods
[www.thelongestcast.com]

Scott...here's a good one on the top left of the pic... [www.rodbuilding.org]

I do all my finishing in the same area where I turn wood and cork. EVA too. The place is very dusty, but it doesn't wind up in the finish. The key is not to do these tasks at the same time. Dust isn't a problem until it gets airborne. Work when others aren't moving around in the area or only before an hour or so after doing anything that creates dust. Remember, it's airborne dust you're up against, not that stuff lying on the floor or the shelves.

.........

...besides the "airbornes" caused by movement in the work area...be weary of the junk that may fall from above your work area...e.g. if there's a room above your work area with kids and dogs mucking about....(you mentioned an older house) stuff can fall on your wraps.....goes back to limiting the movement.

Domenic
I had some of the same "issues" as you are probably having. My choices were to install an honest to goodness wallboard ceiling or to put up a plastic layer on the rafters above my head. I would have preferred the real ceiling - but because of pipes and electical connections I ruled that out as I wanted to have full access to repairs or extensions to water / electric lines. In the end I installed plastic sheeting - which keeps all the dust that gets shaken loose when people walk overhead from settling on finishes. In the photos I posted over the past couple of days you'll also notice a standard shop vac that I can attach behind the wood lathe that comes in very handy too for other dust collection chores. I also installed a rollup pice of plastic that I can drop over the four wall mounted rod dryers. Best bet though is as Tom has already posted don't start a rod drying and then turn to a sanding project.

Do a web search on clean rooms, there's a lot of useful info. I work in class 10000 and class 1000 rooms daily. Email me if I can be of help. A lot of fancy equip is not always required, just a little know-how on air flow might help with some situations.

Don't worry about it, customers don't care as long as you don't try and charge them extra for it. Jesse

Only time I charge extra for it Jesse, is when I get a mosquito in there and encapsulate him. That calls for extra. The dust, no problem. It's free.

Putter
Williston, ND

LOL @ Randy mmmmmmmmmm thinkings caps on
randy if you use some of that old skool finish (that muck that REALLY goes yellow) then you could really stick the price up and tell the punter its amber worth a lot of money usually

Just a thought

You can prevent the dust problems by setting a schedule for certain jobs. I strip old wraps, drill and turn cork on mondays and vacuum well. Wrap and cp tue and wed. Finish Thur and Friday. I run a honeywell air filter overnight mon, tue and wed. NOT thur and friday when finish is setting up. No dust problems.

To help settle that airborn dust before finishing try a spray bottle filled with water. Do a fine misting of the room/area before settling in for the finish work. As the others said don't do any unnecessary moving around after your finish is applied. I generally get out of the room and only come back to see that the dryer motor is still running (the ones I use have a bad habbit of skipping...I hate those clutched motors).

Jay

Get yourself a length of 8" PVC pipe. Cut it in half lengthwise. Make round fittings to enclose the ends with the drying motor outside. Add hinges and foam seals throughout. Now you have a contained, dust free environment for the curing of the finish.

Tim great idea. I have a small gunsmithing business and you just gave me a great idea for my hot box (tube) to control the rust when slow rust bluing a barrel when a customer requests that process. Dont really have a dust problem in the shop but just as a precaution when drying a my rods I'll make a set-up as you have discribed. An ounce of prevention....

Another suggestion for limiting dust -- do not allow rugs or carpet in the room. It is amazing the amount of dust they hold, and there really is no way to get it dust-free.

Harry

I try to do my finishing at night when everyone has hit the hay.That way the lack of movement upstairs keeps the dust down.

Freddwhy (Rapt-Ryte)

You guys are the best! Thank you for the great ideas.
On the flip side, you've now created more work for me! LOL!
I gotta run...I have to purchase plastic sheeting, an air filtration unit, and the materials for a drying box!

Thanks Again!
Domenic

Also, I like to get the room nice and warm before I apply the finish, then close the heat vent to keep dust from being stirred up when the heat turns on during the night