Dust Ejection vs' Dust Collection

[djcannon]

Due to a recent job change (It's a good change by the way) I will be moving my family we plan on renting an appartment for a year or so. Currently we rent a town house with a garage and will be loosing the garage when we move. My parents live just outside of the town we will be moving to and my father is excited for me to "store" my tools in his shop (30' X 40') as he plans on using my table saw, Incra Router Table, Lathe, Drum Sander and Scroll saw to complement his RAS, Handheld router and Bandsaw together we should have a good collection of tools and the ability to make alot of sawdust.

Previously I have used a Shop vac hooked to a homemade cyclone to collect dust in my garage but the Vac sounds like it is going to die soon and lacked the air flow required to keep up with the drum sander, and lathe. We had discussed the option of hooking up a blower to the wall of the shop and simply blow the dust outside.

I have 2 concerns and was hoping to roundtable them with you guys:

First any large chips would simply fall onto his lawn this could become a problem if there was alot of chips at onceWould this pose any risk if we mow the lawn once a week and compost the clippings?

Second the fine dust would likely blow away. His nearest neighbor is 200 feet from his shop do you think we would get any complaints?

I think this is the least expensive option as all I would have to do is purchase the blower and then mount it to the wall with a hose to a tool one one end.

What do you guy's think? I'm open to any suggestions.

[Richard in Smithville]

Let me add one more concern to your idea. Have you considered the air replacement for all the stuff blown outside? If the shop is heated, or even if the shop is connected to the house, you will be creating a vacuum in the shop and could draw carbon monoxide from any heater( furnace, hot water, etc) that uses a fossil fuel. If the shop is a seperate building, with out heat, then this won't be such a concern.

[MikeMcCoy]

You won't have much grass to mow after a short while. I don't know how much you mill lumber but I had three 30 gallon cans full just last weekend.

[poolhound]

Doesnt sound like a good idea to me. Unless you do very little work I think you under estimate the amount of sawdust and chips you produce. If you permanently have gale force winds outside the shop the likelyhood of the dust being widely dispersed is NIL. you will end up with the garden and all adjacent buildings covered in dust. I would be happy if it was my house let alone being your neighbor.

I work in my garage and even using a shop vac the cars left outside when I am working are always covered in a film of dust. If I just pumped the dust outside they would look like they were hit by a wood "snowstorm."

I would guess that you are still going to need a vac to clean up the shop so why not invest in a good one or even a DC if you have room.

[LarryG]

Independent of the practical considerations, in some areas what you propose is actually illegal. Something you might wish to check on, even if you determine that this is otherwise a workable plan.

[JR]

FWIW, David Marks does it. He lives an a pretty big property in the country, so no neighbors are impacted.

JR

[bradley_osu]

David Marks has an outdoor cyclone depositing dust in a pile what looks like 10-20 feet away from his shop. His shop is also in a detached barn which appears to be some distance away from any other building or other thing of value outside.