So I finally found a cheap solution for table ventilation so I can keep the shop heated while I am cutting. This has been working good for me for at least a month now. Please excuse the messy shop picks, I am in the middle of several projects right now.
This is just cobbled together for now while I was testing it, but will have it all screwed together soon. I will leave the top plate removable to make it easy to remove the slats when cleaning out the table.
A 48x10" peice of 1/8 inch plate rests on the back of the slats and sits approx 3/8" above the wall of the water pan. I rest my 48x32" blanks butted up against it to both square up my sheet, and draw the steam and vapors out from between the work and the water.
I used 22" floor sweeps from a dust collector as the inlets, which supports the back of the 1/8" plate. I cut holes into half of a peice of rectangle hvac duct to keep the sweeps located, and used roller stands to temporarily hold that against the bottom of the tables frame. I will have to reinforce that with some angle iron when it gets permanently fixed.
A harbor freight dust collector pulls the air and is vented out of a window for now. I left the air pump and motor attached to the cart so I can roll it back when I am done cutting and close the window. Eventually I will mount the pump to the wall and vent it outside with a knife valve. I might even move the whole pump outside to quiet it down a bit.
Overall it is working really well. I almost always cut full 32" blanks and when I nest my parts in sheetcam, I just make sure that they cut mostly from the front of the table to the back so I don’t have a problem with losing suction. I do get some water splash from cutting near the back of the table that gets sucked into the ductwork, but I think a small weep hole in the pump will keep this from being a problem. With this setup I can cut all day and still have the shop smoke and oder free.
I can easily walk behind the table, I don’t have any bulky hoods hanging from my 14’ ceilings, and I can remove the top plate if I ever need to hang a peice of metal out of the back side of the table.
Harbor freight dust collector, 200$
Hoses and ductwork 75$
Floor sweeps $30
1/8 plate from my scrap pile.
