Potential fume extractor. Please comment

Anything to do with air assist, vacuum tables, fume extraction and related...

Re: Potential fume extractor. Please comment

Postby naPS » Sat Aug 20, 2011 3:42 pm

Acrylic definitely doesn't have a sweet smell. It's very nasty, and my whole family complains even if I do a small cut without the extractor running. It's a pretty gnarly odor, and sticks around quite a while.
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Re: Potential fume extractor. Please comment

Postby TLHarrell » Sun Aug 21, 2011 10:56 pm

Acrylic is pretty nasty. Worst I've cut now though is rastering on the back side of a mirror. Gag me. Bad chem smell plus burning metals. Woof!
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Re: Potential fume extractor. Please comment

Postby dirktheeng » Mon Aug 22, 2011 1:43 am

I'll take your word on that until I try it. I wasn't expecting it to smell much worse than when you rout/cut it because you can get it pretty hot to the point that it melts. I'm going to try to burn a little piece with a lighter and see what it smells like.

I can put a carbon filter on the rig that won't cost a whole lot of money. I'll have to see how bad it smells out the window.
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Re: Potential fume extractor. Please comment

Postby naPS » Mon Aug 22, 2011 1:54 am

The difference with using a laser is that acrylic doesn't burn or melt, it sublimates, meaning it goes straight from being a solid to a gas. And trust me, in gas form, it's obnoxious.
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Re: Potential fume extractor. Please comment

Postby bdring » Mon Aug 22, 2011 1:59 am

My exhaust points out the windows and towards the neighbors about 25 feet away. With a really high flow, you don't notice the smell that much outside.

Acrylic parts will smell for a while, so some people put them in tupperware containers for a while.
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Re: Potential fume extractor. Please comment

Postby TLHarrell » Mon Aug 22, 2011 5:59 am

I was thinking of maybe designing a small enclosed rack that would constantly cycle fresh air through recently cut parts. All of my MDF parts stink for days and I'm a bit allergic to the ultra fine dust. Acrylic off my laser doesn't seem to smell too bad after the edges cool and I've knocked off the fines from rastering. It's nasty during the cutting. Of course, the most fun part of cutting acrylic is when you get the gas buildup under your part and the laser ignites it with a little "whump". I need to sort out some type of downdraft system so it'll pull at least a little of what ends up under the part... and when I get some money coming in, I think I'll be investing in a higher flow exhaust fan... probably from Harbor Freight.
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