Sawdust Blowers For Sale

About Sawdust Blowers

Sawdust isn’t just a nuisance to sawmills and woodworking businesses—it’s a hazard to people and facilities alike. Tiny particles of sawdust produced by sanding and sawing wood contaminate the air and can cause respiratory health problems. At the same time, shavings generated by cutting lumber are very flammable, and dusty air can even explode if an electric motor or static buildup causes a spark.

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2023 Wood-Mizer WM4500 With Sawdust Blower

A sawdust blower—a type of dust collector designed for woodworking—is a must-have system in any sawmill or shop, vacuuming wood dust away from each power saw or workstation. A strong electric fan draws the dusty air through hoses or ductwork to one or more filtering devices to remove particles and wood chips from the captured air. The sawdust can then be collected in a receptacle, container, or bin to be sold or used.

What A Dust Collector Can Do

• Remove sawdust and wood chips from work areas
• Improve air quality and safety in wood shops and lumber mills 
• Collect wood waste for further use, such as for animal bedding, wood pellets, or mulch
• Transport wood waste to storage or processing areas

Types Of Sawdust Blowers

Dust collectors range from self-contained, portable dust extractor units for use with one machine at a time to complete systems installed with custom ductwork and multiple intake ports in high-volume sawmill facilities and manufacturing plants. To effectively evacuate sawdust, a dust collection system requires a fan called a “blower,” which can either pull the air through the ducts and filters with vacuum pressure in an induced draft configuration or, less commonly, push the air in a forced draft layout.

The blower fan is typically a centrifugal type that can move large volumes of air while maintaining constant pressure in the system. A centrifugal blower’s impeller—a cylindrical set of fan blades often called a “squirrel cage” but resembling a hamster’s exercise wheel—resides in an enclosure with intake and exhaust ducts. (To minimize the risk of igniting the dusty air, causing a fire or explosion, the impeller should be made of a non-sparking material such as aluminum instead of steel.) The electric motor is mounted outside the enclosure and drives the impeller directly or with a belt drive.

Ducts For Sawdust Blowers

If you are assembling a custom dust collection system, you’ll need a blower that meets your equipment manufacturer’s specified airflow, measured in cubic feet per minute (CFM). You can use flexible hose, PVC pipe, or metal HVAC ducts to connect your saws and machinery to the dust collector. Whichever material you choose, the ductwork needs to be electrically grounded to prevent sparks. If you keep your ducts as short and straight as possible, and if they have smooth inner walls, you won’t need to pay more for a blower with a higher power rating.

Sawdust Blower Filtering Systems

Sawdust collection systems use three main types of filters to separate shavings and dust from the air, namely:

• Fabric Filter Bags - Dust collectors for smaller shops may use one or two filter bags, each attached to the top of a barrel or plastic bag to catch the sawdust. The fabric in the filter bag allows air to escape but not sawdust particles. Bigger systems may enclose multiple bags in a ducted box called a “baghouse.” Filter bags are sometimes called “shaker bags” because you shake them to clean the dust out of them. 
• Filter Cartridges - Sawdust blowers with cartridge-style filters often have pleated elements and may use pulse jets (blasts of compressed air) or reversed airflow to clean out their filters when full. Some manufacturers include a paddle inside the filter compartment that you can use to knock loose internal debris.
• Cyclones - An inertial separator, or “cyclone,” has a cylindrical chamber that mechanically separates heavier particles by swirling the incoming air around inside it. Chips and shavings brush the inside wall of the cyclone, lose their momentum, and fall into the receptacle below. The cleaner air then exits the top of the hopper.

Single-stage dust collectors use one of the filter mechanisms above and have the advantage of low prices. Two-stage systems use a cyclone to remove bigger chips and shavings before the dusty air reaches a filter bag or cartridge.

Although pricier, two-stage dust collectors do a better job of cleaning the air and don’t need their filters cleaned as often. Also, you can use a finer filter in a two-stage setup to catch (for example) 1-micron particles because the cyclone will remove most larger chips and shavings that would clog a finer filter very quickly.

Some blowers, baghouses, and cyclones can be installed outdoors to reduce the noise level in the shop or mill. Outdoor filtering systems may exhaust the cleaned air outside or route it back into the building to save on heating or cooling expenses (assuming the installation complies with regulations).

Why Buy A Sawdust Blower?

Sawdust blowers capture airborne particles to improve air quality, prevent respiratory problems, and comply with regulations for a healthier, safer workspace. They also reduce fire risks, enhance workshop cleanliness, and minimize dust buildup to prolong the lifespan of saws and other woodworking machinery. Finally, sawdust collected by a removal system can also provide a modest revenue stream from gardeners, composters, and farmers in need of bedding for chickens, horses, and other animals.

Using a sawdust blower results in:

• Improved workplace safety by reducing airborne dust
• Cleaner machines with a longer service life 
• Better utilization of wood waste for other purposes
• Compliance with air quality regulations

Considerations to keep in mind when you’re deciding on a sawdust blower include ensuring that it is the proper size and configuration for your needs—a misconfigured dust collection system could conceivably exacerbate a sawdust problem. Also, factor in the power requirements of a blower, as you may need to add a new circuit and breaker switch or even three-phase, 240-volt power, depending on the size of your shop or sawmill.

Finally, look carefully at the noise level of your dust collector and how it connects to your woodworking machines. A radial saw may have a sawdust collection port, for example, but a disc or belt sander may require a downdraft table to capture its dust particles.

Where To Buy & Finance Sawdust Blowers

Explore TreeTrader.com to find new and used sawdust blowers and other dust collectors for sale. Manufacturers include Cantek, Cincinnati Fan, Coral Innovative Air Solutions, Donaldson, Grizzly Industrial, N.R. Murphy (including Murphy-Rodgers products made from 1972 to 2010), Oneida Air Systems, Scientific Dust Collectors, and Wood-Mizer.

TreeTrader.com also lists other types of new and used sawmill equipment for sale, including portable and stationary units, resaws, bandsaw mills, board edgers, and sawmill carriages.

For financing options for sawmill blowers and other tree care and forestry equipment, visit GoCurrency.com.