Central heat/air fan for collection

[macboney]

Hi guys.  I am totally new to this topic and forum.  I am also like most operating on a very low budget.  Living on a fixed income makes for creative thinking some times.  I have a blower unit from a central heat/air unit from a mobil home system.  According to my local heat/ac neighbor, these units move more air volume that a regular household unit. 

1. What would be a minimum volume needed for a small system.  I am a one person hobbyist so there will never be more that one tool operating at the time that would be hoooked to a dust collection system?

2. What kind of final filter could be used. Could a bag from a regular collector be used or would a hard filter be worth the cost?  I do not want to exhaust outside and I plan to put any dust collection and air compressor equipment in an insulated (sound) closet to hold down noise.  I will use weatherstriping around the door and two heat/ac return air grates above door, one on both sides of framed wall with a fiberglass filter on the inner to stop larger particles and a regular pleated filter on the exterior grate for fine filtering.  Also, I found an Trion Air Filters industrial room filter at my local habitat store for $20.00 that I am going to hang from ceiling in main area (14 X 24 barn design building).  Is making my own system feasable and cost efficient?  I have more time than money right now.

[phil (admin)]

A typical HVAC blower will work great for an air scrubber, but not so great for a dust collector.  The fan wheel is of a different design and doesn't handle pulling through four to six inch ductwork.

Maybe yours is different because of its original use.  Have a pic of what you've got?

[macboney]

I do not have a picture right now.  What I am considering is a large squirrel cage unit that is rated for 1450 CFM.  I haven't taken a cover off that is covering the tag on the motor itself to see what the horsepower is or the amperage load @240V.  It is an induction motor which is a positive but I am not sure if it is enough motor.  I can fit a 6" flue type metal pipe on the intake and cover the other side of the cage which is partially covered now. As I said, I am trying for an inexspensive unit that works. If this isn't a practical solution, I will use the fan elswhere.  Our local Habitat for Humanity store is a great source of a lot of things.  That is where I got the industrial scrubber. I can not read the CFM rating on it but it is quite large.  It has a 24 X 26 inch intake into a prefilter and then a finer pleated fabric filter that the manufacturer told me can be washed.  I also found a large range hood there that has two light fixtures in it for reflector flood bulbs.  It has an 8" fan in it now, but I can also adapt the 1450 CFM fan to it.  I am going to use the hood in a finishing area that I will set up. I will probably exhaust it out through the wall for when I am spraying finishes.  I got some T track from a local hospital when they remodeled the emergency room. It is the type that is used to hang curtains in the ER to seperate the beds etc..  I also got the chains that hang from it to hang a curtain to make an easily curtained off spray area. Hopefully I can get a set up that will give me a relatively clean environment.