Measurements of the effectiveness of dust extraction systems of hand sanders used on wood.

An investigation has been made of the production of dust by hand sanders when used without dust extraction, with integral dust extraction and with external dust extraction. The apparatus used for the measurement was designed to carry out sanding in a repeatable manner, simulating normal working practice. The geometry of the wood sanded affects the dust concentration critically, whereas the effects of the sandpaper grade and of the filtration efficiency of the collection system are small. Belt sanders produce high dust levels in all situations, but they are very efficient in removing wood, which means that they need to be used for only a short period. The integral systems of orbital sanders give good dust control on flat wood but not on edges. The high air extraction rate of external systems results in much better dust control during the sanding of edges, though the performance of the two extraction systems on flat wood is broadly similar. The size distribution of the dust clouds produced by the sanding is relatively constant, but that produced by rotary sanders tends to be coarser than that produced by orbital sanders, consistent with the smoother finish given by the latter. The electric charge on the dust produced by sanding is high.