Does anyone have any good suggestions for a 3rd party fume extractor? I don’t have access to a window in my new workshop and need something that I don’t need to exhaust out the window. Looking on the forum for similar topics, but nothing recent. Any suggestions would be most helpful! I know there is Filtrabox, but looking for something a little more affordable if anyone has experience with others.
I have this. It can clean a house of dust, dirt, and smells. With a 12" intake it is a bit harder to size to the 4" of the Glowforge but a box with a 12" hole and a 4" hole in the side would work.
For which laser? The Aura/Spark can get away with a pretty compact filter, but the Performance Series lasers produce enough smoke volume to fill up Glowforge’s $1300 Air Filter in under 32 hours according to a since-deleted FAQ. I’ve heard BOFA AD350 recommended as a better replacement, but it’s not more affordable up front. Filtering laser fumes into breathable air is just expensive. I didn’t have a convenient window in my new workshop either, so I cut dryer vents in the walls to vent out under a roof soffit. Having a handyman do that for you should cost less than any fume filter.
Honestly? I would move heaven and earth to get an external event set up. I know you say you don’t have access to a window but getting a dedicated vent cut like for a dryer vent is probably less expensive than cost of ownership of any filter. That may not be an option for you either but… Even figuring out how to run a long duct to somewhere with external fan(s) would be less expensive.
And it would perform better.
I’m sure you thought about this but it might be worth some more thought to try to figure out if there’s any possibility of venting outside. Over time the economics is always going to work out in your favor.
I have a Plus. I’ve had it venting out a window and it’s worked great thus far. But venting out of a window is not an option for my new setup and was hoping for something self contained that didn’t need any kind of vent. I’m not able to cut through walls either, as I will be in a leased space.
You will need the Glowforge filter or a similar product. You are extracting more than fumes. You are extracting particles and therefore need a filter. Purex makes a line of laser fume extraction machines. They are more expensive than Glowforge filters. I believe there also are filters for the Xtool laser.