NIOSH logo and tagline

Engineering Controls Database

Control of Wood Dust for Orbital Hand Sanders

Orbital hand sanders have been found to create significant amounts of wood dust.
Workers exposed to wood dusts have experienced a variety of adverse health effects such as eye and skin irritation, allergy, reduced lung function, asthma, and nasal cancer.
NIOSH researchers found that the wood dust generated by orbital hand sanders is often poorly controlled. To address this problem, researchers designed and tested a new control system for these hand sanders that significantly reduced dust emissions.

Orbital hand sanders are extensively used in woodworking processes. The dust from these sanders is generally not controlled although some are equipped with dust removal capabilities. However, even the sanders having dust removal do not effectively control the wood dust generated by the sanding operation. Therefore, a new control approach was developed. A Dust Control Plenum was designed and tested on an orbital sander. The plenum fits between the sanding pad and the sander body and has a series of exhaust slots along its edges. An exhaust connection on the top of the sander pad connects the plenum with a vacuum source. The plenum does not interfere with the operator's activities, requires no special maintenance, is inexpensive to operate, and can be used on any sander, pneumatically or electrically powered.

Dust control plenum for orbital hand sanders

Dust control plenum for orbital hand sanders
180-05-A; 180-05-B; 180-05-C; 180-05-D; 180-05-E; 180-05-F; 180-05-G; 180-05-H; 180-05-I; 180-05-J1; 180-05-J2; 180-05-K1; 180-05-K2; 180-05-L; 180-05-M; 180-05-N; 180-05-O; 180-05-P; 180-05-Q; 180-05-R; 180-05-S; 180-05-T; 180-05-U; 180-05-V; 180-11-A; 185-05-A; 185-05-B; 185-05-C; 185-05-D;
33321;4213
construction
construction
orbital hand sander
woodworking
woodworking
Laboratory tests show that the plenum reduces wood dust emissions by approximately 90 percent