Why engravers must use air filtration systems, not just an exhaust blower

As an engraver, you simply cannot afford to cut costs when it comes to keeping the air in your workspace and its surrounding area clean and healthy. This is especially true if you are working in or near concentrated areas such as residential areas, commercial parks, and schools.   

 

All types of engraving pollutes the air. Even if you are engraving with traditional routers and engravers, a byproduct of your work is the large amount of airborne particles that can cause lung damage. That said, the danger posed by airborne particles is even more pronounced when you engrave with lasers. Laser engraving does not just shoot small pieces of whatever material is being engraved into the air, it also uses many potentially dangerous chemicals that often are vaporized and projected into the air. These airborne particles, called volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can cause even more severe lung damage and, therefore, removed from the air and surfaces.    

 

Although they may seem to be a good buy, exhaust blowers do not remove VOCs for the air or surfaces. All an exhaust blower does is blow the VOCs somewhere else, and if you are working in or near a residential area, commercial park, or school, all your exhaust blower is doing is blowing your VOCs into the lungs of others. Don’t do that.   

 

A quality air filtration system does not blow VOCs somewhere else to become the problem of someone else’s lungs, it filters the VOCs from the air so that they will not harm anyone. Air filtration systems use multiple layers of BOFA filters to remove VOCs from the air. The first filter, called a pre-filter, removes the large particles from the air, while the BOFA Gas/Carbon filter and the BOFA HEPA Filter take care of the more dangerous VOCs such as vaporized chemicals.     

 

Of course, you need to make sure that you get the air filtration system that is right for the engraving that you do. Thankfully, they come in a variety of sizes and capabilities. Depending upon the size of the air filtration system you need, you may even be able to purchase a unit that is on casters and, therefore, easy to move from one work station to another.