Hey there, new to the world of CNC and Lasers. I’m trying to get all my research in before pulling the trigger. I have settled on OneFinity as the platform of choice as it seems to be the most robust for the money. I am VERY interested in adding a laser to the platform but am curious what everyone is doing for exhaust on these setups. Seems a necessary evil of any laser and I have yet to see what, if anything, people are doing. Any info is greatly appreciated.
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I have the 4.2W version from my open builds acro that I will use when my OF arrives. Depending on the substrate being etch it does give off fumes / smoke.
I have etched tiles with spray paint on it and buy does it stink! wood just smells like burning wood. I hope that helps you
I installed a 100 CFM bathroom exhaust fan in my basement workshop to hopefully vent any stray smoke/fumes that make it thru the shopvac filter. I have heard that there is an activated charcoal filter that can be added to the shopvac, but I haven’t researched that. I have only done a few tests with the JTech and the results look promising. We have only been etching wood, so just your typlical wood smoke smell and a couple of wisps of smoke. Now that I have an air assist, can cut thru 1/8" plywood consistently.
I picked up a few things from Amazon and it helps a lot to get the smell and fumes out of my work area to the outside
I dont have a laser on my onefinity yet. so excuse me if this is dumb. my onefinity dust extraction is a ridged wet/dry vac and a dustoper. works good for the CNC. I also had to move my cnc in my basement. Can you get a filter and use the wet/dry vac? to suck up the smoke?
You’d need a very extensive filter system. I don’t think any standard shopvac filters will do the job. Remember the odor is the release of harmful gases, some more than others. If you’re simply cutting thin woods or burning in raster art on wood, it’s not critical and not unlike an open fireplace. But if you’re doing anything with plastics (acrylic, etc) please use proper ventilation. A shopvac will NOT suffice. Exhaust the gas outside or somewhere it can dissipate safely.
I have a dryer vent along with hose run to a basement window for my dedicated laser cutter. I tried going without it, but trust me, unless you have a huge basement with massive air exchange, you’ll want external ventilation.
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charcoal filter pad is what im reading what you would use. its from youtube but its from Jtech
JTechPhotonics
2 months ago
We use a new shop vac with a charcoal filter pad wrapped around the inside of it. On amazon, search “charcoal filter pad”. Clears the smoke good. You can also vent to the outside if you have the ability.
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A wet/dry vac may work but you’ve got that motor screaming at you all the time.
An exhaust fan would be quieter and probably use less energy and still move
enough air to be effective.
I don’t know what’s in the glue used in various plywood brands and types but
I would be worried about sucking too much of that into my lungs.
My shop is ~6000 cubic feet. In the Winter sucking out all the heat would be an added cost. Having an enclosure won’t reduce this at all. I don’t see an alternative to exhausting outside without having some sort of scrubber system which is expensive.
There are some portable welding fume extractors that have filters in them and return the air back into the room. Might be worth looking into but not cheap. They start at about $400 I believe and I have no idea what you get for that amount of money. All the ones we had on the job cost thousands and were made by Lincoln, but they worked very well.
Having an enclosure won’t reduce this at all.
Just have an incoming air and an outgoing air into the enclosure. You could even nest a 4" pipe inside a 6" and only have one hole!
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Yes, that is a possible solution I had not considered. Thank you for that suggestion.
I am going to get one of these. Can probably be found locally at your neighborhood plumbing supply but available online for sure. It’s always nice to support local businesses when you can though. Helps keep your neighbor employed. 
Only one ~6" hole through the wall. Gives you the equivalent in area of running two separate 4 inch pipes. Then an inline exhaust fan similar to this.
https://www.diversitech.com/en-US/item/heating-products/vent-termination-kits/concentric-vents-16256
Is it possible to control the fan using the breakout box and a SSR so you can start stop the fan and maybe even give it a delayed shut down of a few seconds?
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