Laser Cutter Air Filtration
When materials are heated in a laser cutter, dangerous fumes can be released into the air. Even if you’re laser cutting plywood or acrylic, you need to keep your air clean, whether that is through ventilation or filtration.
Are Laser Cutter Fumes Unsafe to Breathe In?
Yes, every material releases some sort of gas that can be poisonous to humans in large quantities. Fumes from plastics are especially dangerous!
You can encounter benzene, ethyl acrylate, formaldehyde, and PAHs. To reduce the chances of getting health issues from these gasses, it’s important to filter the air from the laser cutter.
Filtration vs Ventilation
Filtration (also known as air scrubbing) means that you are cleaning the air in the laser cutter, making it safe to breathe before it is released back into the system or your room.
Ventilation, on the other hand, means directing the fumes from your laser cutter to the outside environment.
Which one is better?
That depends on you and your environment.
It could be better to use filtration if your laser cutter is in a garage or warehouse where there is no way to release air into the environment.
But if there is a window nearby, you should vent air out of your building.
Laser Cutter Air Filtration Methods
Fume Extractor
Fume extractors are one of the best methods to pull air from your machine, filter it, and make the environment clean again. Fume extractors are a separate machine, which means they can be expensive, but there’s no price when it comes to your health in the long run!
I would recommend using a fume extractor for your machine because you can save money by making sure you’re not buying a fume extractor with more capacity than you need.
If it’s still too expensive for your taste, then consider some of the other options below.
Air Filters/Air Scrubbers
Many makers will opt out of using a fume extractor just because of the price, which is fair given there are more affordable laser cutters than fume extractors.
A common method is to use a pre-filter, an activated carbon filter, and a HEPA filter. This ensures that any unsafe particulates that are caught in the filter and the air will be much safer to breathe.
You can either apply the filter to your laser cutter’s exhaust or duct the air into a fume coffin. This could be a fun weekend project so why not save some money and build one?
Fan/Blower
A fan by itself is the simplest and cheapest form of air filtration for laser cutters, except it’s not filtering anything at all.
While a fan is cheap, quiet, and simple to install, it won’t do much for you at all. Yes, it will dilute the air and make breathing it in slightly better but it won’t purify the air in any way.
The proper way to use a fan is to direct more airflow into your laser cutter air filtration system.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, you should have a way to filter or vent your air to make sure you’re not breathing in unsafe fumes. In my opinion, air extractors are the most effective, but they can be expensive and may not be appropriate for hobby use. On the other hand, building a filtration system yourself is a lot cheaper, but it does leave room for more mistakes. Let us know which option you prefer in the comments below!