Laser Cutting Roof Ventilation

[@eduardopico5727]

Thanks for the video love this idea.

[@rogeralder3066]

Thank you for answering my question about the fan and telling me about this video it gives me some good ideas.

[@FarbulousCreations]

Any time, Roger! Glad I could help!

[@alanwoollett7961]

Love your content... just not enough of it!! Thanks from the UK 👍🏼

[@FarbulousCreations]

Hey Alan, thanks so much for the kind words! :) Got more content coming down the pipe, so stay tuned!

[@sundeshbalraj]

Great job and thanks for sharing

[@FarbulousCreations]

You bet, Sundesh! Thanks for watching!

[@sasandimo781]

I started my laser jab from my basement. I used to do all laser jobs from 3 am to 7am cause of neighbours not to complain about smoke and smell. Now I have my own shop.

[@FarbulousCreations]

Nice Sasan, that's awesome! Maybe one day I'll outgrow my garage too. :)

[@joshshetler122]

I just ordered my first cabinet 60w got it a couple days ago! Kind of nervous though lol

[@claytillman2227]

Any particular reason you choose to go out the attic vs an eve/soffit? I'm designing my set up and considering going out the soffit vs the roof.

[@FarbulousCreations]

Hey Clay! Interesting! I suppose that would have been possible, but my soffits are pretty narrow, and so that didn't even cross my mind, as there wouldn't be a lot of room for that. One thought is that if your soffits are painted white, over time exhaust from the laser could discolor the area around the vent - where on a roof vented system, that's not really a concern since they're typically dark. Not saying it's a bad idea at all, by the way - curious to hear how that goes if you go that route! 😊 Cheers!

[@claytillman2227]

@@FarbulousCreations yeah the more I think about it the more I think roof is better. For one the smoke would vent up and not linger around the house as much. I think that on the side under the soffit would work most times, but if the wind isn't blowing or blowing the wrong way it'd be harder to clear the smoke out resulting in it lingering possibly making its way back into the attic.

[@aaronmoat2454]

Thanks for the video. Im planning on installing one soon. Does you neighbors mind the smell? My neighbor lives around 300mm away from me. Just wondering. Thanks.

[@FarbulousCreations]

Hey Aaron! I largely don't cut much acrylic or other stinky items, and our neighborhood is known for pretty much everyone doing bonfires, so regular wood smoke smells don't bother people. So I haven't had any complaints as of yet. If I do find myself needing to cut acrylic or other things that stink worse on a regular basis, I would definitely respect my neighbors and find a way to do it in the off hours where they're least likely to encounter it, such as overnight or super early in the morning. :) Hope that helps!

[@poeticfemmy105]

Hello again! I rent and can’t cut holes into the house. Can this be run out of a window or a garage door like the Glowforge can?

[@FarbulousCreations]

You could totally create a panel that slides into the window with an exhaust port, just like people do with the Glowforge, but you'll still need to have a fan "pushing" the air to the outside. Hope that helps!

[@ffknowlton]

Living in an area with such cold temperatures, have you run into any problems with your vent setup and cold air affecting your laser when not in use?

[@FarbulousCreations]

Hey Matt! I have not, but my garage shop is also heated with a ductless mini split - I keep it on the lowest setting (I think 55ºF) when I'm not out there working to make sure the water in the laser tube doesn't freeze up. I've also heard that it can be wise to keep the lid to the laser open even in a heated space to make sure the inside of the laser doesn't get too cold from the outside air coming in through the vent, but my venting travels a decent bit through the attic and the room below so I doubt its ever cold enough for that to be an issue. Hope that helps! :)

[@kylewesterfield1052]

9 months later, are you noticing any residue/gunk on your roof from the smoke?

[@FarbulousCreations]

Hey Kyle! It's the middle of winter in Minnesota, so I can't check right now 😅 but the last time I was up there in late fall I installing a security camera I didn't see anything! I rarely cut acrylic on my machine though, and from my experience at the maker space laser I used to use, that's one of the biggest culprits of "gunk" accumulating in the ducting so that could be a contributing factor. Great question!

[@evanfort]

Evening, I made the mistake of using a stack for a passive exhaust for my laser and in looking inside the vent, it clamps down the CFM pretty hard. my mistake. I also have a nova 35. After 5 months of use, do you still like the vent choice you made? I'm also considering a chimney smoke stack type vent, but it might look a little weird on my roof and thing yours may be a little less conspicuous.

[@FarbulousCreations]

Hi Evan, I actually recently upgraded the 6 inch AC Infinity fan to the 8 inch model, with reducers to fit my ducting. I decided that the smoke was lingering a little too long inside the laser for my tastes. I'm going to try to do an update video here soon, but overall, yes, I still really like having the relatively inconspicuous roof vent I went with. :)

[@travisbenson8657]

@@FarbulousCreations Hey Ron! I see you mentioned you upgraded your 6" to the 8". If you were doing it again, would you run the 8" piping from the beginning? Or does your setup with the bigger fan and 6" duct work nice as is? I also see that the vent you chose only comes in a 4" and 6". Just trying to decide which size hole to plan to do. Thanks for your help!

[@FarbulousCreations]

@@travisbenson8657 Hey Travis! Yes, if I was doing it over again, I think I'd prefer to have run 8" ducting. The 8" fan with the 6" ducting has better than the 6" ducting with the 6" fan, but I have to imagine the smaller ducting is adding some unnecessary air friction to the mix. As for how much, I don't know, as I'm not a aerodynamics engineer, lol. That is a bummer that the gooseneck vents only come in 4" and 6" - I'm not sure which style of vent outlet I'd want to use then. 🤔Hope that helps! Good luck!

[@keithspencer4024]

Hi Ron I am trying to decide on purchasing this exhaust fan or the 8". This one pulls fewer cfm than the one that comes with the Nova 35. Is it adequate or does it seem underpowered? Is the temp and humidity controller worth the extra money considering the stock fan doesn't have one and seems to be fine?

[@FarbulousCreations]

Hi Keith! Good question! The 6" seems adequate, but the 8" would probably do a slightly better job. I decided to go with the 6" though, in part because it's a heated and cooled space and I don't wan't to throw my conditioned air out the roof any faster than I need to, haha. The 6", if I recall correctly, pulls about the same CFM as my ductless mini split puts out, so I figured it'd at least have a fighting chance to keep up with the loss going with the 6" on particularly hot or cold days. As for the temp/humidity controller, I didn't get it as I didn't see the use for it in our applications. I think that's mostly for people who are using the AC Infinity fans to condition a space that's not getting enough HVAC pressure in a house setup - that way they can use it as a thermostat of sorts to turn up and down the fan and monitor humidity. So yeah, I'd say skip it! :)

[@keithspencer4024]

Thanks for the information!

[@imalamma6283]

Do you run your laser a lot ? Is that fan sufficient ?

[@FarbulousCreations]

I don't run it for hours on end (at least not yet!), but when I did some "heavy smoke" tests it seemed to work just fine without letting any escape into the garage space itself. Some people I've heard opt for the larger 8" fan that they sell, so that's something you could definitely look into if you're worried about it pulling enough air. :)

[@imalamma6283]

@@FarbulousCreations Cheers ! - Yea, I have had some issues with fans. I like these inline ones. But, I have always had to go super big like 650 CFM for our small laser. And 1500 cfm for our bigger laser. Not doing this causes the laser to get dirty inside when means a lot more replacement parts. - But, also, we are Pushing the air about 20ft for the big laser (1500cfm) and about 10ft for the small laser. So I know that plays a roll into things. (as-well as elbows etc..etc..) - thanks for the reply

[@fchiang7190]

Won’t your neighbors complain about the smells?

[@FarbulousCreations]

I largely don't cut much acrylic or other stinky items, and our neighborhood is known for pretty much everyone doing bonfires, so regular wood smoke smells don't bother people. So I haven't had any complaints as of yet. If I do find myself needing to cut acrylic or other things like that on a regular basis, I would definitely respect my neighbors and find a way to do it in the off hours where they're least likely to encounter it, such as overnight or super early in the morning. :)

[@jdeack]

Nice job! You can private message me me on FB or Messenger if you like, but curious where you live in MN. I am in SW Wisconsin and I would be interested in visiting to check out your laser machine as I am on the wall which machine I would like to get in the future.

[@FarbulousCreations]

Hi John, thanks! I'm located in Minneapolis! Maybe in a non-covid world / post-vaccines I could show you my machine!