Hi !
I just made myself a particle separator using your pictures. I made it with a recycled anti-rust grease can (about 23'' h x 14'' dia.) old particle board and plywood. I used scraps of hardwood dowels for the posts. Only "new" costs were the two ports and the elbow (around 8$). Not bad ! It works very fine at separating the particles from the dust (I'dd say 90%), but I loose lots of air pressure. I'll have to buy some door sealer tape to make the lid more air-tight.
Phil : thanks a lot for freely posting the results of your experiments. It's an example I will gladly follow whenever I have something interesting to post. Like you, I do not think it realy hinders the sales of a factory made unit. Diy'ers will try to make it anyway. Posting our results only saves time and money for guys (and galls !) like us.
Jf.