J. Phil Thien's Projects

Thanks for the answers -I've got it figured out now....

So..... let's get back to the "show 'em off" theme of this thread I hijacked.  8)

TL

Not to hijack this thread...

I've been ogling that blower. The 1550 advertised CFM is tempting. I think that'd about double what my Rockler unit produces.

But here's what's dragging my feet: It says it draws 20 Amps peak. I'm wondering if I could run it and another tool on the same circuit? Anyone having problems with this?

Thanks,

TL

I've shifted over from monkeying in the shop to outdoor projects, fishing, camping and generally lazing in the sun. It's summer time.

I did empty my dust bag the other day –first time since my top-hat got installed. I was pleasantly surprised by the limited amount of fines in the bag. It's working great. I sucked up a nitrile glove the other day and it found it's way below the baffle. I may have to run that through again and watch what it does.

TL

The diameter of the separator is about 21.5". I assume that's what you're asking.

Fortunately my scrap 1/8" baltic birch plywood was 5' long. I gave it two coats of poly before I attached it –which is quite easy as long as you cut the piece so it bends with the grain. I used TBII and a 1/4" crown stapler.

L

Quote from: BernardNaish on May 28, 2014, 02:39:18 PM
Hi, love the build particularly the clear top. I am interested in the metal dust bin (trash can) you have used because the Brute is so expensive here in England. What size is it, price etc. Ta!  Bernard

Bernard:

It's a 32 gallon can. I can't recall how much I paid for it, but knowing me, it wasn't over $35. I'm sure I bought it at my local hardware store here in the U.S. It works well.

I think one needs some sort of window into a top hat to make sure his favorite screwdriver isn't wedged into the drop slot.

L

This may look suspicously like Retired2's project. Mine has a 4" intake/outlet

I built everything out of scrap, except the seal and the acrylic. The bottom is made from 3/4" CDX, the sidewall supports from MDF, the baffle from 1/4" subfloor ply. The top is 1/2" BB over a sheet of plexiglass. The sidewall is 1/8" baltic birch.

You can view how I made my intake here: http://www.jpthien.com/smf/index.php?topic=1117.0

I purchased the plastic bellmouth from Parts express for $5 plus shipping: (Precision Port PSP-4IF 4" Inside Flare for Port Tube
Item# 268-377)



I added a 3/16" rod to support the baffel but after it started to capture lathe turnings I removed it. I think the baffel has plenty of support with the 3/4" ply support.

Works like a champ. Thanks Phil! (and Retired2). ;D

L

Interesting, I'v never used a twill weave fabric. Had to Google it. I bias cut some strips to lay over my 90º edges and still struggled with that.

Thanks,

L

Great looking pieces.

I'm wonderng how you got the cloth to lay on your plugs. It doesn't look like they were vacuum bagged. Did you use a mat cloth?

Thanks,

L

p.s. I've got my seperator up and running. It works great. I need to put a coat of poly on the outside and then I'll post a pic or two on a new thread.

Mike:

Dissolving the foam wasn't too big of a mess. I screwed a piece of plywood to the dowel. Set the whole thinig on the same large garbage bag I'd used to cover the lathe. I was a bit concerened the goo would disolve the garbage bag but it didn't. At least when you dissolve the foam, you don't end up with much mass.

I'll certainly upload build photos when I've got them. There's another project or two stacked in front of this top hat.

L

Mike:

Good grief, you set a high bar. Makes my mold plug look like a baling wire/duct tape contraption.  :'(

Please keep posting.

L

Having just finished a (non-curved) round to rectangular fiberless inlet using the lost foam method, I'll be very curious to see how you construct yours.

L

OrBlack: Thanks for the explanation and taking the time to upload the photos.

That's a serious looking separator.

L

Retired2:

You can read (and see) my first semi-serious build post here: http://www.jpthien.com/smf/index.php?topic=1117.0 It's about buliding my round to rectangular inlet out of fiberglass.

OrBlack:

"I just cut vertical side support dados on the table saw with a dado blade.  I used the square edges of the input side along the fence.  I just had to be careful and make sure the square edge was along the fence."

I take it you made these cuts prior to cutting the (square) pieces into circles?

And did you say somethig about being old? Yeah, age ain't easy sometimes but I like being an old-guy monkeying in my shop! 8)

L

No mold release, the acetone simply dissolves the foam into a small (four or five cubic inches?) of grayish goo.

Those eggs are about about fifteen pounds of lead. I also had paint cans on both sides of the layup to keep the foam layers from wandering around.

L

I'll use this post to introduce myself.

I'm a retired, long-time sawdust producer with limited room in my shop. Sound familiar?

I've got the wall mounted Rockler DC with their plastic-lid separator sitting on a thirty gallon can. The separator is better than nothing but too much dust ends up in the bag. I use Rockler's (4") flexible hose to chase from tool to tool.

I've been aware of the Thien separator for a while and have finally decided to crank one out.

While lurking on this forum, I came across Retired2's build thread. The round to rectangular inlet makes a lot of sense. I've downloaded a couple of PDF patterns for a sheet metal R/R inlet. After cutting one pattern out, and attempting to fold the paper as a dry-run I ended up a bit cross-eyed.

I've done a fair amount of fiberglassing in my day and having epoxy, fiberglass, and a sheet of 1/2" pink foam taking up room in the shop, I decided to build one using the so-called "lost foam" method. Figured it'd be good to build the inlet first and then build the top-hat around it.

Here's how I did it:

Foam glued up with a 1" dowel running down its center:


Here's the block cleaned up and some waste trimmed from the to-be round end:


Originally, while planning this out, I decided to put the dowel through the center so I could build a jig to hold the block while I laid it up. However, having a 16" lathe, I decided to just use it to shape the 4" round end and lay it up while on the lathe. Obviously I covered te tools bed with black plastic to protect it from the epoxy.



I turned the round section with a rasp and sand paper. You've got to keep the paper moving or you'll start to melt the foam.



I don't recall the weight of the fiberglass cloth. I used four layers on each side, plus three layers of bias-cut cloth on the corners. Even with the bias cut layed over the edges, I had problems with the layup wanting to pull off the 90º corners. That light colored area is air between the foam and the layup.



Having anticipated this problem, I wrapped the part with cloth tape I'd picked up at a dry goods store. The cloth was held in place on each end with pins pushed into the foam.


That helped pull the laminate back on to the plug, but didn't solve the problem so I wrapped it with electrical tape. You can see that I now have a good tight layup on the foam plug:


After the epoxy cured overnight, I pulled the tape off the part and sanded the exterior out a bit. I screwed one end of the dowel to a piece of scrap plywood to hold the part upright and poured about a cup of acetone into one end of the part. (after I laid down that piece of black plastic!)  Most of the foam ended up on the plywood but it took me probably thirty minutes to clean up the interior of the inlet.

A coat of gray primer and here it is:


It's not a work of art but I think it'll do the trick. The rectangular outlet side is 3 x 5.25" and the inlet is 4".

I've read the thread on using a curved inlet and thought about creating one using this lost-foam method, but after thinking about it, it too started to make my eyes cross. Simple can be a good thing.

L

p.s. Don't try this with polyester resin, it'll puddle like the foam!