J. Phil Thien's Projects

I recently reviewed someone's Thien baffle adaptation on youtube that suspended the baffle from the bottom of the outlet port, mounting it with a plywood plug that fit snugly in the bottom of the port and a couple screws. The outlet port itself was notched just above the plug attachment to create a mouth half the diameter of the outlet and about the same height for an exit opening. The mouth was oriented away from the tangential inlet in the side of the drum as far as possible without being inline with the incoming stream of wood chips and dust. The baffle itself was a full circle with no ramp, leaving a drop slot around the full internal circumference of the catch drum. Using this method, a thinner baffle of masonite with smooth, rounded and sealed edges might create lease drag than a thicker one and eliminate the possibility of larger chips from jamming/collecting in the slot. The test in the video appeared to be very efficient at collecting fine dust, with no notable dust in his shop vac or filter. I am going to construct one similar for my shop vac, and if successful, construct a portable DC for a 1 hp blower I have using a 4" inlet to connect to my jointer, planer and wood lathe. Think the larger hose would be less prone to clogging with long, stringy, damp chips and be more efficient at collecting chips with a larger chute.

Any thoughts from those who may have already experimented with the idea would be appreciated??
Thanks!

Hi, Thanks for all the info, research, trial n error that went into your projects and plans and then sharing with rest of us struggling to sustain our in home hobbies and still keep an amicable relationship with our families.

Think 'Dust Collecting' is sad past time when I consider all the time, money I've invested researching/devising ways to keep my small basement shop cleaner without cluttering it up even more with tall cyclones and a jungle gym of piping, not to mention putting up with the roaring jet engine and reverberating sound chamber concerto whenever there is constructive activity in the shop. Am obsessed with objective, but wish evolution would get closer to a reasonable conclusion.

Have built, but never installed an early adaptation of a 4" inlet cyclone from an old article in Wood Mag, only to abandon it after visiting  B Pentz' website. Quickly fell into a downward spiral of depression, settling in the dust bin about what is best system and method to manage dust in my small shop. Was convinced I would surely die at an early age of some respiratory ailment if I didn't construct the whole shabang with 6" ducting. Ruefully admit that was several years ago and I have since constructed components for, but not assembled,  a better designed cyclone with spiral ramp, built a 3hp blower/housing with custom impeller, purchased expensive drum filter and still not committed to completing project and installing 'ductwork' that would make plumbing and other utility access a royal pain. Have learned much in the process, but still aching for reasonable solution.

Started viewing 'youtube' videos on DC and came across the 'Thien separator'. After months of viewing/rethinking ideas and my situation, have come to conclusion, two small, short run, 1hp DC systems with your separator design will 'hopefully' better suit my needs. Thought I heard a faint sigh of relief coming from my poor shop vac (recently upgraded with mini-cyclone and drum) when I had a verbal "Aha!!!!" moment about upgrading to a compact, blower mounted separator to service my old Unisaw and bandsaw. If successful, I will adapt the same design to servicing my chop saw, and belt sander, with 4" wye, blast gates and flex hose - much better than swapping shop vac hose from port to port and crawling around in missed dust to access them. Would also eliminate the need for oversized Habitrail suspended from my busy ceiling which is also encumbered by a recirculating box filter.

If project is successful, will post some pics, hopefully to help others consider 'is bigger always better?' before heading down the same path.

Thanks again for sharing your trials and successes. Would like to make donation to your website.