J. Phil Thien's Projects

Hi all, I am reworking my Thien setup (built in 2009) and would like some feedback on how to get rid of the plastic bag to collect the dust.
My system is based on an old PSI DC-2 DC, with a top hat on a metal garbage can. the flow goes to the former bag ring, which has a helix in it to direct the flow downward. Wynn filter on top (new 35BA222NANO) and a 12" to 8" metal reducer in the donut to direct dust that is dislodged from the filter, say by compressed air ( 60 psi) will not land on the helix but go straight into the dust container. I have a second Their baffle at the bottom of the ring to further enhance separation of the fines.
My next desire is to direct the dust downward into a small container with a shop vac fitting to clean out the fines periodically. I found a monster flower pot at Home Depot that gives a smooth transition from the 20" bag ring down to about 12". My thought is to connect a 3 gallon pail using a gamma seal lid, and affix the vacuum port to that. (see photos)
I welcome any opinions, thoughts, suggestions you may have. Perhaps someone has gone this route in some fashion. If so I would like to hear how it works. I thought about using the short circuit or recycle approach, but I am not sure how that would work. Thanks much.

Phil, I believe you filed for a patent, did you not? If so, even if not granted, the application would be considered prior art I think.

I will also send an email to the patent office as others have.
Thanks for all you have done.

I am currently building a baffle top for my trash can, and the pictures might clarify the idea of converting from a round duct to a rectangular one for entry into the cyclone chamber. The one thing that I did wrong was assuming that I would have the same cross sectional area in the rectangular end as on the round end. I had forgotten that although the perimeter is the same, the area is not. The result was going from a 6" round (28 sq. in.) to a 7" x 2.5" rectangle (17.5 sq. in.). Since I will be reducing the 6" duct to a 4" one to connect to my existing system, I decided to proceed. If I later decide to go to a 6" duct system, I will have to increase the size of my rectangular end.

To accomplish the transition, I decided to make one dimension 7" and cut some pieces of MDF to 7" x 10", and stuffed them into one end of the 6" duct and gently hammered the square corners in. I screwed through the duct to the boards with short sheet metal screws to hold them in place, and sealed the holes later. After getting two 7" wide boards in, and fastening them to opposite sides of the duct, and beginning to hammer out the corners, I forced in some smaller pieces of MDF so I had 3 widths in the hole. (I could have used a single  7" wide piece here). Then, with only a little ways to go, I hammered in wooden (or plastic) shim stock to force the duct out to the final width, and finished hammering the square corners. The it was time to remove the screws and force the MDF forms out of the hole.

To determine the size and placement of the opening in the round chamber, I just sort of eyeballed where I wanted the duct to go, drew some lines, and cut out an opening, leaving tabs for fastening, using a dremel cutoff wheel (actually several, as the wear down quickly, and shatter easily if they get caught in the kerf :-[.

I attached the duct with pop rivets, and sealed the joints with silicone. I taped over the screw holes with 3M metal tape (perhaps find it at auto supplies that cater to body shops?).

Here are some pictures that I hope will clarify things. Sorry I did not document the forming process.

I have had similar questions with my PSI DC-2. The blower inlet is 6", the outlet is rectangular, with a converter to 5" round to the bag ring. When I got it, the inlet to the blower had twin 4" inlets, so I assume the blower can handle, 2 times the area of a 4" line, 25 sq. in. total. Early on I set up a network of 8" runs, reducing to 4" at the machines. When I moved my shop and dismantled this system, the 8" runs were half full of chips and dust.

What I learned is that pipe size is very important, and going too large reduces the feet per minute of air flow, and the large material can drop out. Too small and you choke the system. See Bill Pentz web site for detailed discussions of this sort of thing.

My current system is using 4" runs, with bag filters. I recently put a plastic bag inside the lower bag of the two bag system, but this greatly reduced my air flow. I am now in the process of building a Thein baffle head for my garbage can, with a 6" inlet coming in the side, and 6" going up to the blower. For now I plan to reduce the 6" inlet to 4" to use my current plumbing set up and see how it goes.

I have ordered a cartridge filter from Wynn and have put a baffle in the bag ring, so the lower bag will be clear plastic. I hope the double baffle system isn't overkill, but everything is reversible in the end.

I will upload pix sometime soon.

Good luck with your projects.

Bob

Thanks for your response, Phil.

The first two pix show the bag ring with the spiral, looking in from the bottom.
The third pic shows the baffle. The OD is 19.5" and the cutout is 1.25" in wide. One question is, should the gap be scaled to the overall diameter, or does the diameter increase take care of the air flow?

Pic four is a view from the bottom with the baffle installed.

Pic five is a view from the top with the baffle installed.

My concern is whether the spiral will interfere with the airflow going to the filter. I could cut out the spiral if need be.

I am also building a baffled top for my trash can, with 6" side entrance and 6" vertical outlet with a close coupling to my blower. Will submit pix of that also.

Bob

Has anyone out there modded a PSI DC-2 machine with the baffle? The hooker is this unit has a metal spiral inside the bag ring. In principle, this should help separation, and perhaps I can just hang a baffle a little below it.
Any experience?

Bob