J. Phil Thien's Projects

OK. So I tested my separator hooked up to my shop vac and the steel trash can from Fleet Farm. My shop vac will begin to crush the can if the intake is blocked, even partially. The sad part is that when I hook the hose to my orbital sander, the air flow drops enough that the can begins to crush.  ???

I thoroughly clean my vac and added a new filter before I tested the separator. Amazing how much better the vac performs.

Oh. On a related note, I am in the process of tracking down a fiber drum here in the Twin Cities. There appears to be a couple places that sell them. I'd love to get a 20-30 gallon fiber drum and give that a try.

I bought a 20gal steel trash can from Fleet Farm for my separator. It seems to be rather sturdy. I haven't tested it yet because I am missing an adaptor to connect my 2.5" hose to my shop vac. I just finished building the lib last night -- I'll get the part and test it today.

Somewhat related questions ...

My lid was built to be used with a shop vac, therefore it has 2.5" fittings. I am thinking that I might also want to use a separator between my DC and planer, so I have a couple options: 1) use my current separator with 2.5" to 4" adaptors or 2) build another lid with 4" fittings.

Is a 20 gal steel trash can and lid with 4" fittings sufficient for use with a DC? I was thinking that I could just build another lid and use it on the same trash can -- swapping then out as needed. I do have a plastic 20gal can in the shop, but it is not very beefy and I wonder if a plastic can would get crushed.

Phil -- that tip for cutting holes with a hole saw worked quite well. Thanks!

Quote from: phil (admin) on May 18, 2009, 06:51:26 PM
If you're going to use a hole saw and you want it to go a little faster, use this trick:

Start the hole w/ the hole saw.  Just score the wood.  Now use a regular 1/4" drill bit to drill a couple of holes just inside the score mark.  Now switch back to the hole saw and finish-up.

This gives the sawdust a place to go, rather than just staying in the kerf and slowing the progress down.

Thanks for the tip.

I'll admit defeat with the hole saw idea. Using a 2.75" hole saw to cut through MDF is not a good idea. It burns badly and the hole saw ends up being a complete mess ... although it leaves an accurate hole for the PVC fittings.

What method do you use? Router with bushing and template?

Just wanted to add to this thread ...

I just bought the PVC pieces from the hardware store. I was a bit surprised to find that to O.D of the 2" PVC fittings (female) is about 2.75". I'm glad I checked the O.D. at the store. I had to pick up a 2.75" hole saw. Perhaps this note will save someone a bit of trouble .. or an extra trip to the hardware store.  :)

I don't have dust all over my shop. As far as I can tell, the tie-down (or bungie cord) method to attaching the filter to the DC is just as good as the turnbuckles. Anyway, the DC and filter appear to be sealed up quite well. No thin layer of dust all over my tools or any of that sort of thing.

You're right -- if the system is working properly my filter should not need frequent cleaning. However, that is not the case. I attribute this to the larger funnel opening in my particular DC, which is discussed here and in another thread. It certain effects how the baffle performs. Phil gave a great suggestion about creating a outlet tube as a means to reduce the diameter of this opening. I intend to try that as soon as I have some time to spend in the shop. I don't think the manner in which I attached my filter to the DC contributes to this problem.

Quote from: Greg McCallister on May 12, 2009, 04:45:38 AM
Couldn't you use a small block of wood on either the filter or the DC as a spacer for the turnbuckles?

Yes. You could do that.

I'm not interested in using turnbuckles to attach the filter, though. Being able to remove/clean the filter without removing the baffle is the deciding factor.

The 120 degree section of my baffle begins just below the inlet on the side of the DC. If I moved (rotated) the baffle at all, I'd put the start of the 120 degree section a little more "behind" the inlet -- such that the opening of the inlet was more towards the middle of the 120 degree section. I'll take pictures next time I remove the bag.

Phil, I think your idea is worth trying. I've read too many success stories with respect to this baffle in common dust collectors to think that is is a problem with the baffle itself. The unique factor with the 50-850 DC is the larger funnel opening. Reducing the size of that opening will be an interesting experiment.

When I build something I'll be sure to take pictures and comment on the results.

I attached the Wynn filter with a ratcheting tie-down ... like you would use in the back of a truck to keep your cargo held down. This is only a temporary solution until I come up with a better idea. I was going to use bungie cords, but I could decide how I wanted to attach them to the top of the filter (if at all). I was thinking I would cut a round piece of MDF to sit on top of the filter, then attach the bungie cords to that, holding it down. I don't like to put holes in things (filter, DC, etc.) when I can avoid it!  :)

Anyway, right now my tie-down is hooked to the lower legs of the DC. Just up and over and just enough pressure to keep it in place. The metal frame of the filter seems to bend easily, so I didn't want to force the issue.

Yes, the turnbuckles that came with the filter are far too short. I looked everywhere for some shorter turnbuckles, but I've found nothing. The nice thing about using bungie cords or a tie-down is that you can remove the filter without removing the baffle, which is a major plus in my book.

I have a Delta 50-850 DC and I am getting similar results. I made a separate post in the forum today.

After a moderate amount of use, there is more dust in the filter than I expected. Initially it appeared that it was just larger shaving from my jointer, but upon further inspection it appears than a fair amount of fine particles are stuck to the inside of the filter. Note that I also have a Wynn 35A filter.

I'm beginning to think that the large diameter (11.5") funnel in the DC is playing a role. I'm not quite sure how I would construct an "outlet tube" as a means to reduce the diameter of this opening. I'm guessing that I would also need to lower the baffle a bit in order for this to work.

On a somewhat related note, one addition I made to the DC while I was overhauling it was to add a strip of weatherstripping to the outside of the DC where the metal band clamp goes to hold the collection bad in place. I used 3/4" wide, 3/16" (I think) think rubber weatherstipping. This doesn't compress all that much and provides a very tight seal around the collection bag. This was a great addition, since I would often discover that dust was escaping around the rim of the collection bag. I picked up the weatherstripping at my local Ace Hardware store. Note that the thickness of the weatherstipping is important, since if it was any thicker I would not have been able to latch the clamp around it. Turns out that 3/16" is perfect, and I can get the clamp on by using the last notch in the clamp.

Hello.

I recently purchased a Wynn 35A filter kit for my Delta 50-850 dust collector. I decided to build the baffle as a means to keep the filter as clean as possible.

A bit of information:

My baffle is constructed out of 3/16" tempered hardboard. It sits approximately 1" below the inlet. From looking at other posts (and pictures) on this forum, I believe the "drop zone" is positioned correctly. The gap for the "drop zone" is exactly 1 1/8". As far as I can tell, the baffle is built and installed correctly. One interesting note about the Delta 50-850 DC - the funnel shaped opening above the inlet and below the filter is a bit larger than most dust collectors. I have no idea if this effects the performance of the baffle.

After installing the baffle and filter, I gave it a test run. I slowly fed some saw dust into the DC. What I noticed was that the "cyclone" effect I expected to see in the collection bag was far less pronounced than I expected. The dust can clearly be seen dropping down below the baffle, and once it does, it does not "swirl around" all that much. Perhaps this is not a problem at all, but I expected that the dust would swirl around in the bad a bit more than it does. For comparison, before the baffle was installed, the dust in the bag would constantly swirl around.

I shut off the DC and removed the filter. After close inspection, I noticed that some dust had made its way into the filter. No big deal, except that I was surprised to see that some of the larger shaving produced from my jointer had made its way into the filter. Coupled with the fact that the chips/dust don't seem to "swirl around" in the bag, I figured I had done something slightly wrong with my baffle. Thus I am posting here for the first time.

Any ideas? Perhaps the baffle should not be so far below the inlet? Or perhaps I should adjust the position of the 240 degree "drop zone" with respect to the inlet? As mentioned above, perhaps this is normal and there isn't a problem at all.

Thanks.