J. Phil Thien's Projects

One of the Woodworking magazines did something like this about 7-8 years ago although used the natural angle of the legs to secure/guide a angled enclosure, it looked pretty efficient to me although I feel the addition of sealant at all other openings would be required to maintain your air velocity to help your D/C or Vac pull the best.

Retrowood

I've a 5 Gal. bucket DD/Vac system and while it works very well for small tools, it fills up very fast for anything else. I believe there are same size diameter buckets of 6-7 gallon capacity which will add considerably to your overall chip storage. The extra 1-2 gallons will give your separator extra air space at the top of bucket instead of blowing chips over into your fines container. This might be something to consider if you're doing a clean sheet build. I believe a business in Lima Ohio can supply these, US Plastics.
Good luck,
Retrowood

Quote from: rinthesun on December 04, 2011, 05:13:48 PM
I wish to make a 5 gal bucket ds for my miter saw.  Elsewhere in this forum, such separators have been built, but I did not see any pictures. Maybe I just missed them. At present I am building a CMS cabinet similar to the following and wish to place the vacuum and separator inside.

http://mikefromwinton.com/mtrsaw.html

None the less, I will try my version of the DS using a HD bucket and some 1 1/2" PVC plumbing parts. First I will try a design without the baffle and then if I can find the tempered hardboard I will add the baffle. I will add pictures as I progress for anyone who might be interested.

I have a small shop for which I have a blog of my projects.

http://workshopprojects.blogspot.com/

My real interest is in the design of a CNC router. See

http://cncrouterbuild.blogspot.com/

RickT,
Thanks very much for supplying not only the dimensioned drawing but also the details of your DC project. I believe the overall height will work fine for me as my limitation was the overhead garage door opening I needed to clear and at 71" I'm good to go.
Thanks,
Retrowood

RickT,
Very nice work, Can you supply a overall height dimension of your assembled unit  for me? I need something mobile and have a overhead garage door opening I need to clear. Thanks,
Retrowood,

Quote from: Rick T on October 27, 2011, 06:04:55 AM
I completed my 'top hat' version several months ago using the standard approach and what I think is a 30 gal rubbermade garbage pail. I've emptied it a few times now. Virtually all the dust goes into the pail and almost nothing is in the filter or clear collection bag... By nothing, I mean an ounce or so. To be fair, this system is connected to my planer, TS and BS so it's heavily weighted to medium to larger particles. I tried to connect it to my oscillating sander which has a 2 1/2" port but the constriction caused the DC to try and collapse the garbage pail. I would/will have to provide another source of air that's "tune-able" to use it with the smaller port equipment like router table and sander. In the meantime, I use my shop vac equipped with Dust Deputy for that equipment.
As an experiment I did try a few gallons of very fine dust and the separator deposited that into the collection pail rather than the bag or filter.
I am using 5" flex hose to equipment, 5" between top hat and impeller housing, and I have a Wynn Environmental pleated filer.
wrt hose size, I had been using 4" before installing the separator and found it clogged the filter fairly quickly which was irritating. I'm not sure if the higher velocity in the 4" affects the separators ability to do it's job or not?? The 5" line seems a better compromise between volume and velocity of air flow.

I agree, if the Rikon impeller unit fits on the HF Motor shaft and the HF housing allows enough clearance, if might be worth your money and efforts to install. Can you tweak things a bit by moving the impeller within the housing? Perhaps installing some spacers will give you optimal placement results. Along with your Thein unit, I would suggest adding a pleated filter to give your best bang for the buck. It's pricey considering what you've paid for the DC although will give you higher CFM w/ increased filter material and you will have better protection if you spec the filter correctly.  What size hose are you using? Might be worth your time to move up to a 5" line, would give higher CFM results if the retrofitted Rikon impeller gives you the ability to push more air. Sounds interesting, good luck.

Keeps us posted.
Retrowood

Quote from: DarthVader on November 15, 2011, 12:24:05 PM
btw...polarys, if you have a part number for that impeller, im sure that would be beneficial towards all of us who have have the HF units. thanks

Unfortunately I missed out on the BT....... :o Will keep looking.

Retrowood

I've seen this type of duo dust pick-up w/ great results on the Bosch 4100 saw. I guess in theory I'm trying to create a poor man's model of the Bosch using the BT series saw. Should know if i end up w/ the BT3100 tomorrow.

Thanks, Retrowood



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Quote from: phil (admin) on November 04, 2011, 06:50:57 AM
I use a shop-vac based system for all my collection.  And it works very well.  There saw has a blade shroud w/ a 2.5-inch port.  I have seen these says with a large DC connected to 2.5" ports on the shroud and also a blade guard, and then a 4" port under the saw, and there really is no dust that escapes.

Thanks for the quick reply and information. Do you feel the BT3100's D/C system is decent or nothing to shout about? I actually thought of installing the BT saw on a some sort/brand of folding wheeled stand and eliminating the legs altogether. I think this is possible considering the saw's overall weight & physical size.
Will let you know if I pick it up.

Thanks,
Retrowood

Phil,
I've enjoyed reading your segment on alignment of your Ryobi BT-3000 saw. I remembered when these came out and while they looked interesting, I was hesitant to jump and ended up picking up a Jet contractor saw instead. As second hand prices have come down on the Ryobis, I thought I might like to pick one up for experimenting with. I have a chance to purchase a like new BT-3100 unit w/ all Acc. for $125 and wondered if you felt this was a good price. My concerns are replacement parts, durability & dust control.

Thanks, Great site.
Retrowood