J. Phil Thien's Projects

I must say using your shop vac as a dust+chip pump won't work. The air through the vac is also used to cool the motor. If you remove the filter the dust and chips will clog up the motor before escaping the "goes out" hose .

If I needed to seal a galvanized garbage can, I would use aluminum duct tape. The other opyion is red duct sealer, it's stickey and messy but it dosen't come off after a few months. Either can be obtained at a good Hardware store (not a box). Also places that deal with HVAC contractors.

I read somewhere, may have been on the Pentz site, that it's not good to run blowers in series. I don't see why it wouldnt work though.

Ok, now another question.  What clear plastic should I use? I've read that plexiglass is hard to bend and is prone to cracking.It also changes size with temprature changes. Clearview uses PTEG. Other than that, I don't know of anything about it. I don't know about any others. What I would like would be clear, easy to use, last a long time and be cheap. I don't want much do I?  :)

Bruce,

I just noticed your other thread. Before you use your H.F. blower for this project make a transition from the 1-1/2" hose to the 4" H.F. blower. I think you will find the 1-1/2" hose too restrictive to use with the H.F. blower.

Dust collector blower fans just aren't designed to suck air through a small hose.

IMO you should use a setup similar to the one pictured by Sub-Doood in your other thread. Only i'd use a "top hat" type separator to leave more room in the bucket and make the transition out of flashing.

Bruce,

I haven't been here long but I've been creating dust in shops for around 40 years.

I'm not clear on your plan for a separator. Do you plan a garbage can size? For your application I would recommend scaling down the separator to use a five gallon bucket with hoses sized to fit your vacuum pump. The transition could be fabricated out of aluminum roof flashing. As small as the transition will be I doubt the vacuum could crush it.

Unless you vacuum pump can move more than 500 cfm. of air I don?t think enough centrifugal force would be generated in a garbage can sized separator to do much separation.

I would use a shop vac or even a house vac as a vacuum source. They are found cheap at garage sales and flea markets. They also have the advantage of built in filtering for whatever gets past the separator.

That way you don?t just blow what gets past the separator out into your space. Also you have a vacuum for sweeping your shop. To save space, you could build a cart to stack the separator under the vacuum to wheel it around the shop to where you need it or just to get it out of the way.

Does the drop slot clog often?

Maybe the reason for the clear sides.

Couldnt I just take it off the can and sweep it out with the shop vac?

I recently bought a used Jet DC650 and would like to build a "Top Hat" separator for it.

With its one horsepower motor and small fan (650 cfm claimed) should I bother to enlarge the air inlet to five or six inches between the collector and the separator?

I don't plan on running shop wide ductwork. I plan to roll it from machine to machine and connect the separator to the machines with four inch flex hose. My machines all have four inch ports now.

Also is there a reason for the use of clear plastic for the separator other than looks? I have sheet metal and Formica in my scrap pile that I would use instead. For the top and bottom I plan to use melamine.

Any reason not to use these materials? I can't think of any but I've never built one of these before.

Many more questions to come.

Thanks

You could put a plywood ring on the top and put a 90 or 180 degree turn to put the filter either horizontally or vertically.

Why not raise the ring up, (longer legs) so you come straight out of the blower?