J. Phil Thien's Projects

I am a hobbyist woodworker & have been using a Shop-Vac for dust collection.  Added a Dust Right separator a little while back, but unfortunately, my Shop-Vac died the weekend before 4th of July. 

Fortunately, I found a Grizzly 1.5hp wall mount DC with HEPA canister filter on sale & purchased for a little over $720 shipped to my door!!! 



But, I don't like having the impeller exposed to incoming dust, dirt, wood chips, etc...   I also don't like the idea of stepping down to the 2.5" inlet/outlet on the Dust Right. 

So I've decided to build my own Thien Baffle separator.  I went to Rural King & bought a cleaned & refurbished 55gal drum, then found a cap style lid on Amazon. 



My plan is to use 6" fittings to tie into the drum lid, then put a 4" side collection into the drum.




Obviously a work in progress, I'll use Silicone sealant, galvanized repair mesh, and bolts to secure the 4" boot to the drum & seal up any leaks around it.

But I got to thinking.... would I be better off putting the baffle just below the inlet as everyone else does, or would it possibly work better if I installed the baffle just at the top of the inlet? 

Seems like if I were to put it on top of the inlet, it would physically block some of the finer dust particles from entering the 6" duct.   

Has anyone tried anything like this?  If so what were the results???

I'm also thinking of cutting off the tongue off of the baffle, then re-attaching it with a piano hinge.  Then all I have to do to empty the drum is remove the top, flip up the tongue of the baffle and empty the drum.  Any thoughts on this? 

Hello all!  Hobbyist woodworker from Central Florida here.  Been getting serious about it for last decade, but been playing around in woodworking & carpentry for 40+ years. 

In my small shop, I have been using a Dust Right separator with my Shop-Vac for a little while now.  However my Shop-Vac just died about 2 weeks ago. 

Grizzly had their 1.5HP wall mount DC with HEPA canister filter on sale for July 4th for about $720 shipped to my door, so I bit the bullet & made the purchase. 

Now I have started my own Thien build since the Dust Right only has 2 1/2" hose connections.

I have often wondered why the commercial units have the narrow part of the cone at the bottom. It seems more intuitive to have the wide part at the bottom where angular velocity would be less allowing for the debris to fall out ofv the air stream. I am currently setting up my workshop after eight years in storage and I plan to try this out soon.
Have you tried adding verticle baffles to the slot to act as a "snow fence"?
Best regards - Erik

Quote from: bbain on July 06, 2023, 07:08:25 PM
Using 4" hose, with a 90 right on the outlet of the planer.

Diameter is the same as a rubbermaid brute 20gal trash can.

Thanks!
That's about the size I was thinking about making mine. I used some kerf-Board that's used for concrete forms to make the cylinder, I was just unsure of the inlet & out sizes. Mine will also sit on top of a metal 20gal. trash can.

Doug

Using 4" hose, with a 90 right on the outlet of the planer so the hose is out of the way of the outfeed table.

Diameter is the same as a rubbermaid brute 20gal trash can that I am using as a waste bin.

Quote from: bbain on July 01, 2023, 01:28:02 PM
I have had a push through thien top hat in operation on a 735 planer for almost 10 years.  Works great, doesn't clog,

Thanks for the reply!

Quote from: bbain on July 01, 2023, 01:28:02 PMDon't over think it.

Where's the fun in that. ;D

What's your top hat's diameter & what size hose are you using from the 735 to the Thien Baffle.

Doug

I have had a push through thien top hat in operation on a 735 planer for almost 10 years.  Works great, doesn't clog, if you over fill the bin it will shoot out chips all over the shop. (guess how I found that out) Mine is now vented outdoors in an attempt to keep more dust out of the air.

Don't over think it.  Build it and enjoy worry free chip collection.

Quote from: jgt1942 on June 14, 2023, 07:57:21 PMI plan to use a 5HP motor with a 16" impeller.

I don't think I have ever seen a Thien Baffle used with a motor larger than 3HP, most of the conversions I've seen use the Harbor Freight 2HP blower/motor.

This old post has some PDF links that may help you figure out what the diameter of the baffle should be.
https://www.jpthien.com/smf/index.php?topic=745.0

Here's another old post of a 6" inlet build.
https://www.jpthien.com/smf/index.php?topic=429.msg2187#msg2187

Quote from: jgt1942 on June 14, 2023, 07:57:21 PMit will be necessary for me to build a housing for the motor and impeller as well as the tophat.

From what I understand that can be a little tricky since the motor's HP / Impeller / & Housing are normally designed as one unit. I'm sure there's some type of mathematical formula to figure it all out, but the biggest thing to watch out for is the motor drawing too many amps.

Doug

QuoteThe question I have for you is what type of waste will the DeWalt DW735X planer create. If you are using the long knives it will produce long strings and often the strings will block the circular cutout.

I've read that the impeller in the blower of the DeWalt 735 will somewhat chop-up the long strings?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTFdwDLNGfA

For now, I'll just be using the straight knifes but I do plan to upgrade to the helix-style head at some point.
I'm also thinking about making the circular cutout slightly wider which I understand lowers the efficiency, but it should help with the clogs.   

The majority of my planning will on narrow width boards so the strings should be minimal length.

Doug

I'm sure there are plans for a tophat with 6" ports but I cannot find them, The search function in the forum is too limiting for what I have been feeding it.

I plan to use a 5HP motor with a 16" impeller. Thus it will be necessary for me to build a housing for the motor and impeller as well as the tophat.

Several years ago I converted a Grizzly DC from a single-stage to a two-stage using using 4" ports on the tophat. It really worked great. I never got around to installing good filters on the Grizzly but still it was MUCH better than the original Grizziy.