J. Phil Thien's Projects

I purchased a Dustopper HD12.  But it is not at all effective then vacuuming dog hair.  The dog in question is a  Labrador Retriever, a breed havingl a "double coat".  The thin soft fur of the under coat is the problem.  Would a Thien baffle work better?

I also never heard of that name but Marius Hornberger uses a very similar setup in his Small Dust Collector. Have a look at this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tREMRr81olg&t=1116s. The system is described starting at 15'03. I was looking for something of the sort for my Shop Vac which was covered in previous posts in this forum.

As seen in the photos below, I started years ago with a hinged upper part which allowed removal of the dust bin very easily. After some time I decided that a power cable reel would be a convenient addition and installed one at the back. The problem was that now the hinged top required an extra hand to hold it while removing the dust bin. Not very comfortable, really.

The photos show my version of the Younker/Hornberger Lift. In my case as in Marius' the Separator remains fixed and the dust bin is lifted in place. The whole setup is much smaller and therefore the bin is lighter than the rest. Marius uses a bar to link the two levers that lift the dust bin. I left this out to avoid its forward protrusion from bumping things when the vac was moved. I just kneel down and use two a finger on each lever to push them down 90?  and lock/press the bin in place. Works very well.

The flat part of the cam is its greater asset. It lock the lever  in position and will not move under vibration or jolts.

Here are some shots of the Shop Vac, before and after the modification.

Photos 06 and 10 show the original Shop Vac arrangement and the addition of the cable reel.

Photos 11 and 12 show the lever open and closed respectively. Total travel upwards is 18mm

Photo 13 illustrate the alignment blocks screwed from the inside of the dust bin. These guide it properly against the back wall and sides of the frame.

Photos 14 and 15 are with the bin being inserted.

Photo 16 - The dust bin lifted and pressed in place

Photo 17 -The whole arrangement as seen from the front

Photo 19 - View from the back. I have two hoses, one with the standard nozzle and the other (shown in the photo) has a special nozzle that fits in my bandsaw and edge sander when I remove the grey end piece. In a pinch, with this piece installed, I can use other accessories without a hose change.

Leil, it works very good the couple times I've been able to use it. My regular job has me going 6 1/2 days a week, plus I need to put in another circuit for the dust collector, so I haven't been able to make nearly as much sawdust as I'd like. I'm hoping in the fall things will slow enough for me to get more time in the shop.

This is really cool. I love your moulded bell mouth! What is the performance like?

I am starting on adding a Thein baffle on top of the typical trash can before my Jet single stage 1.5 HP dust collector.
Has anyone used the Jet 1049 trash can separator lid with with a Thein baffle below?
I have the Jet 1049 with a 4" side inlet that spirals down into the standard trash can and has a 4" outlet in the center of the lid.
Will the Thein baffle work below the Jet 1049 lid or should I just go forward with the tophat Thein baffle box with 6" inlet and outlet?
I had planned to put a 6" outlet in the center of the Jet lid with the 6" duct extending 3" down towards the Thein baffle.
I do not know where the solid portion of the Thein baffle should line up with the inlet on the Jet 1049?
Thanks for your help in advance.
Matthew
 

I see schrek's posts and they give me some improvement ideas.  Foremost is to add a bell output on top.  Super easy to make on a CNC router. Thanks!

Also I was planning on 4" ducting throughout - from the dust shoe on the spindle to the DC input manifold. Maybe a bell manifold to larger input on the DC if necessary. I haven't selected the DC yet, leaning towards a Griz 1.5 HP model with 1250 CFM (yeah, I know CFM numbers a kind of a fantasy). Of course, it is currently out of stock.  Sigh.

Hi, Phil Barrett here.  I've been a big fan of the Thien Baffle for a long time.  Built several for my shop.  One for my shop wide DC and one on a small sanding cart.  Posted about my next design.  It is for my 4'x4' CNC Router.

I have build several Thien baffle separators and really like being able to adjust the design to fit the needs. I have a big one on my shop dust collector and one on a small mobile cart I use a lot.

Anyway, I'm finishing up a 4'x4' CNC router. It will have a dedicated dust collector and I'm going to make a separator for it.  But I got thinking about how to reduce turbulence by have a straight inlet. I can cut arbitrary/complex designs on my CNC router and thought this design might be a step in that direction. This one is relatively small for a shopvac but I would size it up for the CNC DC. The top surfaces of the bottom ring and baffle would be coplanar, by the way.

A refinement of the design could be to use another strip of polycarbonate to support the outside edge of the 1/2" baltic birch top and bottom to make it look a bit more finished.  Also thinking about integrating the baffle into the bottom.  There may be a way to get rid of the supporting bolts which would serve to reduce turbulence and wind resistance (if that is the correct term).

I am interested in anyone's thoughts on this.  Stupid idea?  Needs work?  Any gotchas?

Along with the suggestion above to move the inlet to the correct position at the start of the solid part of the baffle plate, Your baffle plate is really thick as well. I would at least bevel the edges of the drop slot, if not replace it with 1/4" material.  Air is hitting those flat edges and causing turbulence that can contribute to pulling dust up out of the lower chamber.

Your inlet discharges right into the slot and this is likely disturbing the air below the baffle.  Try rotating your baffle 120 degrees so the discharge lands on the non-slot segment of the baffle. 

I don't see any foam weatherstripping where the trash can touches the separator.  Air leaking into the separator here is not good.