Pics of Ray Schafer's (rsquest) separator w/ side inlet

[txmcook]

Morning All. Have spent the last couple of days reading the site. Great job by Phil. I was wondering where Ray bought the side intake and if it is a 4" or 6" model? I like the design and was thinking about building one like it with my collector mounted directly above the can.

Thanks txmcook

[JakesDad1]

Fortunately I found this site yesterday. At my wife's suggestion, I began building/setting-up a workshop in a 14'x20' shed last fall. Prior to that it was in the garage. Early last year I conned my wife into a dust conrol system to keep the dust out of the kitchen. I bought my HF 2 HP system before I found all the info on the web about cyclones. Now I can't go back to her and tell her I need to spend another $1,500 on a different system.

I compared the bits and pieces of my collector and it looks like I could cut the 4" intake and install it on the side of a trask can. My question is:

Can I eliminate the collector and just go straight to a filter (again HF) from the discharge side of this cyclone?

[toolguy1000]

phil(admin)..if i am understanding the info about the baffle, if this

http://www.woodcraft.com/articles.aspx?articleid=408

were to have a baffle added, there's a pretty good chance it would work better than it does, correct, once the outlet going to the vac/dust collector is shortened to provide for the baffle?  it's the baffle that has the biggest impact on performance, right.  thanks.

[phil (admin)]

It would still be better to make your own, as the best configuration has the outlet top dead center of the lid.  The Woodcraft design has an offset outlet.

[toolguy1000]

thanks for the reply.  i understand that the woodcraft, et al , units are less effective due to the offset of the outlet.  the link i put in my post was to an instruction for a completely homemade separator, albeit without a baffle such as yours. looking at the drawing in the link, would the addition of your baffle improve the performance of such a unit, assuming inlet and outlet pipes according to your specifications?  lastly, what size separator pail is preferred for use with (1) a shop vac with 2 1/2" fittings or (2) a 1-1 1/2hp dust collector (like this http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/B00006K005/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_0?ie=UTF8&index=0) with a 4" inlet to the impeller. i built the one pictured in the link mentioned above using a 5 gallon drywall pail without any kind of a baffle and it hasn't worked especially well. your innovation is very impressive.  thanks again for the information.

[phil (admin)]

The baffle will absolutely help the offset design.  For shop-vac based designs, I'd go with a 10-gallon bin.  If you go much larger you really have to make sure the walls are study and can handle the suction, otherwise if the inlet hose gets blocked the can will collapse.

[toolguy1000]

thanks.  and for a 1hp dust collector with a single 4" input to the impellor?  would 20 gal work ok?  and, lastly, would a 50 gal brown fiber drum be too large for a 1hp delta dust colllector (such as the one shown in my link in the above post)?  assuming a properly sized baffle, what size container , as a separator for a 1hp DC, would be too large? your patience with these questions is appreciated.

[phil (admin)]

Once you go to the lower static lift of a DC, then you can pretty much go any size container you'd like.  20-gallons is fine, as is 50.  But keep in mind that a 50-gallon container full of 40-gallons of dust is pretty darn heavy.

[toolguy1000]

thanks fo the info.  your patience and advice is really appreciated.  BTW, what do you think of this lid, as it seems to avoid the offset issue of the woodcraft and pioneer lids:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=30282&cat=1,42401&ap=1

[phil (admin)]

thanks fo the info.  your patience and advice is really appreciated.  BTW, what do you think of this lid, as it seems to avoid the offset issue of the woodcraft and pioneer lids:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=30282&cat=1,42401&ap=1

They're alright, but still a compromise in that they fire dust downward towards any baffle you'd add.

[toolguy1000]

so the idea is to have the dust enter the pre separator parallel to the baffle and the lid., thus creating the vortex?

[phil (admin)]

so the idea is to have the dust enter the pre separator parallel to the baffle and the lid., thus creating the vortex?

Yep!