This thing sucks .... Really !

[ThomasL1959]

Hello all ! well Im the next new guy here. had to log in and say hello.
About a year ago I was looking for some kind of dust collection system.
I happend across this place and promptly said ,,, cool.
then I went on my happy way and forgot where Id seen this place ? D'oh !
bout 4 months ago I did a massive search and finally found it again, went out got the parts and
promptly built a 5 gal version. then I moved to a new place with twice the floor space.
I decided then and there when I was designing my work bench to incorporate a spot for a cart with
a shop vac and the bucket into one unit. I put a switch wired to an outlet so I could turn it on without
pulling the whole thing out.
basicaly its a 2x4 frame with 1/2" osb on both sides, I had to recess the bucket to get the inlet on the vac to line up and just dry fitted the pvc together. I cut some holes for the wheels on the vac to drop into, put some sides on it to hold the vac in one place and bungee'd the two down.
the whole thing rolls under the bench,(which im not done with yet).
Im still planning on adding a clear window in the front of the bucket made of plexiglass.
I think it would be kinda neat to see it in action. besides I need a way to tell how full the bucket is getting without haveing to take it all apart.

cheers

[ThomasL1959]

The next day ..... I put the plexiglass on the bucket.

It seems to work fairly well , except it deforms the bucket. thats not a problem tho as the lid
reforms the bucket with a bit of oompf to get it back together the way it needs to be.
the plexiglass trys to stay straight, making the bucket have a sorta flat side to it. oh well !

I figure it only cost me 4 dollars to find out if it wouldnt work, if not the bucket is easy to replace.
I emptied the bucket into the garbage can and didnt really want to suck other stuff out of the garbage.
so, I had to look for more sawdust to test it with. ended up cleaning my shop  ;D
the vortex inside is impresive for only useing a shopvac size vacume.
was reading on here last nite about the harbor freight portable vac with the impeller and the 4" dust port thats only 100 bucks,it has more CFM than the higher priced version.
I recently bought a Grizzly band saw,(4 days ago) and am allready modifying the dust collection on it
to make it collect dust better.

Phil , I hope your getting a patent on this cause you need to ! !
heres a pic of the window I put in the bucket.

cheers

[phil (admin)]

Nice work.

We need a source for clear bins for these.  I've found a few, but they are intended for food service and they are soooo expensive.

[Todd]

Thomas

What size fittings did you use and did you also get them from HD?

[bennybmn]

Nice work.

We need a source for clear bins for these.  I've found a few, but they are intended for food service and they are soooo expensive.

Agreed! I'm considering re-doing my Cyclopvac, to make it a smaller diameter, and I was going to just see how tight I could bend plexi....

[toolguy1000]

ThomasL1959 ...ditto to the above question about the fittings.  any chance you could post a list of what was used to make all the connections?  it would be gratly appreciated.

[ThomasL1959]

Didnt know Id generated this much interest  :)

Well all fittings are 1 1/2" PVC and ABS. I dry fitted all of them , just incase they need to come apart.

where the hose connects up its a standard 2 1/2" coupler from ridgid, but probably most any brand
would work.
where it goes into the vac its a straight PVC coupler 1 1/2" I.D.

I originally had some 45 deg bends but it had alot of leaks and the inlet at the vac was at a wierd angle
and partly blocked the exit out of the pipe into the vac.
so..... I appiled the K.I.S.S. method to it and it works much better.

the vortex inside the plexiglass is working fine. I can see how full its getting and have no need to
open it to check. I put Blow in insulation in the attic of my shop and in cleaning up a few bits of it plugged the tubes here and there. the "window" made it easy to see if she was still working properly.
hope this answered everybodys questions.

cheers ! 

[toolguy1000]

ThomasL1959...i'm assuming these are plumbing fittings?  did you get them at home depot or lowes?  what did you use in the bucket?  street fittings, regular fittings?  the more details, the better.   that apllication is very impressive inthat it saves using a hose to connect the vcuum to the separator.  thanks.

[ThomasL1959]

heres the inside of the bucket , I believe they are regular fittings. just ,,,,,1 1/2".
the white is PVC , the black is ABS. between the inlet elbows (the 90 deg ones) I cut a piece of ABS to fit
so the elbows would sit flush with the plywood.



this is a standard 2 1/2" hose going into the vac the normal way.


here is a standard 1 1/2" PVC coupler on the end of a short length of ABS crammed into the vac.




heres the coupler set up on the end of the hose where it goes into the inlet of the bucket.
the hose coupler comes with the hose when you buy them, or you can buy them separate.


the hose coupler to PVC fit isnt real tight, but, its tight enough !


because the fit wasnt tight enough to stay together I added the two boards with the V notch's
and sandwiched the hose coupler tween them with just a bit of play to slide out when "I" wanted it to !



one thing I did notice while cleaning it one day, was the baffle on the inside was hitting the bolts for the plexyglass window and not letting the lid sit all the way down and make a good seal. 
So, I ended up turning the bucket a bit so that the bolts would  clear the baffle.

I got all these parts at home depot, just get the hose fittings and hose take them over to the plumbing aisle and start fitting them together, if anybody asks if they can help you .... tell em what your doing
and either they'll help - or - walk away dumbfounded.
when I was doing the fitting of parts, I got the dumbfounded one that walked away.
by the way , dont glue ANYTHING , you might want to take it apart, its only a vacume it isnt carrying water or anything important except sawdust.

hope this helped !!

[toolguy1000]

the 1 1/2" plumbing fittings at my HD here in teh NYC tristate area don't look like those fittings.  the ones they have here have "shoulders" on each end unless it si a "street" fitting.  do those fittings have any sort of a special designation or sku that identifies them?

[ThomasL1959]

Im not a Plumber so I dont really know what a street fitting is exactly.
I use logic when I do something like this, kinda like, "if it fits what I need it for, its what I get".

I just took a shopping cart and loaded a vac hose in the box, with some more parts from the vac section
over to the plumbing aisle. opened the box and started fitting things together.
if they give you a hard time about why youve opened a box, "hey Im buying this", "and I need this also" !
Ive never had any store clerk question me, hey, Im not trying to steal it!

I was in a local woodworkers center(kinda like rockler,but independant,but still looks like your walking into a Rockler store) and had the owner help me by opening a box right on the counter.
it was a dust collector for a dovetail jig, (for the Rockler dovetail jig). which I dont have. But !
It gave me enough of an idea to build one for my portercable jig.
Porter cable doesnt make one for their jig, at all.

Besides I spend enough money in those kind of small places (and they know me) that helping me out like that is good buisiness for them, they know I'll be back !

Cheers

[ThomasL1959]

Heres an up date.

after lots of use, being hooked to my table saw - band saw - router table - and being used with my router on a dovetail jig as well as several other cleaning use's.
the biggest problem Ive had is the fine stuf getting to the filter. but that only happens when Ive hooked it to my sander.

but nothing a good blowing out with compressed air cant handle.
before I built this , it was almost a continual chore. now, its just once a week.
thanks Phil for coming up with one of the best ideas Ive seen for the common man.

I once saw a post at another place that asked , "what tool in your shop gets the most use".
some people said their table saw , others said miter saw, there were lots of answers.
my answer was , my vacume !

cheers   :)   

[Fabian Valinskas]

the 1 1/2" plumbing fittings at my HD here in teh NYC tristate area don't look like those fittings.  the ones they have here have "shoulders" on each end unless it si a "street" fitting.  do those fittings have any sort of a special designation or sku that identifies them?

toolguy.... The fitting that he used are considered "schedule 40" fittings.... they are rated for higher PSI, but for this application, that really doesn't come into play.  They just look cleaner.