My version w/6" duct

[Greg McCallister]

For starters - I would like the thank Phil Thien for his baffle concept. His work on this idea is what made my version possible. (Thanks Phil!)

I have never posted here before and I should of taken more pictures when I created this version, but to be truthful, I was not sure it was going to work.

As many of you probably have done is read Bill Pentz dust collection site, and after I did, it really scared the &%^ out of me. I have a very small basement shop and wanted to put in a cyclone but as you might be, I could not afford the expense nor did I have the ceiling height to install one. Woodworking is a hobby for me.

After seeing Phils design I wondered if this could be adapted to be used with 6" ducting instead of 4".
I have a Harbor Freight dust collector with a .5 micron Wynn Environmental filter. Worked great when clean but it plugged quickly and I did not like the material going through the impeller.

I came to the conclusion I needed a pre-separator and like most who have progressed with dust collection opted for a trash can separator.

Though they work, they killed the amount of air flow especially with 4" ducting. Well to make a long story short - below is a combination of both Phil's design and Bill Pentz cyclone.

Made rather inexpensively less than $50.00 for materials (not including the HF dust collector and 6"  PVC ducting).
Made using a 5' -6" metal duct from HD, some threaded rod with wingnuts and a 2' x 4' piece of melamine.

Here is the first set pics:

[Greg McCallister]

More

[Greg McCallister]

last -

Oh forgot to mention I have emptied it at least 4 times now. Easy to empty as the bar clamp lifts the assembly upward so I can slide the can out from underneath.

I know there will be some questions and I will try to answer them the best I can.

I will try to upload some more pics but my batteries died on the camera and of course I don't have any more...

[phil (admin)]

Nice work!  You said you've emptied four times now.  Have you checked your filter to see how much dust is making it through the separator?

[Greg McCallister]

Phil,

The output dust bag stays pretty much empty.
I was thinking about changing the output to also use a can (smaller) yet have not had any time to do so.
I will try to get some pics of inside the filter this weekend (batteries) and post (hate taking the bag off).
Even if the filter is loaded, I do not seem to have any decreased air flow not as I did before.
There is a lot of fines in the can (sanding) so it seems to do pretty well.

[bennybmn]

NICE! I bet you picked up a fair amount of flow just by mounting the blower so close to the DC like that. And using a clamp to lift it is a great idea too.

[Greg McCallister]

Benny,
The nice part about the clamp is I do not lift the motor but the cyclone(?) section itself. Could lift by hand but you will need to prop it up somehow. Only need to lift about an inch. I also routed (black ring) a 1/2" round diameter about 3/8" deep for the can to sit in and applied black silicone for a good seal. Slide can under, turn on vac and it sucks it up in the grove. Then loosen the bar clamp and drop down the cyclone. Simple empty with no actual lifting except to empty the can. The PVC pipe from the cyclone slides inside the upper section below the motor (reason for tape).
This thing really draws some air.
 

[phil (admin)]

Okay I'm blind or something but I'm missing the clamp detail.  It sounds neat, I just can't see it.  At which picture should I be looking?

[Greg McCallister]

Sorry Phil,
I had forgot to upload that pic here (did on SMC).
I added it to the last picture post.
The clamp (yellow) grabs the edge of the top melamine board of the cyclone thing. Not real detailed -will try to get a better pic when I get some batteries :).

[phil (admin)]

That clamp idea is slick!

[Greg McCallister]

You like that - I wish I had drawn up plans on it but did it mostly in my head...

[dbhost]

Your work on this is great! Eliminating that 90 degree bend from the impeller to the inlet ring should help improve your airflow, as will opening up the pipe size to 6".

The biggest problem I think most of us have in dust collection is the 2.5" ports that are common on many power tools. How did you get around that problem? If I could figure out how to get past that problem, I may just end up copying your idea. Used HF 2HP dust collectors are a dime a dozen around here...

[Greg McCallister]

dbhost,
The inlet is used from Bill Pentz site excel spread sheet. I soldered the seam on a 6" metal duct and with 2x4s and other scrap wood was able to create a 3.5 x 8" inlet (I think those were the dimensions) I did not put a vein in as there was not enough room (only 12" tall).
I have hand tools that use 1 1/4" hose which I use a shop vac on. I also use a downdraft table.
Use both 4" and 2 1/2" on my table saw extension wing router table. 6" to table saw, 4" to plainer and jointer. Bigger is always better (within limits) but you can only use one machine at a time. You can use just 2.5 duct but you will not like the about of air flow. Go minimum of 4" if you can.

[Greg McCallister]

Was able to take some more pics today. Hope this explains a bit more on the design.
The filter looks quite clean. Like I said in a previous post I have emptied it 4 times without cleaning the filter.
You will also notice that there are some pretty fine-fines in the on pic showing my hand.

[CheapScotsman]

dbhost,
The inlet is used from Bill Pentz site excel spread sheet ....

While I have skimmed most of his site .... Are you saying that you calculated both the size and how far into your baffle the inlet extends from Pentz's spreadsheet?