hello all, I have been reading this forum for apprx 2 wks and was very interested in phil's baffle. Before constructing the baffle, I decided to get the wynn filter (106$) and swapped it out replacing the 1micron bag and used lower plastic bags so when it was complete I would see the seperation effects.
First-construction of Thien baffle. 4inch elbow, 4 inch splice, 5/16th threads, 1/4 inch hardboard (slick one side) and 1/2 inch MDF
construction was straight forward with the directions given on this forum. Connected to delta 50-760 directly under intake using a 5 to 4 inch reducer(held on by short 5inch hose). Rockler expandable dust right hose(4 inch) used to connect tools. ONLY modification was to fit metal trash can(home depot) directly under the fan intake, I had to remove the lateral metal support (hack saws are wonderful things).
Secondly-seperation-With Thien baffle, new wynn filter and new plastic bag, I quickly ran some wood through the table saw, 1 of the bandsaws and 8 inch jointer. Result was the baffle easily separated all large chips and only the finest of the fine made it through to the lower bag(talcom powder like), unknown if any made it to the filter based on the limited amount of material I have at this point put through the baffle. NOTE: I will agree will others the larger the diameter hose the greater Fines and more CFM moved due to restriction of small hoses.
My average woodworker non technical thoughts(lol)- Does Phil's design do as advertised. ABSOLUTELY. I would not hesitate to suggest people should try and make one. I, like many others know that hind sight is 20/20-by that I mean should I have saved more money and bought a big fancy cyclone? MAYBE, but then you must deal with duct work, different electrical connections, size of construction etc. I like many hobby wood workers buy the 1 1/2horse power due to finance, space etc. This baffle addresses so many short cummings of single stage collectors. We no longer have to deal with emptying that plastic bag with that awful connection, nor are we smacking at the filter media as often to release large chips or smaller fines and waiting for the cloud to clear. I found a great feeling of accomplishment having completed the baffle and turning it on for the first time and it worked!!!!!! ;D ;D. I will say this as honesty to the average wood workers out there- Because we did not go after big fancy cyclone's or huge horse power units, we must accept that there is no way to completely remove ALL fines as so many people have concerned with. We can get almost all the chips WITH THIS AWSOME separator and probably most of the fines when connected to properly sealed equipment(IE. planer, jointer router table with fence etc.) If you have contractors table saw as I do and you connect via 4 inch hose but it is not enclosed, you can't believe you are catching all fines. JUST NOT GONNA HAPPEN. What I have learned is that people such as Phil create and then graciously share wonderful ideas that help us out. We can not escape the fact that for most of us regular average hobby wood workers-an air purification system, DC unit with enclosed tools, we still sometimes must resort to good old face masks as well for further protection.
In conclusion--the baffle works great, BUILD ONE, I may try a side inlet next time but this works great. If you don't have to reduce the side of your hose-try not too. We are all concerned about wood dust as a carcinogen, but in my opinion you can never be careful enough. I want to personally thank Phil and the senior contributors of this site for the education given and for this incredible baffle. Hopefully my pictures have up loaded.
best wishes to all, have fun and KEEP ALL YOUR FINGERS
First-construction of Thien baffle. 4inch elbow, 4 inch splice, 5/16th threads, 1/4 inch hardboard (slick one side) and 1/2 inch MDF
construction was straight forward with the directions given on this forum. Connected to delta 50-760 directly under intake using a 5 to 4 inch reducer(held on by short 5inch hose). Rockler expandable dust right hose(4 inch) used to connect tools. ONLY modification was to fit metal trash can(home depot) directly under the fan intake, I had to remove the lateral metal support (hack saws are wonderful things).
Secondly-seperation-With Thien baffle, new wynn filter and new plastic bag, I quickly ran some wood through the table saw, 1 of the bandsaws and 8 inch jointer. Result was the baffle easily separated all large chips and only the finest of the fine made it through to the lower bag(talcom powder like), unknown if any made it to the filter based on the limited amount of material I have at this point put through the baffle. NOTE: I will agree will others the larger the diameter hose the greater Fines and more CFM moved due to restriction of small hoses.
My average woodworker non technical thoughts(lol)- Does Phil's design do as advertised. ABSOLUTELY. I would not hesitate to suggest people should try and make one. I, like many others know that hind sight is 20/20-by that I mean should I have saved more money and bought a big fancy cyclone? MAYBE, but then you must deal with duct work, different electrical connections, size of construction etc. I like many hobby wood workers buy the 1 1/2horse power due to finance, space etc. This baffle addresses so many short cummings of single stage collectors. We no longer have to deal with emptying that plastic bag with that awful connection, nor are we smacking at the filter media as often to release large chips or smaller fines and waiting for the cloud to clear. I found a great feeling of accomplishment having completed the baffle and turning it on for the first time and it worked!!!!!! ;D ;D. I will say this as honesty to the average wood workers out there- Because we did not go after big fancy cyclone's or huge horse power units, we must accept that there is no way to completely remove ALL fines as so many people have concerned with. We can get almost all the chips WITH THIS AWSOME separator and probably most of the fines when connected to properly sealed equipment(IE. planer, jointer router table with fence etc.) If you have contractors table saw as I do and you connect via 4 inch hose but it is not enclosed, you can't believe you are catching all fines. JUST NOT GONNA HAPPEN. What I have learned is that people such as Phil create and then graciously share wonderful ideas that help us out. We can not escape the fact that for most of us regular average hobby wood workers-an air purification system, DC unit with enclosed tools, we still sometimes must resort to good old face masks as well for further protection.
In conclusion--the baffle works great, BUILD ONE, I may try a side inlet next time but this works great. If you don't have to reduce the side of your hose-try not too. We are all concerned about wood dust as a carcinogen, but in my opinion you can never be careful enough. I want to personally thank Phil and the senior contributors of this site for the education given and for this incredible baffle. Hopefully my pictures have up loaded.
best wishes to all, have fun and KEEP ALL YOUR FINGERS