Questions on a top hat build for shop vac

[elsparkodiablo]

I'm a novice when it comes to woodworking so please excuse any mistakes in terminology or technique.

I've been eyeballing the various builds for a while, but never came across any plans for making a top hat separator, so I'm winging it based off the drawings for the baffle insert linked in the stickied thread in this forum.

From what I've gathered, the 32 gallon Brute garbage can seems to be strong enough that a shopvac won't collapse it, so I'm using that for my build, along with 3/4" mdf and 1/8" polycarbonate for the sides.



In this picture, you can see the MDF sitting on the garbage can. I've routed a .25" deep groove into the bottom of the piece, .75" wide, and it fits snugly on the lip.

Visible in the picture is the 1/8" groove that the polycarbonate will be fitted to.


Here's a picture with a piece of scrap polycarbonate, test fitting in the groove.  I pushed it back .25" away from the drop slot.

My question is, did I put too much of a gap there between the walls and the drop slot? Or will the separator still work?

Here's where I'm at right now:

Dry test fitting of the two pieces together before I create the intake funnel

[phil (admin)]

The wall has to be absolutely flush with the drop slot.  Otherwise dust will hit the ledge you've created, and stop descending.

[elsparkodiablo]

Does anyone have a suggestion for flush mounting the polycarbonate with the drop slot and having it be secure?

Should I make a lip around the top of the slot?

[AndyF]

assuming you use some kind of adhesive in the groove for the polycarb like Goop or maybe epoxy, you can use a flush trim router bit to make the slot flush with the outer wall.

[elsparkodiablo]

Phil, would building up a "ramp" or some other taper to lead down to the slot work?  Instead of having a ledge, have a slope to the drop off?