DIY wet/dry vortex vacuum

[www.GymRatZ.co.uk]

Has anyone tried or successfully made a vortex type dust collector from let's say an old wet/dry large volume type vacuum for the usual workshop debris sawdust, stone dust etc?

So many dead Dysons at the tip I was wondering if one or more of the cones could be utilised or is it simply a matter of making a cone to fit the size of the container used? I presume there's some sort of formula for optimal collector/cone dimensions relative to air volume passed?

Still using my old DC02 for w/shop duties but it fills up too quickly and often blocks when fitted to power plane etc.

Cheers Pete

[John Rumm]

Yup, here are a few:

So many dead Dysons at the tip I was wondering if one or more of the

Just stick a pre-collector in front of it to take out the large stuff, and leave it to cope with the fines.

[www.GymRatZ.co.uk]

Thankyou most kindly John.

[johno]

Guess which one I made ;-))

to make, very effective. I use an old Vax machine. Filters are washable so no major hassle. In the new year I may experiment a bit with some variations based on the other websites. Would love to reduce the amount of fine dust getting to the filter.

Next step is to 'plumb' in a set of take off points around the shed. One will be set up to the bandsaw permanently, two others will be flexi so I can hookup router, chop saw, jigsaw or sander as required.

[Tim Lamb]

In message , johno writes

Use smooth bored piping rather than corrugated flex. I think it was Phil who pointed out there are huge suction losses caused by such pipes. Static electricity is said to be an issue in dust control pipework.

regards

>

[johno]

For the take off points I will be using solvent welded inch and a half waste pipe and connectors, so no issue there. For the flexi part to the machines, well that is a bit trickier. Will be probably using very short lengths of corrugated flexi. When I use it as a floor cleaner, then corrugated flexi is really my only option at the moment. Would like to get hold of some flexible smooth bore tube of a suitable diameter, but financial limitations mean this is not a high priority. Sadly things like mortgage and bills are more important!

[Tim Lamb]

How will you shut off the unused take-offs?

Smoother bore tube is available from the various dust control outlets but is much more expensive:-(

regards

[johno]

Cork stoppers! nothing complex. I have some large bungs that came from a brewery ;-) hic, burp, washamatterwithafewpintsofbeerforlunchossifer?

[Tim Lamb]

regards

[Dave Liquorice]

Waste pipe has stop ends...

[johno]

Very true, at a price. My way costs me nothing :-)))

[johno]

Had not actually given blast gates much thought, they would be ideal of course. Trying to think of a nice, easy/simple to make gate. Most DIY ideas I have seen are for 6" dia pipework, mine will only be inch and a half, no heavy machinery in my shed!. Any ideas? :-) John

[Tim Lamb]

In message , johno writes

Mine are commercial 4" jobs; machined out of ally castings and bolted together. The *gate* being a steel slide.

You might take a 1 +1/2" coupler and fit a swivelling disc on a rod (carburettor choke mechanism)?

regards

[johno]

Just done some Googling, plenty of plans and ideas about, I like the swivelling disc idea, very neat. Thanks