Just a report that another of Bill's Cyclones up and running.
FWIW, some notes:
I used a 2HP motor with 12" impeller off of a 'no name' taiwan 2bag DC that I found in a tool store in Honolulu several years ago. I now have about 30 feet of piping on the cyclone and airflow is noticably down from what it is at the cyclone input with no piple. I wouldnt recommend using a smaller motor/blower, and in fact larger would be better.
Remote control is a small commercial unit similar to those now found at Home Depot ($15, +/-) and sold as lighting controls.. This is powered by 120V and used to control an industrial strength DPST relay which applies 240V to the motor.
24GA galvenized sheet metal (32$ for 4x8 sheet) was used for the bent parts. I used a combination of home made jigs and brakes and all came out well except the cone for the cyclone. The 24GA was simply too tough to be bent without a roller. Fortunately I found a way to have it done for me and all came out well. Pop rivets were used to fasten things together, and joints were sealed with some kind of thick, putty-like commercial "duct sealer" that I was given. Silicon or aluminum tape would work just as well.The 4-1/2" X 9" inlet to the cyclone is a little strange, but I found an adapter at home depot that was 6" round to 6X9 rectangular. I was able to cut the rectangular side, rebend it, rivet it back together, seal the cuts, and it made an excellent starting point for the 6" piping.
I'm using a fibre (cardboard?) drum that used to hold powder paint. It's about 35 gallons, and connected to the bottom of the cone thru a
12" piece of clear 6-in flex hose. It's neat to see the crap swirling down that piece of hose and into the container. A plus is that this should give me a clue when the container is full.Adequate filtration on the exhaust side is a must. The cyclone will get 99% of everything, but that remaining one percent will be a major headache if you dont corral it.
This cyclone thing is not a small piece of machinery. Mine stands just at ten feet high from the floor to the top of the motor. Overall it weighs about 100 lbs, with the bulk of that being in the motor/impeller. Whatever method you use to mount the motor, make sure its adequate. Also provide adequate mounting support for the cyclone. Dont just hang it off the impeller. And above all, dont mount the cyclone and then rest the weight of the motor/impeller on it. Sure recipe for disaster down the road as the particle board supports for the cyclone simply wont hold up.
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