How well do those cyclone inducing covers for garbage cans work as a dust and chip collector. Do they really do a good job of separating out the larger chips and just sending the smaller ones (i.e. dust) to the shop vac?
Dave
I have one on my Jet canister system, and it does keep the larger blocks and anything metal out of the impeller, which is the reason I got it. But planer shavings, for instance, get sucked up once there's more than about 3" in the can. I've not seen anything smaller than that stay in the can, and when I emptied the DC bag last weekend, there was plenty of chips as well as dust, so it doesn't seem to separate the two very well. I should mention that I have only one hose hooked up at present, going directly to the planer or TS with short hoses, so the airflow (and thus velocity) is higher than it probably would be in a 'normal' installation. On the planer it has more resistance, and I can hear chips being sucked out of the can when I disconnect the hose.
That said, I wouldn't work without one. I've never heard a chunk of wood going through the impeller, and I don't want to ;-). Just don't expect the can to fill to the brim.
Overall the thing that amazes me most about my DC is how infrequently I have to empty it. It really settles the chips well. Of course, when you pull the bag it weighs a ton, but I can live with that.
I have a Jet 650 , which i use a 32 gal. trash can as the cyclone for it, I got the molded lid, i put foam liner around the trash can lid to keep it air tight, ( the kinda foam strip you put over water pipes for condensation).......it works great. My Dewalt planer will fill the trash can quicker than all other tools, trash can will fill before bag does......I switched my Jet 5 micron bags for 1/2 micron felt bags though, big improvement. If I keep the trash can empty, the bag never fills, but if you forget...then both are filled up. Haven,t had any chunks of wood get to the Jet propeler`s, but sure heard them getting knocked about in the empty trash can, until some sawdust gets in their. The dust-collector is a lot quieter than a shop-vac too..........
George....
they work well within a fairly narrow range of airflow
They work well. You need to make sure there are no leaks. They also protect your DC from something that got got sucked in by mistake (nails, screws, washers, etc.)
On the dust collection website at
I think it makes sense to design a collection system with trashcan separator and moderate airflow for the planer and jointer. On the other hand, for a tablesaw, you want as much air flow as you can possibly muster. My dealer's shop has two circuits - one for the "big chip" producers where he has a trashcan seperator. The other is for fine dust producers and he does not use the separator there.
Bob
If you are using the shop vac as a dust collector the cyclone collector that goes on the 5 gallon bucket worked better for me than the big trashcan kind. The larger one works better with my dust collector.
Unless the trash can gets very full, nothing but fine dust gets into the dust collector bag.
I found the big seperator leaked a lot of air when I first got it. I put seran wrap around the can and on the inside of the lid and then filled the groove inside the lid with RTV silicone and tied everything together to dry. The seran wrap doesn stick to the silicone so you get a perfect, form fitting seal between the pieces. A trick I learned making RC airplanes. I love it when hobbies overlap :)
"Dave" wrote in news:97vPb.53015$ snipped-for-privacy@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net:
Now, I used one of those 55 gallon drums, and I don't get any air leak whatsoever. I am using Lee Valley's Veritas Cyclone and it uses so much suction, that if I TRY to go lower than 2 1/2" for a dust intake, it will try to implode on itself. I don't get any dust whatsoever in my Rigid ShopVac now, either.
"Tom Martinello" wrote in news:Nm0Qb.18985$ snipped-for-privacy@nntp-post.primus.ca:
I got one of the cheaper ones that Grizzley (and others) sell. You know I'm starting to believe that Veritas is worth the extra money even for the small stuff. I just got their sharpening "system" (blade holder and angle setter) and it is substantially better than the $10 one I picked up at Menards. Of course if I hadn't bought the cheaper one first I'd have never truley appreciated this one :)
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.