Cyclone question for you guys

[Jeff]

I am getting a cyclone, I have decided that much. Was going to build my own based on Bill Pentz work, but have ruled that out (mostly at least).

I have been looking at the soon to be available Grizzly 2 hp model, with my only concern being the filter size (sq ft) and internal details of the upper portion. It has nice feartures such as the metal thickness and accessories that already are included in the price. Maybe someone will buy one and tell us about it.

There is also the option of buying a Bill Pentz design in the clear form or from Clarke Echols in metal. I am reasonably sure that the clear one would be a good product. Any input would be appreciated though.

On to the real question: Has anyone gotten either the blower housing or cyclone kit from Clarke Echols? If so, is it any good.

Thanks again for help,

Jeff

[James "Cubby" Culbertson]

I bought Clarke Echols copy of Bill Pentz's cyclone kit. So far it's gone together well. I bought it some time ago and understand the quality of his kits today have dropped. I am building my own blower but unfortunately, I've had to shelve the project for a bit. I did learn that Clarke's kits are no longer "endorsed" by Bill. Bill says he never received a dime from him and has discontinued dealing with him at all. For that reason alone, I would steer clear of these. The clearvue ones are endorsed by Bill and appear to me anyway, that they would work fine. Bill seems like a great guy and has spent a huge amount of time in his reasearch etc....so I'd like to see him get a little something from the sale of these units. Cheers, cc

[Steve Knight]

he is a very nice guy. He was worried about me and all of my tropical dust and he sent me his cyclone. it works very well.

[Jeff Miller]

Yea, something seems a little shaddy there and Bill does seem like a pretty standup guy, now I just need to decide between the clear or the grizzly. Thanks for the confirmations.

[Steve Knight]

the grizzly's don't look too bad as long as you get one of the new ones. though the filters look a bit small. I have twice the filter capacity and you really notice it. though I make far more fine dust then most people do.

[Jeff]

That was the first thing that came to my attention, the much smaller filter than with the build it yourself design or the clear vue setup.

With the smaller filter area, would I notice a reduction in the volume of airflow or would I just have to clean the filter more often?

Jeff

[George]

Depends.

Two types of filtering going on, as I keep saying here. First is mesh, where a particle bigger than the gap in the trap is caught, forming any number of additional smaller traps for smaller particles. The "cake" builds, ultimately diminishing the volume of air, though the bag can be shaken or washed as required. More often.

Second is, for lack of a better term, settling out, where the number of passages, normally through a non-woven felt, is so great that the air pressure in any of them is low enough to allow particles to settle in the lee of the stream. These start at a finer filtration level, last a long time with little drop in volume of air, but ultimately fill as well. Options for renewal tend to be limited to replacement in these type of filters, mostly because of their composition. Less often, more involved.