Cyclone Separator for Dust Collector

[John Grossbohlin]

While at the Woodworkers Showcase in Saratoga Springs today I saw something that was rather interesting... On display was a cyclone unit that sits on top of the steel trash can and hooks up to a two bag dust collector. I spoke with the vendor about it a bit and thought it was rather interesting. Thus I figured I'd mention it here (I've got NO connection to the vendor). The vendor mentioned he had them listed on e-Bay so I looked them up.

The assembly has low headroom requirements as there is no blower on top and there is no space between the top of the can and cyclone.

[Dave Jackson]

> John

>

[J. Clarke]

everything except the super-fines.

>>> John

[George]

If it is indeed a cyclone, it will precipitate most of the dust, let alone the chips. It is also less prone to surprise bagfuls caused by taking the last couple of passes on those two boards you're planing.

[Andy Dingley]

That isn't a cyclone, that's a drop box.

For 4" hose and a chip collector for a thicknesser, it's not a bad idea. But for sawdust from my bandsaw, my home-made 2 1/2" hose cyclone collects all the dust and doesn't pass anything to the vacuum. I can be emptying two bucketfuls of dust from the cyclone before I've even collected a dust cake on the vacuum filter.

[John Grossbohlin]

The vendor claimed that you could run a thickness planer with no bag... and that little dust would make it to the filter bags for other uses. Claims that sound similar to other cyclone vendor's claims!

As concerns the design. I looked at the inside of the unit and it doesn't look fundamentally different than the inside of a Oneida cyclone. There is an inlet coming into the side of the cylinder near the top and an outlet tube exiting the top that extends down into the cylinder. The drop opening has a flange that is supposed to be fastened to the trash can's top and sealed with silicone (obviously a hole has to be cut in the top!).

John

[Patriarch]

"John Grossbohlin" wrote in news:md14e.3533$ [e-mail]:

With a sufficiently tall trash can, I get very similar results with my plywood and PVC homebuilt. I think that was Andy's point as well.

My thinkness planer produces very little 'dust' either, but lots of shavings. And my neighbor, with a 2 hp Oneida, runs without bags or filters, ducting the exhaust out through the wall, 8' up. After 6 months, there was but a small dusting visible on the eave boards.

There is science. There is engineering. And there is marketing. And there are practical matters. Sometimes they actually talk to one another.

Patriarch

[Andy Dingley]

That has as much to do with (sharp) thickness planers making very little dust and their shavings being quite large. Now try that trick with it hooked to a bandsaw.

[John Grossbohlin]

No argument there! I run a dust collector and air cleaner when using the table saw, bandsaw, CMS, or doing any sanding (even hand sanding). The jointer, thickness planer, drill press, and hollow chisel mortiser don't require the air cleaner. The shaper... well, that depends on what I'm cutting and what profile. Some shaper work makes a lot of dust and some chips and others make very little dust and lots of chips. I don't do much with my router table any more but it tended to be much like the shaper.

While this cyclone separator isn't as robust as the Onieda or Penn State units it appears to be serviceable. I found out Sunday that a local vendor is stocking them (Warren Cutlery -- also a stocking Fox dealer). The next time I'm over near Warren Cutlery I'm going to stop in and ask Jim for a demo...

John