HF DC - The comedy continues

[mac davis]

Got tired of waiting for the hose/gate/etc. kit to arrive... only put the DC together last night, but when you've discussed the purchase for weeks before ordering it, you hate to see it sit there not doing anything.. So, as an excuse to not work, I decided to go ahead and build the cyclone can..

Checked out several designs on the web.. they all seem to be pretty much a trash can lid with two 4" fittings, the one used for "in" connected to an elbow inside to make it swirl, I guess..

Saw an old rubbermaid garbage can in the yard.. perfect! has wheels and a locking lid.. Went to good ol' Lowes and got 2 dryer install kits and a couple of extra clamps, came home and cut holes in the lid, put the fittings on with 1 dryer hose to the DC and ran the other out 6 or 7 feet with an extra elbow on the end..

Stuck the elbow in the back of the box I made for my RAS and fired both up.. (waited until the power company had recovered from the DC-caused brown out then turned on the saw) Yep.. the folks on the wreck were right.. helps some but not very impressive on a RAS..

Then I got braver and decided to see how the cyclone did with something other than sawdust... set the hose down in a box that I'd swept the floor into last night... "clunk, pop, rattle", all gone and no sound of the DC impeller getting dinged with a screw or anything! Pop the top on the cyclone.. my guess is that about 90% is in there instead of in the DC bag or imbedded in the impeller.. COOL!

Cleaning up was getting fun.. interesting experience, having less actual "suction" than the shop vac, but SO much volume.. amazing.. Problem was, I couldn't reach much of the garage with the 8' dryer hose, so I put a 12' 1 1/2" shop vac hose on it, with a redneck reducer.. (smashed the metal dryer hose down around it and duct taped the sucker) Not as much cleaning action as the shop vac, but at least the cyclone is helping... OH! I should check the cyclone... yep.. looks like as soon as I went down to the skinny hose, the suction from the DC collapsed the trash can... it was laying down real dead looking and almost FLAT!

This learning stuff is fun... when the hoses and gates get here, I might just suck my neighbors house off the foundation for the hell of it..

Thanks for letting me rant.. I feel MUCH better now... I think I'll go buy a metal garbage can..

[loutent]

Hi Mac,

Glad that you are enjoying your new toy. After a while, when you get all your gates & tubes set up and actually start using it, check out the remote control ("Lone Ranger" is the one I have) - this gives you another degree of improvement/satisfction.

Lou

[mac davis]

I was looking at those on Ebay, but I think I'm too cheap for that, at least in the present shop.. I'm using about 2/3 of a 2 car garage and have the power tools pretty close together so whatever the hose can't reach easily is a foot or 2 roll for the DC.. I have it plugged into a switched outlet between the router table and the RAS, so I don't see it as a problem..

Hopefully, the next house will have either a larger building or room to build one, and everything changes.. lol We're looking at a nice place now on 3/4 of an acre... not huge, but bigger than the 100 x 75' lot we have now.. it's going to be the last house that I ever buy, so it has to have RV parking and a shop!

[patriarch]

mac davis wrote in news: [e-mail]:

The Rubbermaid Commercial (branded BRUTE) plastic one is probably stronger and quieter. My local, full-service, independent hardware store carries them in stock.

It's also where I risked the safety of my family, home and neighborhood by purchasing the non-conductive PVC pipe, with which I plumbed my system. ;-)

Patriarch,

and yes, this learning stuff isn't just for young 'uns.

[mac davis]

I'll have to check.. I think it IS a "brute"..

[Morris Dovey]

Seems as if there should be some way to wire a double throw switch and a single outlet so that the remote for the garage door can be used to turn a dust collector on and off...

[mac davis]

it would be nice to have it programmed onto the remote for the tv & stereo.. lol