Cyclone Separator for shop vac

[cfellows]

If any of you are looking for a cyclone separator for your shop vac, here is an inexpensive one that works really well. I don't have any personal interest in promoting this guy's product, but I did buy one from him and am very happy with it. It's quite small, but works well in front of my Rigid shop vac. All the dust and swarf gets trapped by the separator and the filter in the shop vac stays clean for a lot longer. If you've ever looked at cyclone separators, it's a helluva bargain at $87 + shipping.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Cyclone-Separator-for-Shop-Vacuum_W0QQitemZ280269223772QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item280269223772&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

Chuck

 

[BobWarfield]

I like it!

Ordered one this morning.

Best,

BW

 

[cfellows]

I like it!

Ordered one this morning.

Best,

BW

I mounted mine on a plywood disk, with a circular groove cut with a router, that fits over a 5 gallon bucket, like the picture on eBay. To empty the bucket, I just lift off the separator and dump the bucket into a the trash can.

 

[wareagle]

BW,

When you get yours, I'd like to have a full report! I have been thinking about an idea like this for a while, but a little different than this product. I will likely just buy one myself when the time comes.

 

[kustomkb]

This fellow seems to have done alot of R&D in regards to separation. I haven't built one yet but am eeger to try.

http://www.cgallery.com/jpthien/cy.htm

 

[Hilmar]

See a small one on this Site " Mini-Lathe Workshop " Item 57.
Hilmar

 

[applescotty]

See a small one on this Site " Mini-Lathe Workshop " Item 57.

Here's a link:
http://homepage3.nifty.com/amigos/57_cyclone_dust_collector/cyclone_dust_collector-e.htm


Scott

 

[cfellows]

I like it!

Ordered one this morning.

Best,

BW

Bob, did you ever get that Cyclone you ordered on eBay?

Chuck

 

[pelallito]

kustomkb,
I made one of the Thien seperators and it works very well.
Regards,
Fred

 

[kustomkb]

Thanks Fred,

Ill get started.

 

[BobWarfield]

Sorry guys, I got the Cyclone, it looks nice, but I have had no time for to adapt it to the Shop Vac.

I'm behind schedule on my mill CNC conversion and I need it to do my parts for Team Build 2. So I have a strict rule that 100% of my shop time goes to the mill until it is up and running.

Best,

BW

 

[shred]

I made a quickie version this morning in a fit of shop-cleaning and I'm liking the concept. This one is a super-basic design-- a 5 gallon bucket lid with a central pipe descending about 6" into the bucket with a screen over the end and a 90-degree elbow over on one side. I used PVC and heat-warped & turned it to fit shop-vac hose (it's annoying they and PVC don't agree on sizes). I suspect it won't be nearly as good as the real ones for collecting sawdust since that blows around a lot more, but it works well for metal. Chips and swarf stay in the bucket, dust and dirt go into the vac.

Here's a top and inside view

 

[cfellows]

I decided to divorce my cyclone separator from my small, rigid shop vac and make it a stand alone unit. Went to Harbor Freight and used my 20% off coupon to buy their mini-dust collector ($80 + tax after the discount). I just used the motor unit and the dust collection bag. The 4" input fit perfectly into the top of my cyclone separator. Works great! It won't suck deck screws out of oak planks, but it has plenty of suction for swarf, sawdust and like.

Now I just have to put it on casters so it will roll around. Bob W, you should consider one of these HF units.

 

[dan s]

This is mine:

http://www.dans-hobbies.com/2008/07/12/shop-made-dust-collector/

It's based on Phil Thein’s design.

 

[kustomkb]

I built the Thein Cyclone separator on top of a drywall compound bucket. I was very impressed, even drywall dust was trapped!

I also Made his circle routing jig; (from metal of course)

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veR2qv5Kj-8[/ame]


-Kevin

 

[gunboatbay]

If anyone's interested in building their own true cyclone dust collector, Better Homes and Gardens published an excellent article with complete plans, including full size drawings for the sheet metal work, in their November 1997 issue of Wood Patterns. You can download this article from: http://www.bhg.com/bhg/store/product.jsp?catid=cat170004&prodid=prodwp00068 or, do as I did, go to your public library, have them retrieve this issue from their archives, check it out and copy the entire article. It is actually designed for a bit bigger blower assembly but I scaled down all the plans slightly to make it more suitable for Harbor Freight's 1hp portable dust collector (which is frequently on-sale). As recommended by the article, I used galvanized metal flashing for the cyclone. I'm sure not a sheet-metal worker, but these plans and the directions made it quite easy.