Cyclonic dust collection system

[Smudger]

I was given a draper what and dry vac a while ago but the casing was broken so I had to mount it on a piece of wood. So I desired I would have a go at making I cyclonic dust collection system, after watching numerous videos on YouTube on how to build these so I got to work and built my first but the water butt I was using kept collapsing in on itself ,

So I went back to the drawing board(YouTube) and found a video using a traffic cone so I got me a cone and had to build a frame around the come to stop it collapsing in on itself, but the water butt kept collapsing so I got hold of a steel oil drum and mounted the cone onto that and it works a treat.

 

[bobscroll]

Invention is born out of necessity Paul! It's fun getting there isn't it! Thank you for the photo's interesting    

Your doing great! Bob             

[amazingkevin]

I spent hours and hours reading about different dust collectors and cyclones.I never build one because one small detail confused my brain that it won't work(even though they do work like a charm.I'm old school i guess and need to ask to many questions .Here's what's stopped me for owning one.On the dust separator (cyclone it's self) the inlet and outlet pips are right next to each other.this is the only thing that confuses me.What keeps the dirty air from going right to the vacuumn? the two pipes are side by side .I'm guessing now that in the immediate start up ,yes the air would go as i thought but once it's running full fledged the cyclone effect takes over and the wind direction changes drastically into a swirl throwing heaver dirt ,dust onto the walls and making it'say down to be collected in the cyclone storeage area from the slots on the sides of the drum.I guess it took 2 years of throwing this idea around that i'm finally sold on the idea.              I have not heard of one with water as yours .Tell me more. :thumbs: :thumbs:

[Lucky2]

Andrew, what caused the thing to keep collapsing? What the heck did you use for a vac system, it had to have had to much power.

Len

[Rob]

What a weird co-incidence.  I took delivery of a cyclone today from China at $27 US delivered to NZ.  I intend to mount it onto an old dustbin and connect it either to my shop vac or my 1hp dust extractor.  I think I watched the same you-tube video on making one from a traffic cone but the NZ cones are a lot narrower than UK ones (and a lot rarer too Andrew ).  I'm not sure when I'll get around to it, particularly since I spent today in A&E but will trya and post photos when I do,

 

Rob

[Rob]

P.S.  Oh and to answer Kevin's question, the central pipe is quite long so the suction is at the bottom of the cyclone, dragging the dust and chips downwards.  Eventually they lose momentum and drop to the bottom of your container.

That is the theory at least but apparently it works.

 

Rob

[amazingkevin]

P.S.  Oh and to answer Kevin's question, the central pipe is quite long so the suction is at the bottom of the cyclone, dragging the dust and chips downwards.  Eventually they lose momentum and drop to the bottom of your container.

That is the theory at least but apparently it works.

 

Rob

Good show mate !

[tonylumps]

I started using the Oneida dust deputy about a month a go.I collected about a bucket full of saw dust and nothing in the Vac at all.That is amazing how they work.I would have used 3 Vac bags with that much saw dust.The thickness planer and the Router kick out some chips

Edited April 26, 2016 by tonylumps

[Phantom Scroller]

Wow Andy that's a monster how does it sound when it's running. Roly

[Bill WIlson]

+1 on the Dust Deputy.  I bought one a few years ago and wish I had done it sooner.  Worth every penny, IMHO. That thing is a game changer in my shop.

[Denny Knappen]

I looked at the Dust Deputy, but I haven't purchased.  With more reports like these, I may have to purchase.

[Smudger]

I spent hours and hours reading about different dust collectors and cyclones.I never build one because one small detail confused my brain that it won't work(even though they do work like a charm.I'm old school i guess and need to ask to many questions .Here's what's stopped me for owning one.On the dust separator (cyclone it's self) the inlet and outlet pips are right next to each other.this is the only thing that confuses me.What keeps the dirty air from going right to the vacuumn? the two pipes are side by side .I'm guessing now that in the immediate start up ,yes the air would go as i thought but once it's running full fledged the cyclone effect takes over and the wind direction changes drastically into a swirl throwing heaver dirt ,dust onto the walls and making it'say down to be collected in the cyclone storeage area from the slots on the sides of the drum.I guess it took 2 years of throwing this idea around that i'm finally sold on the idea.              I have not heard of one with water as yours .Tell me more. :thumbs: :thumbs:

Hi Kevin, the suction pipe is about 3/4 of the way down the cone so it doesn't suck the dust straight in, I haven't used any water in it I just used an old water butt as my collection tub as it was a lot thicker than any bucket or bin I had.

[Smudger]

Andrew, what caused the thing to keep collapsing? What the heck did you use for a vac system, it had to have had to much power.Len

Hi Len, i think it must have been the suction but I was only using an old draper wet and dry vac I had given to me.

[Smudger]

Wow Andy that's a monster how does it sound when it's running. Roly

Hi Roly, before I built this I just had the vac in the shed and was about as loud as any normal vac but because I had limited Hoover hose I have relocated to behind the shed next to the cyclone and I can hardly hear it now, having the cyclone attached doesn't make it any louder.

[Smudger]

I looked at the Dust Deputy, but I haven't purchased.  With more reports like these, I may have to purchase.

Hi Denny there are numerous videos on Youtube doing reviews on the dust deputy, you should check them out

[Gonzo]

I have the Dust Deputy also. It works wonderfully. I highly recommend one.

[dgman]

I too have a Dust Deputy. I have it hooked up to a shop vac that is dedicated to my random orbital sander which produces very fine dust. I clean the shop vac filter twice a year whether it needs it or not. Yes, I highly recommend it!

[JimErn]

I got this from woodcraft, fits a 5 gal bucket, works well with no problems, just insure you place the inside coupling they provide in the same hole and orientation as shown on the box.

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/143868/MINI-DUST-COLLECTION-SEPARATOR.aspx?gclid=CjwKEAjwxoG5BRCC7ezlzNmR8HUSJAAre36jWBXAxHYoPrclf7SOiieyzhKJc3RvvgyxvfyWHpzfORoCbk_w_wcB

 

24.95

item number 143868 in case the link does not work

edit - copy and paste really works weirdly here

Edited April 27, 2016 by JimErn

[Doug]

Superlatives do not adequately describe the Oneida Dust Deputy - almost nothing gets through to the vac and you seldom ever need to clean the vac filter.  As most of my dust collection is scroll saw and sanding I do not need to empty the Dust Deputy too often.  When generating larger volumes by planing I also have a cyclone canister from Woodcraft and the hookup runs from the planer to the cyclone canister, to the Dust Deputy to the vac.  I started with a cyclone canister but their design just does not stop enough from going to the vac and still having to frequently clean the vac filter - after adding the Dust Deputy my problems were solved.  Well, at least my vac filter problems - I still have trouble following a line on a pattern..

 

 

http://www.woodcraft.com/product/158384/laguna-16gallon-cyclone-canister.aspx

[CharleyL]

It's difficult for people to grasp the force of 1 atmosphere, which is the air pressure all around us. In PSI (Pounds Per Square Inch) it is only 14.7 PSI, but if you push on something with a lot of surface area from one side only this force is quite huge. A 12" X 12" area has a force of 14.7 pounds for each square inch of it's surface, which is 12 X 12 or 144 times 14.7 which equals 2,116.8 pounds. So if your vacuum could remove a;; of the air from your container there would be over a ton of force for every square foot of surface area of your container trying to squeeze the sides together. No thin metal or plastic container that I know of can stand up to this. Fortunately, our vacuum systems aren't capable of removing all the air, or we would need a safe vault for our dust collector, but even 20% removal of the air can cause very large forces, enough to easily collapse a plastic bucket. 

 

My Dust Deputy has a plastic bucket under it and it remained round while I was using my shop vac as the vacuum source, but then I moved my Dust Deputy to an old Whole House Central Vacuum System that I had re-purposed for use in my shop. Within seconds of accidentally plugging the inlet on the vacuum hose I heard a whump noise and the vacuum had collapsed my 5 gal plastic bucket. I had planned to use a 30 gallon metal drum, but didn't yet have one. After thinking about the bucket for a while I noticed that the buckets were ribbed on the outside of the upper 1/3 of their height. I put three of these 5 gal plastic buckets inside each other and got ribs all the way down the upper 3/5 of the stack and tripled the thickness of the bottom 2/5 of the stack.

I now have the Dust Deputy connected to the lid of the top bucket and can run my vacuum without collapsing my top 5 gal bucket.

 

The buckets that I'm using are from the Firehouse Subs Franchise. They formerly contained dill pickles. Firehouse Subs sells these buckets for $1.50 each and donates the proceeds to the local fire companies. These are the strongest plastic 5 gal buckets that I've found anywhere, but they make the sawdust smell like dill pickles. I don't care, because I dispose of it in my compost pile anyway. However, if you exhaust your vacuum into your shop air your shop might smell like dill pickles when you use the vacuum, until all the smell finally comes out of the bucket (a long time). I've tried removing the smell before using them, but the only thing that seems to have any effect on them is to leave them outside, open and facing the Sun for a few weeks. Even this doesn't completely work, so my vacuum exhaust is now routed outside through the wall.

 

My son recently found me the 30 gal metal barrel that I've been wanting, so I will be converting to it as soon as I make the time to do it. I'll be making a new top for the barrel out of two pieces of 3/4 birch plywood, one to just fit in the barrel and the top one larger in diameter than the barrel. They will be screwed and sealed together using caulking instead of glue.  I'll install the rubber O-ring seal that I removed from the metal barrel lid around the smaller diameter piece of plywood so this new lid assembly seals well when installed. The Dust Deputy will then be mounted through a hole in the center of this plywood lid and sealed to the plywood with caulking. You don't want any leakage into the collection barrel through the lid or through the Dust Deputy connection.

 

Charley