Dust cyclone separator

[Modern man]

Wow nice unit. I made one a couple of years ago with almost the same dimensions, and it worked a treat, really well (except for the very fine dust).
That was until I needed to squeeze it into a smaller space, so I reduced the height and it did not perform nearly as well. So, I am experimenting with a Thein baffle model at the moment, results to come.

Cheers

[tonyive]

You know Wiz I forgot one thing. There is a whale of a static charge on the whole thing when it's running. I've gotten zapped so many times I don't even pay attention. That's what makes the powdercoat cling everywhere but also there's the fact when I do a run of powdercoat I set the cyclone unit in the doorway of the garage, in the sun. So it gets hot enough to help it set also.

Thanks for the links. When I have time I'll do some rabbit hole diving see what this Thein thing is all about.

Have you considered fixing an earthing wire to the metal cone and to an earthing spike? This could save you from a few zaps and a possible explosion.

[chy_farm]

Fun to read these post above, did not know that Thien Type, but it seems to be a nice idea. Its illustration tells that the guts is how you put the intake port at the top edge of the bin, I really agree to this since i did have sort of the same feeling to this when I tried one of these standard types for my own use;


Thanks,
Chy

[dagrizz]

After perusing the input & ideas offered so far, I was somewhat surprised not to see another technique mentioned to indicate a filled state. So here it is, my 'two cents worth'... Next time you find it full, slide a cheap bathroom scale under the contraption; you now have your upper limit. Leave said scale under contraption for use as a level indicator.

[carl blum]

Hi Gang:

I spent a weekend with my brother in law and we built this dust collector:

We started with a floor model Harbor Freight dust collector:

https://www.harborfreight.com/35-gal...dust+collector

He wanted it off the floor and also wanted a cyclone. He had us cut a plastic 55 gallon drum down to form the cone. We divided the circumference into 4" slices, here I made a mistake when I marked each slice to form a wedge by tapering only one edge. This threw everything off center and I had to correct it later. We drilled a lot of holes in the edges of the wedges so we could "sew" it together with wire ties. The bottom was joined to the removable lid for a 5 gallon bucket. The blower was added to the top and the whole mess hoisted to the ceiling. The exhaust still goes through the bag before returning to the room. A bunch of duct tape to seal the joints and brother in law likes it! Good luck, Carl.

[Alain Bayens]

Looks like you’ve put a lot of effort into this! For sealing and alignment, I've found that using silicone caulk rather than epoxy can make adjustments easier if things don’t line up perfectly. Also, a shop vac with a decent flow rate makes a big difference in performance.

[DIYer]

Thanks carl blum! We've added your Cyclone Separator to our Dust Collectors category,
as well as to your builder page: carl blum's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Cyclone Separator by carl blum

tags: dust collection