Being a long way from Lee Valley, I’m trying to make my own cyclone lid (http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=30282&cat=1,42401&ap=1)
with a large plastic dustbin and some 100mm 45 degree pipe elbows, hooked up to a Robland bag dust extractor..
After experimenting with the angle of input/output by turning the elbows and pushing them more or less through the lid, I’m still getting most of the waste going through the system into the bag. At the worst case I had the bin filling about a third full then emptying itself into the DE!
Best case seems to be getting the bin a quarter full and stopping there. Maybe it’s just because I’m trying this out planing softwood – very light shavings. Or maybe I’m just doing something wrong with the fluid mechanics side of things.
Anyone made a DIY lid in this way successfully?
Replies
I tried tuning my drop box like that. Another variable you didn't mention was the CFM you're pulling through the system. I had a drop box design which caught most debris until I got a bigger blower. Then almost all the debris sucked through to the bag. I eventually focussed the drop box on collecting the big stuff (hand-plane shavings and the like) which clog impellers. That still left me two receptacles to clean out -- the DC bag, and the drop box. I finally gave up and bought a cyclone.
You might also look at Oneida's Dust Deputy for ideas (http://www.oneida-air.com/products/systems/dust_deputy/main.htm). It is a real cyclone intended for the use you're investigating.
880cfm is thew spec of the machine, but I bet that's with an absolutely clean filter bag which mine seldom is. The oneida thing looks intersting, but I'm working with 4" hoses - my principle goal is to have to change the DC bag less often
I made lid with garbage can top. Only one hole in lid. I used toilet flange and wrapped an opened up 2 lb. coffee can around that. The inlet was cut near the top of garbage can. The back of coffee can shielded the inlet so things would drop can would fill 2/3 full and I would empty can. After 5 or 6 years I bought a plastic lid like in your picture at woodcraft. Plastic lid works better than my home make. Can fills a little more now.
I have one of those cyclone lids on a 30-gal metal can. Got it from Grizzly. It catches only jointer & planer shavings. Dust goes right on thru with 3-HP suction unit. I once sucked the can clean after filling it with shavings. I think that if the can were twice as deep it would work much better. Short of getting a true cyclone collector though, I suspect that small dust particles will go right on to the dust bags.
Cadiddlehopper
Tim, I am sorry to report that I bought the Lee valley lid and use it on a 30 gallon drum hooked up to my fein shop vac. I usually use it attached to my table saw, but occassionally my planer, and sometimes attached to my ROS. I say sorry to report because I am a DIY at heart but this store bought item is great - I can fill up the bottom 1/3 of the drum and when I go to empty the Fein there is virtually no dust ( less than a 1/4 cup) in the bottom of the shop vac, though a lot of fine dust collects on the filter. Generally, the efficiency drops as the 30 gal fills up, but I have run it as far as half full and I am still amazed at the lack of sawdust in the shop vac - buy the Lee Valley and good luck Barry
Hey, Tim,
I bought the Lee Valley lid with the 4" inlets, and have it installed on a steel trash can before my Jet 1100 CFM sucker. In general, I empty the trash can when it's about 1/3 to 1/2 full. I probably have to empty the Jet sucker about every 5th to 6th trash can. I usually empty the Jet's bag when it's half full (because I reuse the plastic bag).
Now, if I let the trash can go much over half-full, the Jet takes the brunt of the dust or shavings. When I run the jointer or planer, the trash can intercepts most of the shavings. Cross-cut dust seems to be shared between the trash can and the collector.
I am happy with my setup. Taking the trash can outside to empty is easier than emptying the dust collector, and attaching the bag.
So, in a nutshell, it sounds as if your experience is about right. A large collector keeps the air stream energized which allows the dust to stay airborne until it can exit through the center outlet.
"A large collector keeps the air stream energized which allows the dust to stay airborne until it can exit through the center outlet."
My experience with a LV lid on a Rubbermaid 32 gal. trashcan with a shopvac bear this theory out. I can fill the can well past 3/4 before significant material goes into the vac, and I rarely have to empty the vac. Of course the lowered CFM probably leaves a lot more behind in various places.
The LV cyclone lid works good as long as you remember that if you hook it to a piped dust collection system never close all the blast gates if hooked to a vaccuum cleaner
The vaccuum is strong eniugh to implode the lid and shatter it and ifits in the next room you will think you had a fair size explosion (did it twice)
get the clear lid and you can see how full the drum is so you dont have to lift the lid to look in
Mail order it and you have 90 days to like it or get your money back including shipping with no haggle
I don't have blast gates. I have take the 4" flexible pipe off the saw outlet and connect it to the jointer outlet and so on. But this is a dust/shavings collector, not a vac. All the stuff goes through the impeller and if you block off the inlet the impeller just pushes the same mass of air around in a circle.
I made a plywood top for a large plastic barrel and used 2 inch PVC fitings for connections to the shopvac and the input hose. I used a 90 degree elbow on the bottom of the top at the periphy for the input. The connection to the shopvac is at the center. The barrel gets almost full before much debris gets into the shopvac, but the filter does get clogged with dust frequently. Art
It requires a couple of layers of masking tape wound around the male hose ends to get a snug fit in the PVC fitings.
Edited 9/11/2006 6:56 pm ET by art
Just to add some more noise to the discussion. I have the LV lid, 4" ports, on a 55 gal drum connected to an 1100CFM dust collector. It's great at stopping the planing & jointer shavings up to a point. When the drum gets to be about 1/3 or 1/2 full, then much more starts flowing on to the dust collector bag. The other thing that I have noted is that if the dust collector is left running while you're not actually machining, say, for example, moving another stack of lumber in, the dust collector will gradually empty the 55 gal drum. There seems to be a need for some kind of baffle, like an inverted cone at the top of the cyclone drum. I have thought about making one out of poster board just to give it a try, but lately have been running such large batches that even the 55 gal drum is too small. I have just been setting the planer in my garage door and then using the front end loader to haul off the chips.
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