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DIY shopvac cyclone separator

hendrik

Well Known Member
I guess most of you have a proper manly shopvac. I don't. And I was tired of buying new dust bags. So a few months ago I searched for self-made separators and found this: http://www.jpthien.com/cy.htm

Decided to build my own, using a planter from IKEA, some plywood from my lathe's shipping crate, and a set of casters that were supposed to go under the second work bench which I never built. Here is the lower baffle sitting in the bucket (edit: Pierre pointed out that the drop slot in the original design is 240 degrees, while mine is 120 degrees -- this was not intentional, it's an oversight):

2012-12-18_06.jpg


And the whole assembly. The PVC fittings are glued in with hot glue:

2012-12-18_07.jpg


I placed everything on a small trolley so that I can move it around the shop:

2012-12-18_09.jpg


I've used the thing for about half a year now, and I love it. Virtually everything stays in the bucket. Nothing makes it to the dust bag. Saw dust, chips, swarf from drilling ... you name it. :)
 
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Small portable cyclone separator

Very nice design! There are some subtleties in your design that need not be overlooked. I assume you used 120 degrees for the length of the drop slot. How did you determine the width of the drop slot? Did you ratio the areas from the linked design? The location of the elbow relative to the drop slot seems important. I notice your elbow is not in contact with the lower baffle, whereas the linked photo and text plainly describe the elbow just touching both the baffle and the side. Is this of any consequence?

I like your design. I have some experience with installing cyclone collectors in an industrial plant many years ago and have been intrigued by them since. But I never thought they were practical on such a small scale. Thanks for sharing with us.
 
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I would think a curved baffle between the intake and exhaust ports would make the swirl a lot stronger.

Baffle needs to start at the end of the 90* fitting on the intake, and stop at the beginning of the drop slot. Basically follows the arc of the threaded bolts, height to touch both discs,
 
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This is really cool! After reading the post, I spent about an hour reading up on the physics of operation of these things ... very interesting! I'm gonna build one for all those aluminum chips!
 
Hey...I'm astonished and jealous of that beautiful wood floor. Is that your shop floor where you build your RV?
 
Seems to me that your baffle is reversed from the drawings. He has 240 deg of drop slot, where yours has just 120 deg of slot, just the reverse. Or not?

Best,
 
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A swirling question

One other question I've pondered...if the cyclone separator were built for use in the southern hemisphere, say in South Africa or in Australia, should the cyclone be in the opposite direction? :eek:

Any Coriolis aficionados out there?
 
Seems to me that you baffle is reversed from the drawings. He has 240 deg of drop slot, where yours has just 120 deg of slot, just the reverse. Or not?

Best,

Good eye, Pierre! I believe you are correct! I totally missed this. As I said before there are some design subtleties that should not be overlooked. Hendrik, we need your comment on this since you are the original poster. Was the drop slot change intentional or an oversight?
 
Here's a link to a page containing detailed instructions by the original author as well as a discussion page. The photos clearly show 240* of drop slot as Pierre pointed out.
 
Years ago we used a Dust Deputy cyclonic dust collection device on bagging equipment designed to package dusty products. The cyclone was mounted on top of a 55gal drum and it worked well. Each day the captured dust was returned to the filling process saving the labor of shaking out the vacuum filters.
They are very reasonably priced if not interested in building.

http://www.amazon.com/Oneida-Molded-Dust-Deputy-Cyclone/dp/B0037MFZN0

Another article showing the construction for DIY .

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f32/forget-dust-deputy-27235/
 
Hey...I'm astonished and jealous of that beautiful wood floor. Is that your shop floor where you build your RV?

This is indeed my "shop" floor, except that the shop is my living room -- it's the only place I have. On the other hand, one can't beat the distance from home. ;)
 
Seems to me that your baffle is reversed from the drawings. He has 240 deg of drop slot, where yours has just 120 deg of slot, just the reverse. Or not?

Good catch, thanks for noting it! Seems I missed that. Well, it works well nevertheless. I might make the cutout larger some day, to see if there is any difference.
 
Nice

I used to develop cyclones for oil/water, gas/liquid separation for the oil business. Your design looks excellent, simple and practical.
 
Best DIY Dust Collection Cyclone Site (I have ever found)

I found this site a few years ago and it is in the top tier of pure information and helpful information. Bill keeps it updated. Truly in the learning and helpfulness spirit equal to the best of RV/homebuilder community.

http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/index.cfm

YYMV, but I was impressed.
 
Hey Guys,

There is a simpler way.........

Glass a piece of water pipe into the side of a polythene drum - 2 pieces of mdf to form a lid and a hole in the top for extraction - Voila !

Works bob on :D

Cyclone1.jpg


Cyclone2.jpg
 
I just put a 90degree elbow on the inlet and ran it down to within 2 inches of the bottom of the tank and filled it about a third full of water. No filter needed and no dust. Just empty the dirty water out once in awhile. Great on real fine dust like dry wall dust.
 
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