[Rance]

Joe,

I look forward to your results.

It looks like you are attaching your air ramp primarilly to the outlet cyclinder. FYI from the website "soldering the air ramp to only the cyclone outside cylinder instead of the outlet cyclinder works best.".

Rance

[joecnc2006]

Yes, This build was for testing only to see if my scaling was good and how well it worked, It surpassed my expectations, I will be Making the final unit out of plastic that should strengthen it alot.

Joe

[2muchstuff]

I would build it out of sheet metal and ground it due to the problems with static electricity build up. Plastic and flying sawdust can build up tremendous amounts of static electricity.

[Rance]

Joe,

Actually I was referring more to attaching to the OUTER edge (outside cylinder) rather than to the INNER edge (outlet cyclinder) like what you show. Soldering vs. tape is not what I was referring to. Sorry.

Rance

[joecnc2006]

I would build it out of sheet metal and ground it due to the problems with static electricity build up. Plastic and flying sawdust can build up tremendous amounts of static electricity.

With certain poli/plexi there is no static build up, Bill Pents even commented on one that is made.

www.clearvuecyclones.com


mine will look like this except a smaller hobby version. I do delieve that most of use can use this size instead of the large one, for space and for the wood cutting cnc machines, you can install gatevalves if you need to use it for other features and adding a floor sweep pickup.

[sdantonio]

This is also on my list of things to build in 2006. I first found Bills site last summer and coppied off all the stuff I need. I like the step by step picture tutorial on and Japanese site. Dave Ginnery (however it's spelled) has a pretty good book out on cyclone dust collectors too.

Several years ago I rescued two 2.5HP squirrel cage blowers and motors from an old company I worked for (they changed them out annually whether they needed to or not).

Steven

[sdantonio]

Joe, regarding static buildup, with the metal cyclones, cant you just run a ground wire to a pipe of something.

Steven

[truman]

I did not use plans I used the websites, not very hard to figure out the correct measurements to make it.

don't get me wrong the plans that you used are fine I just thought you might want to take a look at the one from shopnotes it is really nice. anyhow you should also put a canister filter after the blower just for the fine particals.

[sdantonio]

Also, when you build it out of sheet metal use gavlanized stuff. Wood chips, especially any green stuff you may be cutting, can be a bit acidic and can do a number of uncoated steel. I think Bill goes into this in depth if I remember right.

Steven

[joecnc2006]

Yes a Canister filter will be added. This is just a prototype for size, I will make my final one within a day or two. I would like to stay away from a metal one if possible.

[acondit]

When I built my cyclone, I coated the inside around from the inlet where incoming chips and stuff would hit with a coat of thick urethane caulk. Spread with a wide putty knife. Supposed to protect that side from erosion of the galvanized surface and from rusting through.

Alan

[DJB282000]

I am not sure if they would be of any interest to anyone building a cyclone the size you are talking about here but i have several smaller centrifugal fans (intake about 3-4"). They might work well for a smaller cyclone or ganged together for a larger on.

I am still planning out my CNC so it will be some time before I get to build a dust collection system.

If the fans are of any use please let me know.

I even thought about using the for the control cabinet but they may be a bit large for that.

[joecnc2006]

After More Testing and More research, I Drewup and reconstructed The Cyclone, I am almost possitive this will work Very well Here is the First Prototype of a Hobby Style Cyclone Dust Extraction Unit. This one as it stands is 4'2" tall with the 5 Gal. Bucket. I will be making a complete system and The final Unit will empty into a 30 gal. Galv. Trash can to match the Cyclone unit. This will add about another foot to the height and also the blower Unit ontop will add about 1 foot so the total height i am antisipating is 6 to 6 1/2' which will be a good height for someones smaller work areas.

Let me know what you think?

Thanks, Joe

[Rance]

Joe, It looks good. You mentioned you would like to stay away from a metal one if possible. I agree, probably for the same reasons. I figure working with plastic might be a little easier for me. In thinking about how to join perpendicular pieces of plastic I thought about a tabbed approach. The plastic could be cut out using your CNC machine.

Another alternative material would be to find a garbage can that had smooth sides that I could cut up and use. It would be mostly pre-curved. Just a thought.

[Edit:] PS: Or how about scaling it to use a plastic bucket for the upper cylinder? Would this make the cyclone too small for a home shop? And continuing my thought process, would one (or two) blowers from old discarded clothes dryers (I see for free all the time) work for a cheap blower?

[joecnc2006]

I actually started off with a pvc material but found it was difficult to get the plastic to form and hold into place, using tabs may work but you would have to makesure it is all sealed up and no air leaks. I just found that the galvanized steal worked better, and also when i was cutting the pvc on the cnc it produced a tremendace amount of static it was anouying more than anything, other plastic would bring the cost way up.

[sdantonio]

Something quick that comes to mind regarding wearing away of the galvanized coating due to friction and chemical reactions of the wood chips (assuming your all cutting wood).

Someone here mentioned the use of urethane plasticas a protective coating to keep the galvanized coating safe. How about the Krylon spray epoxy? I've used it to protect steel parts from rusting in a number of projects and found it to be very hard and adhears great. And its very easy to use (as any spray paint is). You can do a visual inspection of the cyclone innerds every so often and touch up the paint easily if it starts to wear off.

Steven

[acondit]

The other advantage of the thick urethane is sound deadening where the chips hit the steel.

Alan

[sdantonio]

Hi Alan,

Good point, I hadn't thought of sound deadening. But so many things in my shop are so noisey anyway that I use ear protection when running any power tools. One of the points the is made on just about every writeup that I see is that the inside should be as smooth as possible. Any roughness decreases the efficiency of the air flow. I assume the urethane can be trowled on pretty smoothly (I think you said you used a putty knife to spread it in your post).

Steven

[Rance]

No, he used it to spread it in his cyclone, NOT in his CNC post. (Well, someone had to say it)

[Parameter]

I have built a unit using the pentz spreadsheet. It's very easy to use and give good results. Mine uses a bucket with the bottom cut out, the cone is aluminum sheet used in house sidings. Some wood parts and 2" PVC inlet. I used pop rivets and a squierel cage blower but also did some tests with the shopvac. The inlet is too small but still, it works...

It is quite impressive to say the least but the blower lack power tremendously. It is true that these will require a GOOD motor and impeller. I'd be scared of a plastic impeller knowing the forces that goes into it...

IMHO, we should all have one if we cut the dirty stuff (foam, mdf, dusty plastics). Life is too great to mess it up!

Para