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The mountains of dust I have made on this project has simply accumulated in cardboard boxes, all over the materials and on the floor. My cheapo, all stainless steel, workshop vacuum had expired years ago. Leaving me with no sensible way to collect the dust. Using a dustpan and brush was a disaster. and the fine dust was dangerous to [my] health!
So I searched online, read the reviews and watched the YT videos for a suitable shop vac and settled on a Shop-Vac Ultra. This duly arrived with a silly, narrow, 'domestic' hose and matching tools. Not much use for serious sawdust extraction.
This particular model has adjustable speed/suction and automatic vacuum switching when a mains operated tool is switched on. A mains socket is provided under a flap on the cleaner lid for any separate power tool.
This particular model has adjustable speed/suction and automatic vacuum switching when a mains operated tool is switched on. A mains socket is provided under a flap on the cleaner lid for any separate power tool.
There followed days of searching for a European source of the 64mm [2½"] hoses and fittings. Eventually I ordered the hose, some straight pipes and a suction head from Shop-Vac Austria at a modest price.Then the postman arrived with the cyclone dust separator I had ordered on eBay[UK] So I quickly cut out a plywood disk to fit my airtight, 60 liter, plastic barrel. I put the disk in the lathe to cut the tapered 75mm [3"] hole for the cyclone base. The idea being to support the cyclone as evenly as possible to extend its life when dragged about or fitted with large hoses. The disk looks a bit rough at this point because it hasn't been smoothed with sandpaper.
The cyclone model I bought was a later model Chinese version without the usual bottom flange. Four self-tapping screws travel upwards, through the supporting plate/barrel lid into moulded lugs on a 90mm Ø circle. The base is cut off at an angle and is 75mm wide where it sits on its supporting surface. Plywood is a good way to reinforce the base area to stop it rocking when attaching hoses, etc. Though the barrel lid was surprising thick and stiff when ti came to cutting a hole.
I'll have to wait for the larger hose to arrive before I can set up the dust extraction system in earnest. There is so much dust lying about that I didn't dare use the vacuum with a normal dust bag. Hence the investment in a bagless, dust separation and collection system.
The cost of the cyclone over here [via eBay UK with European postage] was about 1/3 that of the popular, US patented Dust Deputy bought through eBay. The Dust Deputy is a much simpler design than the"turbo" Chinese version. I also hear the Chinese cyclone has much more useful, standard inlet and exhaust port sizes. 50mm [or 2"] is easy to match off-the-shelf plumbing or flexible hose. As I said above I have ordered a 64mm/ 2.5" workshop hose kit to allow far greater airflow through the system. The cyclone's own cost roughly matches a single Dust-Vac, dust bag at retail prices. So it should quickly pay for itself in unneeded bags.
The basic idea is that a vacuum cleaner hose is applied to the top spigot of the cyclone moulding. [Blue arrow] Dust is sucked up as normal but must travel back to the cleaner via the cyclone. Whose a second, 2" horizontal inlet port is provided for the dust hose proper.
Dust and debris rush into the cyclone housing at a tangent to the cone. Where it flung out to the edges at high speed by the airflow. It all spirals gently downwards until it falls clear into the sealed, dust collection bin sitting directly under the cyclone. The dust is physically separated by the cyclone so that it cannot take the short cut to pass straight back up the inlet pipe.
Air tightness is essential throughout the suction system for [a claimed] 95-99% efficiency in separating the dust and wood chips from the air passing through the dust extraction system.
Rubber O-rings or gaskets are advisable on plate to plate connections and clamps on hoses. The dust collection bin must not collapse under the applied vacuum nor leak. The collection bin should also be regularly monitored to avoid it becoming overfull. Which can lower the separation efficiency by affecting the cyclone's behaviour due to it being too close to the sawdust's surface. Presumably the contents of the collection bin can start swirling too. Or block the cyclone's outlet with dust.
The vacuum cleaner's dust bag, pleated filter and collection bin, in the cleaner body, remain almost perfectly clean. Greatly extending the life of the vacuum cleaner. Largely because the motor never overheats due to dust clogging the internal bags and filters. Which was presumably the reason for my old wet/dry vac dying on me some years ago.
Some users of dust cyclones don't bother with either bags or filters at all. Though the small residual quantities of dust, missed by the cyclone system, may eventually clog the motor itself. It may also be distributed in the air within the workshop with serious health consequences! Retaining the pleated filter would seem a very good idea even if a dust collection bag is not to be used. Re-usable pleated filters are available at higher cost than the standard paper type. Even the very finest dust can be stopped by special HEPA pleated filters.
An image of my new cyclone sitting on its turned plywood disk sealed to the lid of a 60 liter, 16 US gallon, screw-top plastic barrel. Picture taken at dusk with flash and brightened.
More advanced workshop owners sometimes apply a stand-alone motor/impeller system. This sucks larger quantities of air through the cyclone instead of using a commercial, workshop, vacuum cleaner. Piping is run throughout the workshop so that each woodworking machine has its own extraction hose. Blast gates [slide valves] are used on the extraction pipes of the machines not actively in use. Cyclones come in various designs and sizes depending on the required throughput and quantity of sawdust to be collected. Efficiency varies with each design.
Today I found some 2" corrugated flexible hose in a DIY store. It had a nicely smooth bore for low air drag. So I bought 5' and some matching worm drive, hose clamps. Using my lathe I tapered both ends of some recycled, thick wall, 2" PVC drain pipe. A temporary spigot to fit the vacuum cleaner socket was another 2" recycled plumbing piece with a joint turned down to a taper with a 2" newly tapered other end.
My first trial of the dust separation system was in removing the accumulated dust from the miter saw and this went splendidly. I could see the sawdust spiraling rapidly down through the translucent plastic cyclone, back-lit only by the open shed door. The storage barrel began to fill with mixed sawdust while the cleaner body remained clean.
All very satisfactory and I can now connect directly to each of the saws as I am actually using them. This will avoid spraying sawdust from on high down into an open cardboard box via a plumbing elbow. With the result, until now, that much of it ended up anywhere but in the box!
Whoops! I turned up the suction on the vacuum cleaner just as a small piece of wood blocked the tiny hose inlet. In an instant the barrel turned itself inside out with a bang! Oh, Dear.
I'm thinking of arranging a stars shape of crossed battens inside the barrel to stop it collapsing while I seek a stronger alternative. Metal drum?
It should be emphasized that the cyclone and pleated paper filter must NOT be used for wet suction jobs. This requires the supplied foam sleeve and an upward facing elbow inside the empty vacuum cleaner. The paper bag and pleated filter are removed.
We once bought a secondhand Vax from a garage sale. The machine looked brand new and we were keen to replace our own, tired and very elderly Vax. Alas, it seemed somebody had done some serious wet suction with the dry suction bag in place and the entire machine, including the motor, was full of horrible wet mud and totally inoperable! Sadly, it had to go back for a refund.
The cost of the cyclone over here [via eBay UK with European postage] was about 1/3 that of the popular, US patented Dust Deputy bought through eBay. The Dust Deputy is a much simpler design than the"turbo" Chinese version. I also hear the Chinese cyclone has much more useful, standard inlet and exhaust port sizes. 50mm [or 2"] is easy to match off-the-shelf plumbing or flexible hose. As I said above I have ordered a 64mm/ 2.5" workshop hose kit to allow far greater airflow through the system. The cyclone's own cost roughly matches a single Dust-Vac, dust bag at retail prices. So it should quickly pay for itself in unneeded bags.
The basic idea is that a vacuum cleaner hose is applied to the top spigot of the cyclone moulding. [Blue arrow] Dust is sucked up as normal but must travel back to the cleaner via the cyclone. Whose a second, 2" horizontal inlet port is provided for the dust hose proper.Dust and debris rush into the cyclone housing at a tangent to the cone. Where it flung out to the edges at high speed by the airflow. It all spirals gently downwards until it falls clear into the sealed, dust collection bin sitting directly under the cyclone. The dust is physically separated by the cyclone so that it cannot take the short cut to pass straight back up the inlet pipe.
Air tightness is essential throughout the suction system for [a claimed] 95-99% efficiency in separating the dust and wood chips from the air passing through the dust extraction system.
Rubber O-rings or gaskets are advisable on plate to plate connections and clamps on hoses. The dust collection bin must not collapse under the applied vacuum nor leak. The collection bin should also be regularly monitored to avoid it becoming overfull. Which can lower the separation efficiency by affecting the cyclone's behaviour due to it being too close to the sawdust's surface. Presumably the contents of the collection bin can start swirling too. Or block the cyclone's outlet with dust.
The vacuum cleaner's dust bag, pleated filter and collection bin, in the cleaner body, remain almost perfectly clean. Greatly extending the life of the vacuum cleaner. Largely because the motor never overheats due to dust clogging the internal bags and filters. Which was presumably the reason for my old wet/dry vac dying on me some years ago.
Some users of dust cyclones don't bother with either bags or filters at all. Though the small residual quantities of dust, missed by the cyclone system, may eventually clog the motor itself. It may also be distributed in the air within the workshop with serious health consequences! Retaining the pleated filter would seem a very good idea even if a dust collection bag is not to be used. Re-usable pleated filters are available at higher cost than the standard paper type. Even the very finest dust can be stopped by special HEPA pleated filters.
An image of my new cyclone sitting on its turned plywood disk sealed to the lid of a 60 liter, 16 US gallon, screw-top plastic barrel. Picture taken at dusk with flash and brightened.
More advanced workshop owners sometimes apply a stand-alone motor/impeller system. This sucks larger quantities of air through the cyclone instead of using a commercial, workshop, vacuum cleaner. Piping is run throughout the workshop so that each woodworking machine has its own extraction hose. Blast gates [slide valves] are used on the extraction pipes of the machines not actively in use. Cyclones come in various designs and sizes depending on the required throughput and quantity of sawdust to be collected. Efficiency varies with each design.Today I found some 2" corrugated flexible hose in a DIY store. It had a nicely smooth bore for low air drag. So I bought 5' and some matching worm drive, hose clamps. Using my lathe I tapered both ends of some recycled, thick wall, 2" PVC drain pipe. A temporary spigot to fit the vacuum cleaner socket was another 2" recycled plumbing piece with a joint turned down to a taper with a 2" newly tapered other end.
My first trial of the dust separation system was in removing the accumulated dust from the miter saw and this went splendidly. I could see the sawdust spiraling rapidly down through the translucent plastic cyclone, back-lit only by the open shed door. The storage barrel began to fill with mixed sawdust while the cleaner body remained clean.
All very satisfactory and I can now connect directly to each of the saws as I am actually using them. This will avoid spraying sawdust from on high down into an open cardboard box via a plumbing elbow. With the result, until now, that much of it ended up anywhere but in the box!
Whoops! I turned up the suction on the vacuum cleaner just as a small piece of wood blocked the tiny hose inlet. In an instant the barrel turned itself inside out with a bang! Oh, Dear.I'm thinking of arranging a stars shape of crossed battens inside the barrel to stop it collapsing while I seek a stronger alternative. Metal drum?
It should be emphasized that the cyclone and pleated paper filter must NOT be used for wet suction jobs. This requires the supplied foam sleeve and an upward facing elbow inside the empty vacuum cleaner. The paper bag and pleated filter are removed.
We once bought a secondhand Vax from a garage sale. The machine looked brand new and we were keen to replace our own, tired and very elderly Vax. Alas, it seemed somebody had done some serious wet suction with the dry suction bag in place and the entire machine, including the motor, was full of horrible wet mud and totally inoperable! Sadly, it had to go back for a refund.
Click on any image for an enlargement.
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