A cyclone dust extractor when you don't have the money!

[TimS]

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"Originally Posted on:"Fri Apr 09, 2010 "

Having stopped falling off my bike and smashing body parts and decided a trip to hospital in an ambulance for a cardiac condition was interesting but never to be repeated I entered my term break still pondering about dust cyclone systems. So with the idea of spending little money and making the best gains I have come up with this solution.
So if you have the time and probably about $200 you could convert your dust extractor to a cyclone system by carrying out the following things.
3 conical plant containers $75
1 PVC screw cap/threaded joiner $10
1 PVC joiner $4
1 length of PVC (300mm) scrap
1 pot plant $10
1 200 litre drum (contained resin) $30
Ducting $40
Dust bin $15

I contructed an adapter to hold the cyclone section to the fan and put a pot plant /tube (not pictured) that extended from the fan inlet to the base of the cyclone. I have since removed the piece of MDF pictured on the adapter.
The three conical plant containers were joined and a 100mm outlet was made at the bottom and joined by a piece of ducting to the 200litre drum. THis conical section was then joined to the cyclone and then onto the fan.

A dust cabinet was contructed to hold the pleated filter and to allow an entry point for the exhausted air from the fan in the second filter stage. A baffle was incorporated into the cabinet to encourage dust to fall into the dust bin. When sufficient dust collects in this bin then a cap on the bottom can be unscrewed to remove waste.

The benefits of this system for me are
1: the removal of all dust without affecting the neighbours.
2: Noise reduction
3: Nil loss of cool air in summer
4: no more dust bags!
5: improved average vacuum efficiency.

I have will be testing the system over the next couple of days but I think it will be a winner! I am sure that it is possible to do the conversion to nothing but I didn't want to waste to much time.

kind regards

Tim

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[Kim]

Brilliant Mr Spittle!

[Lillian]

I have to second Kim's comments. Well done.

[TimS]

Much better thank you Lillian! I have included a drawing of the central tube which I installed but forgot to take an image of. The 150mm/6" tube extends down to about the same level as the metal cyclone section.

regards

Tim

[TimS]

Well I tested the cyclone under load and put two thirds of a bucket of thicknessor and sander material through. With the suction hose (4") placed in the bucket the material was drawn up in about 10 - 15 seconds. Only about 1/4 of a hand full/desert spoon ended up on the baffle in the second stage of the unit.

regards

Tim

[kiwigeo]

Stuff the cyclone...look at all that wood!!!!

[Lillian]

So, you're pleased with the results? Thought it might have been better or was way better than anticipated?

[TimS]

Hi Lillian,

I think the results are very good and will remove all the hassle of frequently cleaning the pleated filter. Up to this point in time the filter has been the only method for removing dust. Whilst the filter does an excellent job of removing the dust it lost significant suction as the filter became covered in fine dust. In addition to this the design of the filter meant that there was alot of dust that accumulated at the bottom section of the pleats that could only be removed by dismantling the filter and taking it outside. With a air compresssor hose in one hand and the filter in the other I would then spent 20 minutes cleaning the filter and getting covered in dust, not to mention what went into my lungs!
So in summary I am very impressed!

regards

Tim

[Lillian]

Good!

[Bill Hodge]

Excellent project thanks for posting it!

[ckngumbo]

Clever!
But Tim. . . . can you elaborate on item #5
Rob

[TimS]

Hi Rob,

I take it you are referring to #5 improved vacuum efficiency. In the conventional setup the pleated filter worked very well but because I was mainly using it for sanding the pleated filter clogged very quickly. The Cyclone setup that exists now seems to take away alot of the fine dust before it gets to the pleated filter. So the vacuum produced by the fan is able to maintain a good flow of air for a significantly longer period of time. I am sure that if the bottom part of the pleated filter was open, rather than glued onto a bottom steel section it would self clean more effectively and possibly require less turns of the agitator to clean any dust residue.

regards
Tim

[ckngumbo]

Thanks so much Tim!

[TimS]

Not a problem!

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[John Maddison]

Hi Tim
Some of us would probably like to view again those img-'s from your Original Post of April 2010 on building an economical cyclone system ... are they still on file?

[ckngumbo]

Hi Tim
Some of us would probably like to view again those img-'s from your Original Post of April 2010 on building an economical cyclone system ... are they still on file?

Yes please Tim!
Rob

Without Tim's photos here is a concept (but much smaller)
http://store.oneida-air.com/dust-deputy-diy.aspx

[Puff]

Here's another one http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/show ... d25&t=9002

and there' a good schematic in the Bill Pentz link toward the bottom.