Two Stage Dust Collector

[Charles Seehuetter Panama City]

Charles I think John was talking about putting the seperator under the motor so that the plastic bag is left in place. Anyway John I am thhinking about doing the same thing to my 50-760 and would like to see photos of it once you are complete.

Thanks Todd for clarifying. I wasn't on the same page I guess. John, I did a little searching on the Amazon reviews and can't seem to find the pictures you mentioned but I'll keep looking. Everything I read talked about a 20 gallon can. Mine is a 30 gallon and I have to emty it often when running the planer. I'd hate to go to a 20 gallon. The main problem I see with puting it there is that it would be a lot harder to drag out and empty. I would like to switch everything to 6" pipe all the way to the machines but the money just isn't there right now. It would be interesting to try to enlarge the port in the 50-760 to 6", build Phil's baffle and lid with 6" fittings and see what would happen to overall performance. Maybe one day. Thanks for the suggestions and input.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Charles - this is the pic that I saw on Amazon. Your point about having to empty it often is well taken. I'll be sure to size up a 20- or a 30-gallon can to make sure it'll fit.

[Bill Blevins]

Charles - looks good! I have that same DC, an I'm looking at making that same mod soon.

One question - did you consider putting the trash barrel directly under the motor on the DC? then the run from the motor to the barrel would be a short straight run - it would free up a little floor space, and potentially help your airflow.

John,
I just completed the mod with the barrel under the dust collector. I used a fiber barrel (free from work) with a metal snap-lock lid. I built Phil's seperator and just bolted the metal lid to it as I was doing the final assembly. Due to the forming on the outside of the metal lid it is able to hold the weight of the seperator and with the locking band it seals tight. For stability I added a piece of 1/4" hardboard to the base.



To remove the barrel, I just loosen the 6"x4" rubber connector (about $5 in the plumbing depatment at the non-orange box store) and slide the PVC pipe into the barrel. I used part of a fitting mounted in the lid to create a good seal and still allow the PVC connector to slide up and down. The blue mark on the PVC tells me it is in position based on Phil's design.

This has worked great. I have no way to measure this, but I have not noticed much loss in performance and it is much easier to empty. Last week I used it a bit too long and filled the barrel to the bottom of the baffle, but it worked right until the end. This is why there is dust in the bag in the picture above. The next mod is to add a window. While doing this I added some of the quick connect fittings to the hose and made life much easier. Hope this helps.

[Charles Seehuetter Panama City]

John,
I just completed the mod with the barrel under the dust collector. I used a fiber barrel (free from work) with a metal snap-lock lid. I built Phil's seperator and just bolted the metal lid to it as I was doing the final assembly. Due to the forming on the outside of the metal lid it is able to hold the weight of the seperator and with the locking band it seals tight. For stability I added a piece of 1/4" hardboard to the base.



To remove the barrel, I just loosen the 6"x4" rubber connector (about $5 in the plumbing depatment at the non-orange box store) and slide the PVC pipe into the barrel. I used part of a fitting mounted in the lid to create a good seal and still allow the PVC connector to slide up and down. The blue mark on the PVC tells me it is in position based on Phil's design.

This has worked great. I have no way to measure this, but I have not noticed much loss in performance and it is much easier to empty. Last week I used it a bit too long and filled the barrel to the bottom of the baffle, but it worked right until the end. This is why there is dust in the bag in the picture above. The next mod is to add a window. While doing this I added some of the quick connect fittings to the hose and made life much easier. Hope this helps.

Very nice job Bill. I can see the benefit of putting the can under the motor when you wheel the DC from machine to machine, saves draging it around too. I my situation where it is in a closet and connected to pipe it's just easier for me to raise the lid and roll the can out. Keep us posted on your progress. I need to add a window to mine soon too. There was another thread some place on an electronic sensor someone built for theirs using LED's that looked interesting but way to much trouble for me.

John, thanks for the picture. It is a real small can and I'd be emptying it every 10 minutes . The inlet pipe coming out of the side of the can looks a little strange to me though. Guess it's not Phil's design.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Guys - nice work!

Charles - makes a lot of sense to keep it separate if you have the space. I'm a little tight in shop space, so I'm going to try to put the can under the motor.

Bill - Great mod! I never thought of using the rubber plumbing fittings. I think those are used quite a bit with cast iron plumbing pipes, I like that barrel - what is it used for ? looks like a better fit than the metal garbage cans. needs handles though...

[Rick Thom]

I like the fiber can better than a steel one too.
I replaced the filter bag with a Wynn poly pleated filter which not only works very well but is only about 24" tall. This is a lot shorter than the oem bag. That is good for low-headroom shops, but also presents the opportunity to raise the housing and motor if you wish by extending the pipe for the cart legs. That would provide even more room (height) under the motor for a taller, larger capacity barrel. If the unit works properly, then very little dust is accumulating in the clear bag. Would a smaller capacity bag suffice? It would require less room and you could use the space created below it for something else like storage.

[BOB OLINGER]

Thanks to all the posts, very informative. I hope to take a look at a DC system in the next few months. I see the Delta 50-760 mentioned often and with good comments. Is this unit capable of being set up as a stationary unit with piping or is it mainly a portable set-up (moved from machine to machine as needed)? Thanks.

[David Doria]

John,
I just completed the mod with the barrel under the dust collector. I used a fiber barrel (free from work) with a metal snap-lock lid. I built Phil's seperator and just bolted the metal lid to it as I was doing the final assembly. Due to the forming on the outside of the metal lid it is able to hold the weight of the seperator and with the locking band it seals tight. For stability I added a piece of 1/4" hardboard to the base.



To remove the barrel, I just loosen the 6"x4" rubber connector (about $5 in the plumbing depatment at the non-orange box store) and slide the PVC pipe into the barrel. I used part of a fitting mounted in the lid to create a good seal and still allow the PVC connector to slide up and down. The blue mark on the PVC tells me it is in position based on Phil's design.

This has worked great. I have no way to measure this, but I have not noticed much loss in performance and it is much easier to empty. Last week I used it a bit too long and filled the barrel to the bottom of the baffle, but it worked right until the end. This is why there is dust in the bag in the picture above. The next mod is to add a window. While doing this I added some of the quick connect fittings to the hose and made life much easier. Hope this helps.

@Bill Blevins

I have the 50-760 and am making a setup quite like yours. I looked for that 6"-4" coupler at both big boxes:

http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?...llow&cId=PDIO1

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Fernco-6-...4#.UmwnB65QGqA

and they are $20-$25 ! You mentioned you got yours for $5ish - do you know the brand/model of the one you found?

Thanks,

David

[Robert Delhommer Sr]

Research the Phil Thien separator, far superior to that waste of money from Rockler.

[paul cottingham]

The top hat design that is discussed on Phil's web site is terrific. I made a couple of design errors and it still works great.