DIY Cyclone: Time to throw in the towel? LONG

[Ted Morison]

I too, read about building my own cyclone dust collector. In the end, I opted to purchase one by Oneida and looking back, I'm glad I did. The parts went together perfectly, I hooked up the 220 V and it came on just like it was designed. However, I'm still putting my shop together and I know that I'm going to spend more for the duct work than the cost of the collector.

In the end, I bought good stuff and hope for excellent results. Oneida has great customer service and so far, I have nothing but good things to say about their product.
Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten!
Ted

[Bob Wingard]

I'm not saying it's untrue, but I have to question the idea that some cartridges are meant to be "fed" from the inside, while others prefer from the outside. How does a 1 micron hole become one-way ?? The reason I ask is that I am about install filters on my ClearVue system, and was fortunate enough to be able to acquire 4 perfectly good filters from my previous employer that came from a TORIT Downflow unit that did indeed feed from the outside of the cartridge. Every once in a while, when the d.p. reached a set-point, a large volume of air was discharged into the filters from the inside to blow-down some of the "cake". These filters are clogged with only dry sugar, and can be cleaned like new with just hot water. They are phenolic resin coated and have both internal and external cages. I spoke with ClearVue about using them, and was told I was very fortunate to have access to them, and that they should work every bit as well as the Wynn units. I'll try them and see .. .. if they don't do well, I can always change with a minimum of alterations.

[Alan Schaffter]

I would cut my losses- the Wood Mag cyclone did not have an angled inlet pipe, neutral vane, spiral inlet ramp, and too small of an outlet, too small of a chip outlet. It worked, but the new ones- homebuilt using Bill's spreadsheet or a Clearvue are so much better. What size impeller on the blower? If it is 11" or less forget the cyclone, 12" it will work, but best is a 14" or 15" with a 3 or 5 hp motor. I have a 3 hp (a real 3hp) motor, 14" impeller, and 3:1 cyclone (as opposed to 1.64:1- ratio of cone length to cylinder diameter) which, according to Bill, is supposed to separate out fines even better. I can operated it with two or more 6" dust ports open at a time and still maintain good flow.

[Eric Haycraft]

It is probably setup in a layered manner. Perhaps 2 layers of media..1 to catch larger particles and one for smaller ones. Reversing this could cause larger particles to hit the layer meant for the small stuff causing small holes to be punched in it.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Hey folks............This thread is over one year old.....before yesterday's posts. I suspect Dominic has resolved the issue by now!

[Doug Hobkirk]

I "engineer" many, many projects only to find that it cost me a hundred hours to save $100. Or to find that it didn't work. But I'm an old dog, can't learn new any tricks, so I do it again. That being said...

I'd suggest you try your filter as is before you give up on it. You could do a very rough test with your shop vac rather than waiting until your cyclone is ready. I don't have any experience with canister filters, but it would seem that if it doesn't work as is, and you already own it, you could remove the filter material, cut a seam, reverse the material, and caulk the new seam. (Was your filter made for intake on an engine?)

You haven't listed (or did I miss it?) the impeller details, but you might enjoy this link to illustrate what DIY'ers can accomplish - he built his own impeller!

Good luck. When you're done, you can start building an adjustable height workbench based on a hospital bed, a huge power belt sander using a treadmill, and a CNC router system constructed from an old Erector Set!