Tom LaRussa
10-01-2004, 1:07 PM
The way I saw it, my DC had two main problems.
1. Delta had choked off the air supply by closing down the main opening from 6" to 4". They hide this by putting a double 4" intake over the opening, but the two four inchers just immediately feed into a single 4" opening in front of the impeller.
2. The 30 micron filter bag that comes with the unit does not do beans so far as removing small particulates from the air.
The obvious solution would be a big ol' cyclone, but the budget just doesn't have that much stretch these days. So, I had to come up with a set of solutions that would do as much as possible at minimal new expense.
Here's what I came up with:
Step 1: Opening up the main intake thingie from 4" to 6"
Tools used:
metal snips
Dremel Moto-tool with cutting disks
cold chisel & 2 lb hammer (I aggravate fairly easily) :o
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/dm01.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/dm02.jpg
Step 2: Adding a whirliegig to the separator ring.
This is sort of a cross between a pseudo-cyclone and a trash can seperator. Note that these pictures are looking at the separator from the bottom. I know, it's not a very good fit, but I was limited by the size of the flashing I found in our builder's dumpster. (When we moved in several houses on the block were still under construction, so I was able to snag a lot of lumber and stuff for free, but the selection was somewhat limited.)
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/dm03.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/dm04.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/dm05.jpg
[br]
That's polyeurothane construction adhesive smeared all over the place in the next pic.
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/dm06.jpg
[b]Step 3: Cut a donut out of 3/4" plywood to mount a real filter from Wynne Environmental.
I cut both the inside and outside on my 14" Grizzy G0555 Ultimate Bandsaw, (with riser block), (which has just been named "Best Value" by American Woodworker -- gloat, gloat, gloat). To cut the inside of the ring I just sliced my way in and then when I was done I glued up the cut I'd made.
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/dm07.jpg
Somehow I managed not to take any closeup pictures of the whole thing in action, so use your imagination a bit. The separator goes back into the DC assembly, (right side up), with the donut screwed and caulked on top of it. On top of that sits a Wynne Environmental super-duper filter.
***********************************************
Okay, that took care of a couple things. But when I called Wynne to order the filter, Mr. Wynne emphasized that the filter would work much better (and last longer) with a cyclone, or at least a trash can separator.
My mains are all 6", so the trash can idea just wouldn't seem to cut it. Since I opened up the main intake from 4" to 6" I was now running the risk of burning out my motor, and I guessed that I probably had a bit of extra suckage to play with. So, I decided to build a big pre-filter box, which is an idea that somebody mentioned reading about somewhere -- FWW?
In any event, I had some plywood, some 1/4" metal screening, some 2x4s, and some more of that flashing lying around, so I cobbled my creation together out of that and several tubes of caulking.
The box measures 4' long by 2' wide by 3' high. The 1/4 metal screening is stretched across the inside of the contraption on the side nearest the DC -- only about 4" from that side, so the remainder of the box is empty.
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/pf01.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/pf02.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/pf03.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/pf04.jpg
Since most of the box is empty, I use it as a gigantic manifold -- with blast gates cut into it in various places to provide suckage to various tools. I also attached the 2 x 4" Wye that came with the DC, so that I can plug in 4" flex lines to service table-top dust pickups for the TS & Router Table, as well as making a really neat vaccuum station. I have the only 1.5 HP vaccuum cleaner on the block -- take that, Mr. Oreck! :D
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/pf05.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/pf06.jpg
Notes:
Another project down the line will be to build a bandsaw outfeed table on top of the separator box.
If you look below the Delta Wye, you'll see the big cleanout door.
1. Delta had choked off the air supply by closing down the main opening from 6" to 4". They hide this by putting a double 4" intake over the opening, but the two four inchers just immediately feed into a single 4" opening in front of the impeller.
2. The 30 micron filter bag that comes with the unit does not do beans so far as removing small particulates from the air.
The obvious solution would be a big ol' cyclone, but the budget just doesn't have that much stretch these days. So, I had to come up with a set of solutions that would do as much as possible at minimal new expense.
Here's what I came up with:
Step 1: Opening up the main intake thingie from 4" to 6"
Tools used:
metal snips
Dremel Moto-tool with cutting disks
cold chisel & 2 lb hammer (I aggravate fairly easily) :o
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/dm01.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/dm02.jpg
Step 2: Adding a whirliegig to the separator ring.
This is sort of a cross between a pseudo-cyclone and a trash can seperator. Note that these pictures are looking at the separator from the bottom. I know, it's not a very good fit, but I was limited by the size of the flashing I found in our builder's dumpster. (When we moved in several houses on the block were still under construction, so I was able to snag a lot of lumber and stuff for free, but the selection was somewhat limited.)
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/dm03.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/dm04.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/dm05.jpg
[br]
That's polyeurothane construction adhesive smeared all over the place in the next pic.
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/dm06.jpg
[b]Step 3: Cut a donut out of 3/4" plywood to mount a real filter from Wynne Environmental.
I cut both the inside and outside on my 14" Grizzy G0555 Ultimate Bandsaw, (with riser block), (which has just been named "Best Value" by American Woodworker -- gloat, gloat, gloat). To cut the inside of the ring I just sliced my way in and then when I was done I glued up the cut I'd made.
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/dm07.jpg
Somehow I managed not to take any closeup pictures of the whole thing in action, so use your imagination a bit. The separator goes back into the DC assembly, (right side up), with the donut screwed and caulked on top of it. On top of that sits a Wynne Environmental super-duper filter.
***********************************************
Okay, that took care of a couple things. But when I called Wynne to order the filter, Mr. Wynne emphasized that the filter would work much better (and last longer) with a cyclone, or at least a trash can separator.
My mains are all 6", so the trash can idea just wouldn't seem to cut it. Since I opened up the main intake from 4" to 6" I was now running the risk of burning out my motor, and I guessed that I probably had a bit of extra suckage to play with. So, I decided to build a big pre-filter box, which is an idea that somebody mentioned reading about somewhere -- FWW?
In any event, I had some plywood, some 1/4" metal screening, some 2x4s, and some more of that flashing lying around, so I cobbled my creation together out of that and several tubes of caulking.
The box measures 4' long by 2' wide by 3' high. The 1/4 metal screening is stretched across the inside of the contraption on the side nearest the DC -- only about 4" from that side, so the remainder of the box is empty.
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/pf01.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/pf02.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/pf03.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/pf04.jpg
Since most of the box is empty, I use it as a gigantic manifold -- with blast gates cut into it in various places to provide suckage to various tools. I also attached the 2 x 4" Wye that came with the DC, so that I can plug in 4" flex lines to service table-top dust pickups for the TS & Router Table, as well as making a really neat vaccuum station. I have the only 1.5 HP vaccuum cleaner on the block -- take that, Mr. Oreck! :D
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/pf05.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomlarussa/pf06.jpg
Notes:
Another project down the line will be to build a bandsaw outfeed table on top of the separator box.
If you look below the Delta Wye, you'll see the big cleanout door.