build a cyclone dust collection system or...

[Jim Dory]

I'm in a bit of unique position in that I live in very rural Alaska and shipping is a bugger - has to come via UPS 2nd day air if UPS, freight is by jet or barge. No roads for trucking. So everything I do I have to consider shipping as a major portion of cost.

I am rebuilding my shop and decided to get a cyclone and probably a better filter system so I can breath easier. I have an old Grizzly G1029, which is a 2hp 220v unit with a 5" inlet (I think 12" impeller). I am going to be installing 6" duct to use hopefully with an upgrade of some sort. Found Pentz's site so have an idea that some things are possible.

I think my question is what would most folks here do - if they were disappointed with air quality from a single stage type system. Use the 2hp motor and build something new? Try to sell it and put the money on new system..

My shop is about 24 x 40 (carving out a 8 x 24) section for no cutting type tools. Usual tools TS, bandsaw, small planer, radial arm, chop saw.. hope to get a jointer. Have some old pics of the shop (before sheetrocking it) here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdory/6256882938/in/set-72157609916835662/

and some in here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdory/sets/72157625973914417/

[Bruce Wrenn]

While not the best in terms of small particle removal, the Wood Magazine cyclone is very doable. I use felted polyester socks on mine for secondary filter. Works as good as can be expected. Materials: one sheet (3 X 8) of 26 ga sheet metal, two 6" X 24" 26 ga snap lock pipe, and one sheet of 3/4 MDF, along with pop rivit, screws, and caulk

[Lornie McCullough]

Jim.... can you find a couple blue plastic 55 gallon barrels? A couple 5 gallon buckets.... a piece of sheet metal....nuts, bolts, rivets?

It turns out (according to my interpretation of Bill Pentz cyclone spreadsheet) that plastic 55 gallon barrels are almost exactly the right diameter for a cyclone powered by a 2 hp blower (your grizzly 1029).

This is almost embarrassingly easy to build, and quite efficient. The air leaving the cyclone is clean enough to blast outside (not inside) without using the bag filters of the 1029 making your blower even more effective. Private message me with any questions, if you like.

Lornie

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?177412-DIY-Cyclone-of-Plastic-Barrels












(http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?177412-DIY-Cyclone-of-Plastic-Barrels)

[Jim Dory]

Thanks guys, I'll take a look at the Wood Magazine article (assume it is online?) and Lornie's idea as well. There may well be some barrels to be had here as they are starting to replace the metal ones, which I do have in stock. Buckets no problem at all - got stacks of them. The sheet metal will be a bit expensive to ship in but probably cheaper than some alternatives.

As for blasting air outside, we have more winter months here than summer and heating oil is well north of $6 per gallon, which means I have a couple thousand dollar heating bill each winter if I keep the shop above freezing. So don't really want to heat the replacement air - meaning filters are probably necessary. Though it may be nice to be able to divert outside when it is warm enough to avoid either poor performing filters or having to clean them. So that's an idea too.
thanks, Jim

[Jim German]

What sort of materials can you get locally? Or does everything have to be shipped in?

There probably isn't an alternative to getting the filters shipped in (assuming you want decent filtration). For a separator there should be lots of options depending on what materials you have.

[Jim Dory]

We have a lumber yard here.. focus of course is house building (hem-fir and the like). Quite a bit of junk laying about. Specialized stuff pretty much gets shipped in.. we have a few cargo jets per day coming in from Anchorage. Amazon.com is a god-send: just shipped a full toilet in with free shipping but maybe they won't do that again. Also building a tablesaw fence and getting the steel shipped for free, but price is a bit high and limited to 6'. When they figure that shipping cost out, they may not do that again either.

[Jim German]

Looks like there are a few different dust collectors on Amazon Prime, I'd just pick one of those and build a Thien Baffle for it. I think the free shipping would easily make any of those a better deal than a big cyclone.

[Jim Dory]

Looks like there are a few different dust collectors on Amazon Prime, I'd just pick one of those and build a Thien Baffle for it. I think the free shipping would easily make any of those a better deal than a big cyclone.

They suggest free shipping but when trying to check out they won't ship to the address. Pretty rare to find a largish item that actually will ship up here on Amazon for free. Cheers, Jim

[Wade Lippman]

The simplest thing to do is to replace your bags with canister filters. They will clog up quickly, but your air will be better and the shipping will be minimal.

Where are you in Alaska? A couple years ago I was very surprised to see a grocery store in Valdez had 5 different WW magazines; must be a popular hobby up there.

[Jim Dory]

The simplest thing to do is to replace your bags with canister filters. They will clog up quickly, but your air will be better and the shipping will be minimal.

Where are you in Alaska? A couple years ago I was very surprised to see a grocery store in Valdez had 5 different WW magazines; must be a popular hobby up there.

Thanks for reply! I'm up where you can see Russia from your porch almost.. about 140 miles to the border in Nome.

[Bill Space]

Hi,

I have an older Grizzly 2HP dust collector that may be the same one you have.

What I did is make a plywood box approximately 2x2x6' with a door on the front for cleanout. I put a plastic garbage can inside, to catch the larger chips. The dust continues on into the dust collector bags. I don't have an issue with dust in the shop, that I can perceive.

The way the chip separator box works is the piping from the machines come directly into the box. The box volume is larger than the pipe volume coming into it, so the air velocity drops significantly, and chips are no longer carried by the air and fall into the garbage can. Fine dust particles do continue on to the dust collector. I think the ratio of what falls out to what continues on to the dust collector bags is probably 15 or 20 to 1 by volume. I never measured it, so this is just an educated guess based on experience.

The fines which reach the dust collector bags coat the inside to some degree, increasing the filtering efficiency, from what I can see. Naturally, there is a trade off, because as filtering gets better, restriction increases. But it is not all that critical and you can get a lot of chips/dust moved through the system before the bags start reducing flow to the point that they need cleaned.

So...I guess I am just trying to say that there could be a simple solution to your problem. I do not have any experience with cyclone type dust collectors. But I do know that a simple chip separator inserted between a standard dust collector and the collection points can be a major improvement.

I will try to post a picture or two tomorrow is I can. I am quite satisfied with my set up, as you can probably tell if you read this far!

Bill

[Jim Dory]

Thanks Bill - another option! No harm in at least trying that. I could still upgrade my bags for filters. They do seem to leak some no matter how tight I get that phony little belt. Thinking of rigging up a band clamp of some sort to help with that. cheers, JD

[Bruce Wrenn]

Thinking of rigging up a band clamp of some sort to help with that. cheers, JDI make my own band clamps, using a hose clamp and some steel strapping. Cut the hose clamp, add a piece of strapping, using STEEL pop rivets. The aluminum pop rivets will shear off.

[Jim Dory]

I make my own band clamps, using a hose clamp and some steel strapping. Cut the hose clamp, add a piece of strapping, using STEEL pop rivets. The aluminum pop rivets will shear off.

Excellent Bruce - hoping someone would chime in with a solution. And sometimes the obvious eludes me.. I do keep some strapping in stock (getting more rare as they're going more and more to plastic) so will get right at that. cheers, JD