Dust collection barrel

[Carl Beckett]

What is everyone using for a dust collection barrel? I have a heavy duty plastic trash can I put a gasket on. But it 'implodes' at times. Before I go messing with reinforcement, maybe I should just ditch it all together for something more suitable (ideally cheap and readily available locally).

Advice?

[George Bokros]

30 gal metal trash can

[Jamie Buxton]

I made a plywood box. Simple, sturdy, and inexpensive. While I was at it, I put an acrylic window in the side of the box, so I can see when the bin needs emptying.

[ChrisA Edwards]

I use this from Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010DBE58S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc= (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010DBE58S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71BwAGpQW-L._SL1500_.jpg

https://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i452/cedwards874/Woodworking/Jet%20Dust%20Collector/JetDC1100_1_zpsdajmcscs.jpg

[Jim Becker]

My Oneida system uses a 55 gallon fiber drum.

[Bill Dufour]

Mine is a 35 gallon cardboard drum with some kind of plastic liner.
Bill D.

[Chris Schoenthal]

I use a 55 gal fiber drum that I got for free at the Home Depot. It was really too big (tall) for my system, so I cut it down to between 30 - 35 gal.

[Prashun Patel]

My Oneida has a 35gal fiberboard drum.

I highly recommend buying a Plastic Bag Holder (made by Lawson). I got mine for $20 on Amazo*. This can be cut to size and inserted inside your drum to hold open a plastic trash bag liner. It makes emptying the dust a little easier than without.

Oneida makes a purpose built liner that is a tad more expensive.

[George Bokros]

My Oneida has a 35gal fiberboard drum.

I highly recommend buying a Plastic Bag Holder (made by Lawson). I got mine for $20 on Amazo*. This can be cut to size and inserted inside your drum to hold open a plastic trash bag liner. It makes emptying the dust a little easier than without.

Oneida makes a purpose built liner that is a tad more expensive.

Prashun, I have a similar bag holder and it doesn't work well for me. How do you keep the suction of your collector from sucking the liner inward?

[James Cheever]

I use the 35 gal metal drum and dolly with the plastic bag liner from Oneida (I have an Oneida dust collector). All three items work great for me.

[Mike Kreinhop]

What is everyone using for a dust collection barrel? I have a heavy duty plastic trash can I put a gasket on. But it 'implodes' at times. Before I go messing with reinforcement, maybe I should just ditch it all together for something more suitable (ideally cheap and readily available locally).

Advice?

I use a 35-gallon plastic trash can and have the gasket in the plywood lid. My can imploded twice before I built an X-shaped brace using offcut plywood strips for the inside where the center of the buckling happened. Since then, the plastic hasn't deformed at all.

[Jim Dwight]

I also built a wooden box. Most of the area is 5mm luan plywood but it has 1 1/8 softwood frame and supports at half span. I wondered if it would implode but my sawstop dust port was plugged up when I first started the DC and nothing imploded. It works fine. I also put a plastic window on it but it's hard to see in. I'll probably buy a cheap HF flashlight with a round end and put it in the top of the box. (round end so I can drill a hole and install). My box is 18 inches square and about 4 feet tall - sized so that it used the available space. It has wheels on the bottom (from the HF DC) and the capacity is about 70 gallons.

[Prashun Patel]

George, it takes a little trial and error. You really have to eliminate all leaks for it to work well. I caulked the inside of the metal lid. I also punch a few holes in the bag near the top so that the suction is broken between the bag and the drum itself.

You really have to get good at removing as many creases as possible where the bag folds over the edge under the lid.

[Lee Schierer]

I have an unused 55 gallon open top oil drum for my DC.

[Jim Andrew]

I found a plastic 50 gallon drum, and somewhere also found a steel lid, but could not find the locking ring, put some foam weatherstrip around the top of the drum, and clamp the lid down with some spring clamps. The plastic drum is light, and easy to move, when I dump it, use a dust pan to dip out the top, then when it is low enough just pick it up and dump it in the wheelbarrow. Takes 2 trips to empty the drum. Have to remember to wear a respirator when emptying the drum.

[Matt Day]

55 gallon metal drum from Rural King ($20) and lid with locking ring from McMaster for $70.

[Carl Beckett]

Have to remember to wear a respirator when emptying the drum.

Ya, this bugs me. There are times when I feel more dust exposure just emptying the bin, than saved from having DC to begin with. I like the idea of the bag liners.

And some other great ideas here, thank you.

[Jerome Stanek]

I got a 35 gallon barrel from a restaurant that they gave me for free

[Robert Engel]

I've been using a Rubbermaid Brute. Bicycle tube works for a gasket.

[Prashun Patel]

A bag liner mitigates this. Of course you have to still wear a respirator, but it's only to pull out the liner and cinch up the trash bag. Easy-peasy(ish)

[David L Morse]

.... Bicycle tube works for a gasket.

Interesting. Do you inflate it a bit to help it seal? If so, do you do that before or after clamping the lid down?

[Charles Lent]

A "quick fix" but not likely a permanent solution is to stack 2, or possibly 3 of your present style dust collection buckets together. Most plastic buckets are slightly tapered, so they stack together easily. Doing it will double or triple the wall thickness of the "in use" top bucket making it no longer implode.

I was never able to keep the plastic bags from trying to go up into the dust tornado. I ended up building a sleeve out of thin PVC to line the bag and keep it where it belongs. It pulls out easily before closing the top of the bag and dumping the sawdust. Then I put it back inside the new bag in the collection barrel.

Charley

[Jim Becker]

A bag liner mitigates this. Of course you have to still wear a respirator, but it's only to pull out the liner and cinch up the trash bag. Easy-peasy(ish)

True, but only for folks disposing as trash. For those of us who dump on-site... ;) ...liners would be a waste of time because we'd have to empty them anyway onto the pile.

[Prashun Patel]

Except it would make moving the dust to your dump site easier. Trash bags are easier to carry than bulky drums.

[Jerome Stanek]

Except it would make moving the dust to your dump site easier. Trash bags are easier to carry than bulky drums.

That's what 2 wheel dollies are for.

[Jim Becker]

Except it would make moving the dust to your dump site easier. Trash bags are easier to carry than bulky drums.
That's what front end loaders on the tractor are for. :) The Big Orange Power Tool carries the full barrel for me. :D

[Robert Engel]

Interesting. Do you inflate it a bit to help it seal? If so, do you do that before or after clamping the lid down?

No, I just cut the valve out and stapled it to the lip of the bottom. It was a temporary "see how it works" type thing, and its still there 5 yrs later ;-)

I used a road bicycle tube.

[Bill Jobe]

Why not dampen the contents of the dust bin/bag with a hose prior to moving it ?

[Jim Andrew]

Bill, would not some water make your dust bin pretty heavy?

[Jim Becker]

Why not dampen the contents of the dust bin/bag with a hose prior to moving it ?

For those of us with fiber barrels...that wouldn't be workable for obvious reasons. They need to stay dry.

[dirk martin]

The Laguna barrel I have, says it's 60 gallon. Does anyone have the Laguna MDC3560-0145 DC?
Will a standard 55 gal drum work on one of those?

I'd also like to start using a bag inside, but anyone know how to prevent the bag from getting sucked up, into the cyclone?
Laguna no longer supports this model DC, so I don't know where to find the "metal cage" they make to go inside a bag, in the barrel.

[ChrisA Edwards]

I'd also like to start using a bag inside, but anyone know how to prevent the bag from getting sucked up, into the cyclone?


A long as your seal is good around your drum, you shouldn't have any issue with a bag liner getting sucked up, just like the deposited debris, in the bin, doesn't get sucked back up as it separates in the cyclone.

[Prashun Patel]

In theory, Chris is right. But, I find that the bags are extremely prone to getting sucked up, in a way that debris is not.

I agree that first and foremost you need to make sure your drum is sealed well.

But you can mitigate a minor imperfection by punching a couple holes in the bag, once inserted, near the top of the drum. This will break any suction that that develops. You do it near the top only because doing it lower means dust will leak out onto your floor when you remove the bag.

The bag, by virtue of folding over the top of the drum, will impede your seal, so take care to smooth out creases. The thinner the bag, the the easier this is.

Get that leaf liner I mentioned earlier. It's not ridgid enough to completely stop an imperfect seal, but it definitely helps.

[Ben Rivel]

35 gal steel drum that came with my Oneida V-3000.

[Curt Harms]

The Laguna barrel I have, says it's 60 gallon. Does anyone have the Laguna MDC3560-0145 DC?
Will a standard 55 gal drum work on one of those?

I'd also like to start using a bag inside, but anyone know how to prevent the bag from getting sucked up, into the cyclone?
Laguna no longer supports this model DC, so I don't know where to find the "metal cage" they make to go inside a bag, in the barrel.

No experience but I've heard of people getting a sheet of laminate, roll it up and put it in the bag. Laminate expands to hold the bag open. When it comes time to remove the bag first remove the laminate roll. I'd have thought laminate would be too stiff but again, I've never tried it just filed it away in the 'maybe I'll need this someday' folder.

[Carl Beckett]

No experience but I've heard of people getting a sheet of laminate, roll it up and put it in the bag. Laminate expands to hold the bag open. When it comes time to remove the bag first remove the laminate roll. I'd have thought laminate would be too stiff but again, I've never tried it just filed it away in the 'maybe I'll need this someday' folder.

This is a pretty simple fix for my plastic can imploding. I have rolled laminate like this and it will provide considerable stiffness, so thanks for the idea!

[Jerome Stanek]

I just saw 2 Blue poly barrels along side the road with a free sign on them. If I needed one I would have stopped. They are just west of Medina Ohio on Smith road

[Carl Beckett]

I just saw 2 Blue poly barrels along side the road with a free sign on them. If I needed one I would have stopped. They are just west of Medina Ohio on Smith road

I am in Massachusetts. I will swing by and pick these up on my way home from work... :)

[Jerome Stanek]

I am in Massachusetts. I will swing by and pick these up on my way home from work... :)

I see you did just that

[Tom Bender]

My Oneida Dust Cobra has a 3/8" hose from the drum to the fan inlet (higher vacuum than inside the drum due to the filter being between) which sucks the bag to the drum. Like an unvacuum bag.

Also there is a 1" hole in the lid. I plugged this with a rubber stopper. When the system is off I probe with a stick to see how full the drum is. I think they sell an electronic sensor for about $8,000. My stick and plug were slightly cheaper.

[Brian W Evans]

I have several 55 gallon steel drums that I found on CL. Metal and plastic drums are always available near me for $15-25, from a few different sellers. I would be surprised if you couldn't find some near you, as well.

[Randall J Cox]

I'm using a cut down 32 gallon heavy plastic drum that used to hold concentrated weed killer (I live in an ag area). Probably holds about 25 gallons now, cut down due to space limitations. Works fine. Randy

[Deb Clarkson]

I use the barrel from a dead Craftsman shop vac. It's not as big as most but I like it that way. It uses less vertical space, it was free, and it's not too heavy for me to carry when it's full.