cyclone owners... lend me your insight...

[Brent Grooms]

What are you using as a chip/dust bin? Anyone using something like a rubbermaid brute trash can? I know I will need to fabricate a lid but I am looking for as large of capacity as possible and still be able to lift and empty it.

[Dan Forman]

You have to have an airtight seal around the rim and the hose connection or it will blow dust into your filter. I don't know what the trash can you mentioned is like, but it would have to be quite rigid or it would just fold up when you turn the blower on.

Dan

[Mark Rakestraw]

Hi Brent, Look in the yellow pages under Barrells and Drums (might need to be at least a small sized city). They should have a variety of new and used plastic, metal and fiber barrels that would be suitable. I use a 30 gallon fiber barrel--it's nice and light. It does have a metal lid, to which it was easy to attach a duct take-off fitting. Like Dan says they need to seal. Mine was pretty good but I wound up putting a bit of thin weather stripping around the inside edge anyway. At 30 gallons it still fairly easy to manage if it's full of nice fluffy planer shavings, full of mdf dust from milling moldings however is a different story. Just plan to empty it before it's full if you are producing more "dust" than chips or shavings.
Mark

[Brent Grooms]

getting a fibre barrel isn't much of a problem, I just want to maximize capacity. Most are 22-24in high, I can fit a bit more but not enough for a 55gal. The plastic trash can would be about perfect height. The ones I am referring/looking at are the heavier commercial "brute" line.

[Mark Rakestraw]

My fiber barrel is 20.5" diameter and 32.5" high. Like I said, I think it's a 30 gallon, but I may be remembering that wrong. It's about right in terms of size, easy to handle when full of shavings, a bit on the heavy side if it has a higher percentage of dust. I don't know if your blower would collapse the plastic trash can or not, seems like it would be borderline. Might be the kind of thing you just have to try and find out.
Mark

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi as Mark indicated, weight is a problem with larger barrels.

I find the 30 gallon fibre barrel is about all I can manage if it is full of high density stuff like sawdust.

If its low density like pine planer shavings, the barrel is quite light.

Regards, Rod.

[willie sobat]

Mine is also a 30 gal. fiber drum. I take my sawdust to the curb for pick-up with my household trash. In order to do this I dump it from the drum into a large trash can with a plastic lawn bag liner. If the drum is full I can just about get it all in one bag. So for me a larger drum would require a slightly more complicated disposal system.

[Ron Brese]

I use a large metal trash can with a garage door gasket around the top edge of the container. The top seats well onto the gasket and you can hear it suck down the top when you restart it after emptying the can and replacing the lid.
When it does that you know you have it sealed well.

Ron

[Rob Will]

The plastic trash can will collapse under vacuum pressure.
A metal trash can is the way to go.

Rob

[Heather Thompson]

I have a 35 Gal fiber drum from Oneida Air Systems and I installed their "Bag Gripper" system. It is very neat and efficient way to handle emptying a full bin. It is kind of pricey, but I got a 50.00 discount as mine was ordered with the system. This is the link if you would like to take a look
http://store.oneida-air.com/item.asp?PID=735

Heather

[John Schreiber]

Anybody every use anything with wheels on it that could be taken directly out to the curb?

[John Bush]

I am lucky enough to have the heigth for a 55 gal. drum. I welded 1/2" pipe to house axles for wheels(garage sale specials) from old lawn mowers, and I can wheel the fully loaded drum to the compost "dept".

[Stan Welborn]

I use a 55gal fiber drum. I built a base for it to ride on with 5" casters on it so I can wheel it over to my electric hoist and lift it to my pickup tailgate for transportation to the pile.

[Jim Becker]

I use a 55 gallon fiber drum from Oneida. I just pick it up and carry/drag it to the front door of my shop and use the loader on my tractor to transport it to the compost pile.

[John Thompson]

I did somthing kind of unique. I almost sold my PS 1 HP DC when I installed a Penn State cyclone. The cyclone has very little clearance on the top and I had to shorten the flex pipe at the bottom going to the chip drum. You have to really compress it to get the chip barrel out for empty.

But... the dust port located on the bottom of the fine dust barrel set me to thinking. So... I kept the PS 1 HP DC and hooked it dedicated to my router table and SCMS. And I added a Y connector to the inlet and a 12' long 4" pipe that you will see hanging in picture 2. I placed shut off's on both pipes leading to the inlet to stop airflow in the other side.

Notice in picture 1 the dust port and cut-off I cut and installed on the chiip barrel as the one on the fine dust barrel. In picture 3 you will see why I put it there and how my shop life got simpler!

Now... I don't have to take the chip barrel off at all to empty it.. period. I simply connect the 4" DC pipe and open the valve. Turn the DC on and it empties the chip barrel in about a minute into the DC collector bag. Turn it off and re-shut the valve. Disconnect the lower plastic disposable collector bag which takes only seconds.. twist tie it and take it to the street on trash pick up day..

So... fuel for thought if you contemplate selling your existing DC when you purchase the cyclone and have the space to keep it. My life got much simpler by keeping it along with a clever thought which comes along every now and then for me. :)

Sarge..

[Rick Levine]

I have the 30 gal fiber barrel that came with my Woodtek DC. I'm lucky, I live in the country side on 12 acres of land with pleanty of room to spread out the wood dust and chips.

[Brent Grooms]

Truthfully, I dont think the cyclone would collapse the sides of the trashcan I am referring to but given the ease of putting the collar on the fiber barrel, McMasterCarr will be getting a call in the AM.

Anyone add additional seals to their lids on the fiber barrels?