modification to DC inlet -- good idea? or not?

[Clint Olver]

(I don't think I've seen a Thein seperator with a 6" hole)

Here ya go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhnBvdeaWS8

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVCqH...eature=related

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SswUX_keN1M&feature=plcp

When I built mine, I built it into the unit. It saves a lot of space, and keeps it mobile. Here's how I did it:

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com...t=modification

C

[Thom Sturgill]

I have the fabrication of a Thein plate to put just above the chip bag (to help keep the filter from plugging up) on my short list of projects to get to.

I've considered a pre-seperator, but for two reasons, have steered away from that solution...

1.) my floor space is very limited
2.) they all seem to be based on 2.5" or 4" inlets (I don't think I've seen a Thein seperator with a 6" hole)

Super Dust Deputy - 5" inlet and 6" toward the DC. Also there is a guy in NY that sells via ebay that has a larger cyclone body,

I too was wondering how long it would take someone to mention pre-separation. I had the same problem with my jointer.

[Tom Hargrove]

Matt -

A separator does not take up much floor space. I use a 20 gallon can and with a little bit of imagination, was able to almost get the can within the footprint of my collector. You could also spot it at your planer rather than at the collector since that is where most of your chip volume is generated. I frequently work with Western Red Cedar, and had the same problems with long stringy chips coming out of the planer and getting clogged in the collector intake grille. The separator ended all of those problems and also made it much easier to dispose of the chips. I have not had to deal with removing and reinstalling the plastic bag from my collector in more than two years. During that time, I have conservatively collected 60-75 gallons of chips in the separator. I have less than 2" of dust in the collector bag.

The Thien design is scalable, so you should be able to make one using 6" fittings. My system is 4" and I used both sheet metal duct fittings and PVC elbows for mine. If you can't find 6" PVC or are startled at the price of a 6" PVC long radius elbow, use sheet metal elbows and connectors instead.

[Michael W. Clark]

I would look at the baffle mounted on the inside of the unit. It would be a much simpler modification and would take much less time to implement. However, one advantage a separate separator would have is that you could make removing the dust from the can a little easier. However, this could also be done for the bag on the single stage unit if you wanted. I don't really have any trouble with the bag. Once you get the hang of it, it goes pretty quickly. The baffle is on my short list, possibly in the next week or two.

Mike

Edit: Just re-read the OP. This would not help with keeping large pieces away from the fan inlet. You would need a pre-separator to do this. You could use the separators mentioned above or do a simple drop-out chamber as was also mentioned. The drop-out chamber is not as efficiency as the Thien separator or a cyclone, but is about as simple to build as it gets. My fan does not have a screen in it, but I don't use it for cleaning the floor or conveying tape measures either. I doubt you will wear out the impeller on a hobby shop DC fan under normal use or before you upgrade it.