Another DC question ....bags and barrels?

[Steve Fish]

So I don’t have a DC right now but I enjoy all the related threads. I like seeing the mods you guys make so I can hopefully make a more educated decision about what I will need/want in the future. So my question pertains to the barrel and or bag part of the system that is placed under a cyclone. I’ve seen a few complaints about dealing with the bags and also people trying to source a proper barrel.
So why does it have to be a barrel at all? Could the barrel be replaced with a square plywood box properly sealed? Seems the box would yield more volume in the same footprint. Then the whole bag thing. Could these be eliminated if you had somewhere to empty the barrel/bin?
Thanks for any thoughts. I like to keep most things simple if I can because I’m often the last “S” in KISS

[Kevin Jenness]

Doesn't have to be a barrel, could be a bin. You need to decide how much volume of dust/ chips you will generate and how you can most easily and safely handle that material. The best setup I have seen is a rotary airlock at the bottom of a cyclone with a secondary blower transferring the waste into an enclosed dump trailer. An RAL could equally well exhaust into a rolling dumpster. These solutions reduce handling to a minimum. That kind of investment makes sense for an active commercial operation.

I used to have a number of barrels that I swapped out, now I have one barrel and swap out bags which are a bit more compact and lighter to transport to the neighboring dairy farm.

[Jim Dwight]

I use an 18 inch square box the height of the space under the cyclone. Holds around 70 gallons of dust. I used the casters from the HF DC under the box. I added a viewing window out of left over plexiglass. It is kind of heavy when full but I can wheel it to the truck and tilt it up into the bed. I haven't dumped it yet, tried thursday and they were closed, but I think my wheel/tilt movement will work there too. I made a cover so it doesn't leak dust all over the truck bed while I drive to the dump.

My box is mainly 5mm luan I had handy. I thought it might implode but it is holding up fine. I have softwood blocks in the corners and the bottom and top are 3/4 plywood.

[Steve Fish]

Thanks Kevin and Jim. I’m in place where getting bulky items shipped can get a little little pricey. Just doing some preliminary research and haven’t come across any concrete reason these parts couldn’t be slightly modified from the setups I usually see searching the webs. Good input

[Jim Dwight]

I dumped the box today. Worked OK. The dust didn't come out real easy but it came out. I turned it over into the dumpster and got some out but then had to scrape a lot of it with the box on it's side. A barrel with a completely open top should work better. I might put pieces in the corners to direct the dust to the opening for the cyclone. But even with the need to scoop a lot of the dust out with my hands I still like my plywood box. Lots of capacity, easy to move, doesn't take up a lot of floor space.

[ChrisA Edwards]

I do the barrel and 39 gallon yard lawn and leaf bags. When full, I open up the barrel, knot the bag and extract it. Minimal mess.

I call a lady, in our town. She comes over and takes the bag(s) of sawdust/shavings and uses it on the floor of her stable for her horse. She loves it (and so do I). She picked up two bags today.

[Bob Jones 5443]

Steve,

I've had very good service from a yellow barrel I bought on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is intended for hazardous material storage, giving it a very useful characteristic for catching the dust under a cyclone: it seals up tight with an extremely secure metal lever lock (read: dustproof).

The size is ideal:

• It's 30 gallons, which works out great for me. I just emptied it for the first time yesterday. It was about 60% full after half a year in service in a one-guy light-duty shop.
• As noted in this thread, it is wide open at the top, so no dust stays in the barrel when you empty it.
• It's just the right top diameter to be able to stretch a large black garbage bag over it. Then you just tip the assembly and everything stays clean.
• It's short, so my vertical assembly of barrel–cyclone–DC impeller/motor fits in an 8-foot garage with the on/off switch reachable, about 6'2" from the floor.

The sides are smooth HDPE, so the dust doesn't get trapped or cling anywhere.

It has nice handles on the side to help with handling.

It was under $40.

yellow barrel.jpg

This system was a long time coming. It efficiently dispatches all the dust larger than 1 micron. For the rest, I have the Jet air cleaner. I always use both and the air stays dust-free. Note the absence of anything in the plastic bag under the Wynn Environmental filter. Nothing has ever collected in there. Fantastic!

[Roger Feeley]

I would give my dust away but I do cut treated lumber from time to time. Also plastic. So I figure my sawdust is tainted. I think rain forest woods are bad for animals also.

[Mark Daily]

So I don’t have a DC right now but I enjoy all the related threads. I like seeing the mods you guys make so I can hopefully make a more educated decision about what I will need/want in the future. So my question pertains to the barrel and or bag part of the system that is placed under a cyclone. I’ve seen a few complaints about dealing with the bags and also people trying to source a proper barrel.
So why does it have to be a barrel at all? Could the barrel be replaced with a square plywood box properly sealed? Seems the box would yield more volume in the same footprint. Then the whole bag thing. Could these be eliminated if you had somewhere to empty the barrel/bin?
Thanks for any thoughts. I like to keep most things simple if I can because I’m often the last “S” in KISS

Steve, what do you plan on doing with the sawdust after you collect it? I don’t have a cyclone but I collect mine in plastic bags instead of the felt bag that came with the DC. Plastic bags eliminate almost all of the mess when changing them.

Dumping out a bag or box creates a blizzard of sawdust and quite a mess.

[Steve Fish]

Mark where we live we have public dumpsters. I’m on a small island so things are a bit “different “ here to say the least lol. My main transportation here is a Honda side by side with a tiny bed in the back. I’m looking to see if I could use a cube shape that would fit in the back of that for easy disposal. We do use a good bit of PT lumber here because of the insects and termites. I’m a bit hesitant to try and recycle the chips and dust for that reason like Roger said above. If I can get a good deal on barrels for ease of use I would go that route. I just wasn’t sure when I asked my questions if barrels were better by reason of something with a cube shape might some how have a negative effect on the system/air flow.
I have a ton of work to do on the house here so a lot of that work has to get finished before I can start building a new shop space. I’m just trying to get as much info on some of the things I know I will need but also don’t have much experience with. I’m getting a lot of help here by reading and lurking a bunch and am grateful for all the friendly responses to my questions. Thank you for asking

[Ron Selzer]

I have a cyclone sitting on top of the end of the counter against the wall. Under the counter is 3/4 wafer board sides that have been caulked to seal them tite. It has a 3/4 wafer board front that is screwed on. There is foam gasket material all around the opening to seal and I have to tape it shut with 2" masking tape. Inside is a removable container made out of 1/4" luan with 3/4 " strips in the corners, open top. Takes about one minute to open up to dump and about 3 minutes to close up. AS LONG as it is taped off the cyclone presses the dust down in the container tightly with a low center and high sides. If it is not taped then it carries the chips over to the dust collector bottom bag. I use a plastic scoop to clean the container out into a paper leaf bag for the City to haul away. I have a rectangle cut in the counter top that I remove to look in and see how full it is getting. Found out the hard way the dust collection below the cyclone has to be sealed tight, tight and tight.

[Rod Sheridan]

I have a cyclone with a 35 gallon drum.

I use drum liners which allows me to carry the dust out of the basement without making a mess. That”s another issue, if I’m planing the bag of chips is not heavy, if I’m sawing the chips are heavy. I wouldn’t want any more volume....Regards, Rod

[Jim Andrew]

I have a 50 gallon drum, and first put on a dust mask, then use a wheel barrow, and a shovel or dust pan to dip the dust from the barrel. It takes 2 loads heaped up on the wheel barrow to dump the drum. Get the top out with the tools, then pick up the plastic drum and dump the last of it on the wheel barrow. I just put mine on a burn pile, too much walnut dust to use for mulch or animals. In winter I fill boxes with sawdust and set them in the wood furnace. The box burns, the dust burns, and lasts longer than you would think, and makes heat. Be cool if you could make pellets or logs from all the dust and save for winter.

[Mark Daily]

Mark where we live we have public dumpsters. I’m on a small island so things are a bit “different “ here to say the least lol. My main transportation here is a Honda side by side with a tiny bed in the back. I’m looking to see if I could use a cube shape that would fit in the back of that for easy disposal. We do use a good bit of PT lumber here because of the insects and termites. I’m a bit hesitant to try and recycle the chips and dust for that reason like Roger said above. If I can get a good deal on barrels for ease of use I would go that route. I just wasn’t sure when I asked my questions if barrels were better by reason of something with a cube shape might some how have a negative effect on the system/air flow.
I have a ton of work to do on the house here so a lot of that work has to get finished before I can start building a new shop space. I’m just trying to get as much info on some of the things I know I will need but also don’t have much experience with. I’m getting a lot of help here by reading and lurking a bunch and am grateful for all the friendly responses to my questions. Thank you for asking

Good luck with everything and stay safe my friend.