Dust collection idea for the poor woodworker.

[Rod Dilyard]

I’ve been a long-time lurker here and thought it was time to gave back a little after taking so much from this group. I’ve tried several different methods of dust collection over the years and determined early on that the worst part for me was transferring the collected dust from the lower bag/garbage can/drum to a plastic trash bag for transfer out of the shop. I always ended up covered in dust with a large portion spilled onto the floor as I tried to dump a full garbage can into a plastic bag. Below are pictures of the solution I came up with several months ago. I just finished planing a bunch of poplar this morning which netted about 3 full 55 gallon bags and couldn’t be happier with how it’s working.

I have a basement shop so in addition to lack of money and poor access I have low ceilings to contend with. I built a Thien baffle style separator several years ago and, while I’m sure it’s not as good as a cyclone, it has the advantage of being cheap and low-profile. My design simply puts the separator and collection drum up high enough that I can suspend a large garbage bag underneath using a quick release band clamp to facilitate quick bag changes. I figured the dust collector is already lifting the particles over my head why should I let them fall into a container on the floor for me to lift up again to dump into a bag?

My original design had a fixed ring underneath the collection drum, but I was too difficult to change out the bags so I built a removeable interlocking ring that makes it much easier to attach a new bag. The ring diameter was determined by the particular bags I have from Amazon and they slip over the ring with just a little tension and stay in place while attaching the band clamp. The cardboard drum was free from a local company that uses large amounts of color pigment and goes through dozens of them a month. The window is a must although I’ve seen some folks use an electronic sensor to monitor the level of the collected dust.

I have to say, it is hugely satisfying to simply slide out the baffle and have the drum empty into the bag with no plume of fine dust filling my shop. I still smile every time I do it.

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[james manutes]

Very clever . Well done .

[Charlie Jones]

Looks like it works very well.

[Daniel O'Neill]

Very Nice! Added to my someday list

[Jim Haberkorn]

That's one of those why didn't I think of that. Looks so simple and clean.

[Ralph Okonieski]

Very well done! A great idea that was executed superbly. Does not get much better than that!

[Mike Kees]

Nice. I like it.

[Derek Cohen]

Rod, that us a very cool idea! Plus I think that you have done a tidy job in executing it. How are the seals (holding the bag) in preventing dust escaping? That would be the weak area.

I have a similar concept. Mine uses a steel paint bucket (pail), which is what I prefer in my situation, as the sawdust gets tossed into a large garden clippings bag, which is collected by a service every fortnight.





Regards from Perth

Derek

[Rod Dilyard]

Hey Derek, the collection bag is isolated by the large sliding gate so there is no pressure on it either positive or negative. It just hangs there and when the drum is full I power down the collector and open the gate to allow the collected dust to fall into the bag. During operation all the pressure on the ducts, separator and collection drum is negative and the only positive pressure is on the 4 filter bags downstream of the blower. Most of the dust is is removed before it gets to those. In 3 months of operation I'm seeing some very fine dust build up on the inside of those which I expected. Does that answer your question?

[Ron Selzer]

I like that slide, real good idea