Putting Bag in DC cyclone drum....

[Matt Tawes]

Hey guys, I know this has been mentioned somewhere before. I produce about 50-150 gal. of sawdust a week and emptying that 55gal. drum into a bag is getting to be a pain in the butt not to mention a real mess. I've had my Oneida cyclone for about 5yrs. and tried various attemps at retaining a bag inside the drum for ease in emptying with little success (if you don't retain the bag to the bottom and sides the vacuum will suck the bag in making it useless to collect the sawdust).
So my question is this: before I spend the money in buying the "bag gripper" pump from Oneida and installing it in my drum I wanted to ask what others have done. Emptying that thing upto twice a week gets old. And for those suggesting just dumping the bin out back, I already have over 500 gallons dumped at the property line behind my fence bordering a farm field and it does not decompose fast enough so I cannot possibly pile anymore out there (it can be seen from an adjacent road when the field is not planted and is an eye sore). So I have to bag and take to the dump.
Any suggestions on what others have done???

[Chris Fite]

It seems that you could catch the bottom of the bag in a mechanism at the end of a metal strip that reached down the side of the barrel and across the bottom halfway and rested at the top somehow to keep from falling. When the bag was full, you could remove it and unhook the strip from the bottom. Then toss the bag, and replace it with an empty one. I don't have this in practice, it just seems to be a good idea.

[Tom Jones III]

I had a similar idea to Chris, I thought about tying a string to a brick and dropping the brick in the bottom of the bag. I never got a chance to try it out b/c I was given the bag gripper for Christmas.

I installed the gripper and the bag stays in just fine, but looking at it work, the pump is so slow that it *seems* like it would take several minutes for it to develop a vacuum. Has anyone actually tried putting a bag into the drum? Does it really get sucked into the cyclone?

[Matt Tawes]

Hey Tom,

Weighing the bag down does not work as I've put a bit of sawdust in the bottom and tried scraps of wood and such. Its not that it sucks the bag up into the cyclone, what happens is that the vaccuum and static pressure draws the bag in from the sides and actually as swadust falls into it the dust begins to back up into the cyclonerather than filing out the bag (creating a big mess I must say). Over on Woodnet a guy suggested bending a couple strips of laminat into a U shape and laying them in there which might work a little.
I think I may just have to bite the bullet and try the bag gripper. To see what I'm talking about with suction and static try pulling a bag over your drum and then turn it upside down to empty into the bag it will suck it right in like your shrink-wrappping sawdust

[Tyler Howell]

Rather than dumping how about composting it with other organics, house, hold veg scraps etc..... Set a few enzimes loose in there and turner over twice a month.
I would bet that it would make some real fertil soil???

[Andy London]

I too have the Oneida and looked at their bag gripper when it first came out. I produce around 200 gallons of dust and chips on average a week. I buy those really large bags from Costco (50 to a box) and when the drum is full they will fit over the top, I then insert a plastic 3/4" pipe down the side for return air and simply lift it up, works great, especially when I have my son nearby to assist.

In the summer/fall I dump the chips in an area of the peoperty I am filling in, I just dump the dust in a trailer I pull around with the tractor and dump it when it's full.

I may still buy the Oneida product, it's not high on the to buy list at the moment though

[Brian Hale]

Get a piece of cheap formica, cut it to the hieght of the drum, roll it up and put it in the barrel (put the bag in first) and let it expand around the inside of the drum. When it's time to empty the barrel, pull the formica out first and then the bag.

Brian

[Frank Chaffee]

Get a piece of cheap formica…
Brian

Now this is the kind of thinking that cuts thru unneeded consumer gadgetry.
Frank

[Jim Hoelzel]

How about making a pvc, tube box? Seens like it would be cheap enough to try. Install bag, place pvc in bag, fill bag, remove pvc, and dispose of bag???

[Tim Devery]

I have an Oneida Cyclone system for FLOOR SANDING.
It also has a 35 gallon drum to catch the sawdust AND a plastic bag is placed inside. This system is not a rigup, but made by oneida.
SO, what is has is a 3/4" metal tube that runs into the drum at the bottom.
This 1" of space on the bottom is covered with a piece of thin "breathable" foam. The bag goes into the drum and the cyclone sits on top.
The hose on the bottom connects to the vacuum side of the cyclone.
I use this thing everyday. If anybody cares, I could post a picture tomorrow. Not tonight, the system is on a job.
Tim

[Mike Linne]

Get a piece of cheap formica, cut it to the hieght of the drum, roll it up and put it in the barrel (put the bag in first) and let it expand around the inside of the drum. When it's time to empty the barrel, pull the formica out first and then the bag.

Brian

The Easy Bagger is along the same lines as Brian's suggestion. Available at local hardware or borg. Works great.

[Matt Tawes]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the input. I stuck some formica in there today as suggested and we shall see how that works out.
I'm also going to look into that easy bagger, that's a great suggestinon Mike and looks like it should work well.

[Frank Snyder]

Has anyone tried this solution with the Formica in the bin? Did it work? I'm on the fence if I should get Oneida's bag gripper or find a cheaper (but effective) solution.

Many thanks!

Frank

[Scott Loven]

How about something like this?
http://www.pelletpros.com/index.html
Scott

[Frank Snyder]

Thanks for the idea Scott, but I don't even have a fireplace in my house. I'm also on a tiny city lot, so dumping and composting is a bit of challenge. For now I'm just trying to make it easier to remove the contents of the bin without making mess. I was just curious if someone here tried the Formica idea.