Replies

1. 
   Mike_Taylor1 | Feb 27, 2002 11:44pm | #1

   *
   Joe -

   While producing lots of air movement, they don't have lots of pressure, or conversly, a high vacuum. By throttling a squirrel cage down to a 5" or 4" inlet, the CFM will be greatly reduced.

   The design of the DC blades is to move lots of air at a relatively high vacuum.

1. 
   joe_loucek | Feb 28, 2002 03:55am | #2

   *Hey Mike -Thanks for the response. So squirrel cages aren't appropriate for a cyclone-type system? No way to "make" it work or do I just bite the bullet and buy the fan and build the rest?But what about for those room filtration systems, you know the box type units with the prefilter that looks like a furnace filter followed by a small bag-type filter?thanks,Joe

1. 
   Mike_Taylor1 | Feb 28, 2002 06:25am | #3

   *Joe - they would work fine for that application. Need to bite the bullet on the other, I'm afraid.Question though. Why do you want the cyclone type? There are valid reasons, of course. Mainly to separate the dust from the larger stuff. I went to Lowe's and bought one of those 44 gallon Rubbermaid trash cans with a flat lid (not the rounded lid). I cut a 4" hole in the center and cemented in a 4" galvanized coupling. On the edge of the lid, I cememted in a 4" galvanized elbow with the elbow inside and pointing around the perimeter of the trash can. The inlet coming from my shop hooks up to the latter, and the DC hooks to the center connection. This does an acceptable job of letting only the dust go into the DC bag. I did this so that I don't have to dump the bags as often, not cause I wanted to separate the two. By the way, buying the fan and motor can be as expensive as buying an entire DC system. There really is a racket in this stuff.Oh yeah, when my system sucks up a screw driver or whatever else happens to get near the hose, I can simply go open the trash can to do the retrieval. Also, my unit sets outside.

1. 
   joe_loucek | Feb 28, 2002 05:40pm | #4

   *Hey Mike -What you describe is pretty much what I have in mind. Although I was going to follow the plan from Wood magazine that the Penn Stat unit is based on.I guess now I'm going to buy a 1.5 -2 HP DC with bag and use that for the fines rather than the truck filter used in Wood Mag.I'm going this route mostly because I'm a tinkerer. It will be based on cost - it may end up being just like you describe - a trash can and some other duct work made into a cyclone.I'm putting the unit in the attic of my barn so it doesn't take up floor space (the barn walls closed in much quicker than I thought as I finished them). Living in Cleveland, and the location, etc. of my barn doesn't allow for an outside setup.Just like you, I'm separating to minimize emptying. Unlike you, I'm also separating because the wife wants the fines for composting and the "bigs" for mulch. Aparently, there's disadvantages to using the larger chunks in composting - probably decay time.Thanks so much for the input.Joe

1. 
   joe_loucek | Feb 28, 2002 05:43pm | #5

   *Hey Mike -What you describe is pretty much what I have in mind. Although I was going to follow the plan from Wood magazine that the Penn Stat unit is based on.I guess now I'm going to buy a 1.5 -2 HP DC with bag and use that for the fines rather than the truck filter used in Wood Mag.I'm going this route mostly because I'm a tinkerer. It will be based on cost - it may end up being just like you describe - a trash can and some other duct work made into a cyclone.I'm putting the unit in the attic of my barn so it doesn't take up floor space (the barn walls closed in much quicker than I thought as I finished them). Living in Cleveland, and the location, etc. of my barn doesn't allow for an outside setup.Just like you, I'm separating to minimize emptying. Unlike you, I'm also separating because the wife wants the fines for composting and the "bigs" for mulch. Aparently, there's disadvantages to using the larger chunks in composting - probably decay time.Thanks so much for the input on proper fan use. That's one thing the magazine DIY articles never explain. Sure, they'll tell you to buy a squirrel cage fan for the room air dust collectors or the other fan for the other dust system. But there hasn't been an article I know of that explains why certain fans are good for one job, but not the other. I guess that falls into the DC racket.Joe

2. 
   Mike_Taylor1 | Mar 01, 2002 07:45am | #6

   *Joe - If you go with a 2hp unit, then you'll probably need 220V. Mine is 1.5HP running on 220, but I already had it there.

3. 
   Jeffrey_P._Bengston | Mar 01, 2002 09:47pm | #7

   *Joe,Wood magazine put out an issue back in December called "Best-ever workshops". It's and issue dedicated to nothing but workshops and how to make them "flow" better. Lots on jigs, shop storage, benches, space saving ideas, and all kinds of neat stuff. There's an article, with detailed plans, about building a cyclone dust collector. You can use a blower fan from most bag style dust collectors. I almost want to say that I've still seen it on the stands, but don't quote me on that. I'm sure you can get it at your public library.Good luck!Jeffrey

4. 
   joe_loucek | Mar 04, 2002 08:47pm | #8

   *yep. got the article, and planned for a 220 V collector. thanks to both of you.