Completed 55 gallon Thien Cyclone.

[dbhost]

Short and sweet. Whipped this up in about 2 hours with lots of distractions in the process.

Used an open head 55 gallon plastic barrel. Baffle is 3/16" tempered hardboard, lid is just the regular lid with tight holes for the fittings run through. Fittings are held in with hot melt glue, and the risers are 1/4" -20 all thread nuts, and fender washers (This is my Third pre separator, my 4th Thien baffle, I tend to use all thread etc.. on them...)





And yes, the eagle eyed among you might notice that the fat part of the baffle starts about an inch after it should... It does not seem to impact performance. I tested it with 30 gallons of cedar shavings with nothing passed through to the DC.

[Slik Geek]

What is the dimensional difference between the wider diameter and narrower diameter that you used on the baffle? In other words, I'm curious what the gap between the barrel and the baffle is where the dust settles down below.

[dbhost]

Per Phil's directions, I made my slot 1-1/8" wide.

[cgallery]

Nice work. That should take a while to fill.

[thestinker]

Looks good!! I have a question. I didn't put any kind of baffle in my cyclone. Mine is just the elbow at 90 degrees with a hole in the middle going to the DC. What exactly is the benefit of the baffle?

RS

[lrogers]

NICE! That should help you keep the shop neat and clean.

[Pappy]

Looks good, DB. When I made mine the only barrels I could find were with the lids molded in. Would have saved time not having to make a lid.

I didn't put any kind of baffle in my cyclone.* Mine is just the elbow at 90 degrees with a hole in the middle going to the DC.* What exactly is the benefit of the baffle?RS

The particles/sawdust fall through the slot and under the baffle, leaving the air being pulled from the separator by the DC clean. Nothing except the finest dust makes it to the DC.

[dbhost]

Thanks guys. I honestly wasn't happy with the baffle in the inlet ring. Too much noise, and constantly emptying the bag was a pain... I found the barrel vendor online, and at first thought I would have to web order them, when I discovered their business was located about 4 miles south of my house... Well their walk in prices were about half of their online so I grabbed one...

Hanging onto the barrel I made several failed attempts at building a lid. I kept getting the measurements wrong... I took a shot on building mine with the plastic lid to take advantage of that. Boy am I glad I did...

Without having to fuss with making the lid, and quadruple checking the fit for sealing (which is where I kept failing before) I was able to measure, cut and verify the baffle very quickly. Cutting the holes in the plastic was super easy, almost frighteningly so...

I'm not so sure I will have a LONG time to go between emptying it out though. My planer and jointer tend to produce a LOT of shavings!

[LinuxRandal]

Any tricks to emptying it? It doesn't appear you have a trash bag inside, and I don't see it on wheels to get it outside (of course my shop is the basement, no external exit).

[dbhost]

Any tricks to emptying it? It doesn't appear you have a trash bag inside, and I don't see it on wheels to get it outside (of course my shop is the basement, no external exit).

Hand truck. I have one for my Bass Amp. I haven't filled this barrel yet, but if the 20 gallon version was any indication, full the barrel will weigh more than what fills it.