shop DC and Dust Separator Setup in Place!

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  • footprintsinconc
    Veteran Member
    • Nov 2006
    • 1759
    • Roseville (Sacramento), CA
    • BT3100

    shop DC and Dust Separator Setup in Place!

    well, i havent gotten any ww done in while and so just about three weeks ago, some asked me to make them a round coffee table (simple one - they were going to put some type of cloth over the top)...when i cut the circle, i had tons of dust all over the place and that is when i said "this is enough!"

    i had collected a cardboard 24" round canister from work about a year ago that wanted to use to make the dust separator and wanted to get some piping hung on the wall so that i could start using delta DC effectively.

    well the journey then begun...instead of cutting the horizontal brace on the DC, i thought why not go ahead and make a 17" diameter (inside) that can be placed under the DC without modifying it. as i started to construct the separator, i asked Phil a ton of question and he promptly answered every single of them. so a big thank you Phil for all your help!

    so i took the 24" diameter canister and made it 29.5" tall with an inside diameter of 17". since i was cutting down the canister, i got the wild idea of putting in a slit that shows how full the canister is. then when i was putting the fittings into the lid of the canister, i thought why not put windows in there to see whats going on....so i added a layer of 3/16" poly carbonate to the bottom of the lid. its pretty cool to be able to see the dust swirling around in the lid and falling out through the slot....see pics below...

    i used 4" thin wall PVC piping and fitting for this project. was way cheaper than anything else out there (pipe and fittings). i used a 4" to 4" coupler (PVC to cast iron) to transition from the 4" outlet in the separator to the 5" inlet of the DC. all of the joints are not glued right now, but there doesnt seem to be any leaks, i did a mock up first and tested the joints quickly to see if there were any leaks, but i will test them later to make sure that there are no leaks. see pics below...

    now there was only one problem...how do i transition from the 4" DC hose to the 4" thin wall drain piping? so when i went from a fitting to a 4" DC hose, this is how i transitioned: fitting with a 2" long piece of 4" thin wall PVC pipe with a 3.5" long piece of 4" thick walled PVC piping cut to just under 4" diameter. see pics below....

    by doing this project, there are two things that i would do differently:
    1. make the separator wider than 17". i dont think i would go less than 20". just seems to small. it is working fine so far, i cleaned up all the dust in the shop from making the table and dust separator, but still i can see a lot of dust swirling around in the lid constantly. if the canister were wider, the outlet from the cansiter would be farthur from the sides and thus the particles may fall out faster into the canister....i may be wrong about this.
    2. the narrow piece of poly that i put in there to show the level of the dust in the canister may not work as effectively as i though it may have...its narrow and the dust seems to like cling to the walls in a downward spiral hence giving a false level of dust in the canister. after i removed the lid to take the picture, in the process i knocked the canister which caused the dust to fall and in the final picture you can see level of dust inside the canister. time will tell how this feature works for me
    3. i would make the top out of like 3/8" or thicker poly carbonate to get a total view of whats going on when the DC is on!

    well i cant think of anything else, so here are the pics:



    some pics of the Dust Separator:





    _________________________
    omar
  • chopnhack
    Veteran Member
    • Oct 2006
    • 3779
    • Florida
    • Ryobi BT3100

    #2
    Very cool setup Omar! Many thanks again to Phil from myself as well. I think that was really smart of you to install view ports Omar. I have no clue what's in mine, but like you woodworking has not been priority number one right now! Congrats on your cleaner air, your lungs will thank you
    I think in straight lines, but dream in curves

    Comment

    • herb fellows
      Veteran Member
      • Apr 2007
      • 1867
      • New York City
      • bt3100

      #3
      Wow! That's a one spicy meatball! Nice job.
      You must really be proud of that, I don't have that many pictures of my wife!
      You don't need a parachute to skydive, you only need a parachute to skydive twice.

      Comment

      • dbhost
        Slow and steady
        • Apr 2008
        • 9209
        • League City, Texas
        • Ryobi BT3100

        #4
        That is probably one of the fanciest Thien separators I have seen... Looks really nice. I like how you were able to fit it in the OE stand for the 50-760 without modifying the stand.

        Let us know how it works out for you!
        Please like and subscribe to my YouTube channel. Please check out and subscribe to my Workshop Blog.

        Comment

        • footprintsinconc
          Veteran Member
          • Nov 2006
          • 1759
          • Roseville (Sacramento), CA
          • BT3100

          #5
          thanks chopnhack, herb fellows and dbhost for the comments.

          i am glad i got that out of the way and now need to focus on getting my router table set up in my bt3...
          _________________________
          omar

          Comment

          • chopnhack
            Veteran Member
            • Oct 2006
            • 3779
            • Florida
            • Ryobi BT3100

            #6
            Goes without saying, post your ideas and thoughts on your router table build!
            Very curious to see what you come up with.

            After you start using it, let me know if you have any cyclonic action in your clear bag. I started to notice some on mine, not sure if because there are fines now starting to accumulate in the clear bag. I know for sure the 30 gallon drum is mostly empty though. My thoughts and from reading Phil's forum is that some of it has to do with the placement of the elbow and its tangential alignment to the canister wall. I am thrilled with mine too (50-720), works awesome, again congrats on yours.
            Last edited by chopnhack; 09-07-2010, 07:59 PM.
            I think in straight lines, but dream in curves

            Comment

            • Bill in Buena Park
              Veteran Member
              • Nov 2007
              • 1865
              • Buena Park, CA
              • CM 21829

              #7
              Looks great Omar. What kind of brackets/straps are you using to hang the PVC?
              Bill in Buena Park

              Comment

              • footprintsinconc
                Veteran Member
                • Nov 2006
                • 1759
                • Roseville (Sacramento), CA
                • BT3100

                #8
                thanks guys!

                chopnhack, i will keep you all posted on how it works. initial results are pretty good, however i thought had vaccuumed up more dust than what got collected in the bin. there is nothing in the bag, so it may have gone into the filter bag, yet to be determined with further testing.......

                as for the router table, i want to do something that Larry had done with his table. the one with the flip up wing....but once i get going on it, i will post

                bill, i used two different straps to hand the plastic pipes. initially i was going to only use the nylon straps, but once i hung the run under the wood storage shelf, i noticed it had started to flex, so i had to change the strategy. for each run, then i put a drywall screw into the drywall or wood, then got some thin guage steel wire that i use to hand pictures, wrapped it around the screw and the pipe. then i used the nylon intermittently and on vertical runs to keep them up against the walls.
                _________________________
                omar

                Comment

                • footprintsinconc
                  Veteran Member
                  • Nov 2006
                  • 1759
                  • Roseville (Sacramento), CA
                  • BT3100

                  #9
                  1st filled can of wood shavings ...

                  here are the results of me using my DC as the not just collecting shavings from the machines, but i now use it for vacuuming up the shop after wards too.

                  Pretty much all the stuff dropped off into the separator and there was about a cereal bowl worth of dust in the DC plastic bag. i am emptying out the can at the point where the dust had reached the bottom of the baffle. the peak of the shavings collected in the can was at the end of the cut out area of the baffle.

                  Here are the pics:





                  _________________________
                  omar

                  Comment

                  • Bill in Buena Park
                    Veteran Member
                    • Nov 2007
                    • 1865
                    • Buena Park, CA
                    • CM 21829

                    #10
                    Looks like its working great Omar, a testimony to your well-planned system.
                    Bill in Buena Park

                    Comment

                    • Pappy
                      The Full Monte
                      • Dec 2002
                      • 10453
                      • San Marcos, TX, USA.
                      • BT3000 (x2)

                      #11
                      Although my set up is to keep the machinery clean, I like your set up. Since I work outside the wind keeps the deck cleaned off most of the time. My separator barrel sits outside between a 3 port 'manifold' and the HF DC. I would like to modify the DC so the separator would become part of the DC like yours for 2 reasons. Immediate result would be to get it out of the weather (and out of sight) and, when I get the larger shop up, it would reduce the footprint.

                      I like the window on the side of the barrel. My 55 gal separator is made from a white solvent barrel from a car wash. With the sun out I can see the fill level, but the plexi window would be an improvement especially if it is moved inside.
                      Don, aka Pappy,

                      Wise men talk because they have something to say,
                      Fools because they have to say something.
                      Plato

                      Comment

                      • footprintsinconc
                        Veteran Member
                        • Nov 2006
                        • 1759
                        • Roseville (Sacramento), CA
                        • BT3100

                        #12
                        thanks bill. i didnt think that the 17" diameter would work, but i am glad it worked fine. i spend quite some effort making the can

                        Originally posted by Pappy
                        Although my set up is to keep the machinery clean, I like your set up. Since I work outside the wind keeps the deck cleaned off most of the time. My separator barrel sits outside between a 3 port 'manifold' and the HF DC. I would like to modify the DC so the separator would become part of the DC like yours for 2 reasons. Immediate result would be to get it out of the weather (and out of sight) and, when I get the larger shop up, it would reduce the footprint.

                        I like the window on the side of the barrel. My 55 gal separator is made from a white solvent barrel from a car wash. With the sun out I can see the fill level, but the plexi window would be an improvement especially if it is moved inside.
                        actually, i was glad to see that the side window worked out fine and isnt coming apart.

                        my main reasons of putting under the DC is that reduced footprint and portability. i can just pull the DC and take it to my other garage and i have the dust separator with it at no extra effort.
                        _________________________
                        omar

                        Comment

                        • dbhost
                          Slow and steady
                          • Apr 2008
                          • 9209
                          • League City, Texas
                          • Ryobi BT3100

                          #13
                          Originally posted by Pappy
                          Although my set up is to keep the machinery clean, I like your set up. Since I work outside the wind keeps the deck cleaned off most of the time. My separator barrel sits outside between a 3 port 'manifold' and the HF DC. I would like to modify the DC so the separator would become part of the DC like yours for 2 reasons. Immediate result would be to get it out of the weather (and out of sight) and, when I get the larger shop up, it would reduce the footprint.

                          I like the window on the side of the barrel. My 55 gal separator is made from a white solvent barrel from a car wash. With the sun out I can see the fill level, but the plexi window would be an improvement especially if it is moved inside.
                          Pappy,

                          Have you looked at Phil's forum? There are a lot of ideas over there. I am looking for a 30 gallon steel drum myself, I want to build a frame for the DC to lift the impeller housing up, put in directly inline with the inlet ring, and over a 30 gallon Thien separator. I want to do this for 2 main reasons. #1. Eliminate the hose between impeller and inlet ring. #2. Use less valuable floor space. LOML is starting to push to get me to make room in the shop for the big upright freezer that is in the kitchen now. She wants that space for a breakfast table, which I get to make... Not sure how to manage that, other than this means I HAVE GOT to get the lawn and garden stuff OUT of my shop...
                          Please like and subscribe to my YouTube channel. Please check out and subscribe to my Workshop Blog.

                          Comment

                          • footprintsinconc
                            Veteran Member
                            • Nov 2006
                            • 1759
                            • Roseville (Sacramento), CA
                            • BT3100

                            #14
                            Originally posted by dbhost
                            ......, I want to build a frame for the DC to lift the impeller housing up, put in directly inline with the inlet ring, and over a 30 gallon Thien separator. I want to do this for 2 main reasons. #1. Eliminate the hose between impeller and inlet ring. #2. Use less valuable floor space. ......
                            Those are two very convincing reasons to modify the HF DC....if you are making any changes, I'd do what he is thinking of doing...

                            phil's site is wonderful for ideas and suggestions!
                            _________________________
                            omar

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