[Mountaincraft]

New addition to the shop!

Gotta do a bunch of plumbing and electrical for it yet, but just added the 'heart' of something I've been badly needing...

[CarveOne]

Yes, I would agree.

I have one of the G0548Z suckers also. I made a DIY double blast gate for 6" wood stove pipe after finding no other suitable pipe locally. Sealed the joints with black latex caulking. It connects two CNC machines to the dust collector. It's plenty loud, and really sux.

[Mountaincraft]

I was thinking of using galvanized vent pipe... (2) 6" elbows and (2) 4' x 6" strait sections to get it up and through the wall into the shop, and then building a plenum/dist. box out of MDF to split it up into the (3) 4" runs to do the whole shop... putting blast gates on every outlet at the point of use... sealing everything up with aluminum heat tape and caulk....

Thinking of using 3 and 4 way switches throughout the shop at the point of use to operate a 2 pole mag relay, and then I could operate the same relay automatically with the CNC rig once it gets rebuilt out in the shop....

[br1]

Nice purchase, is that the CSA certified one? Guess that really dosent matter as long as it helps clean the air.

[ger21]

and then building a plenum/dist. box out of MDF to split it up into the (3) 4" runs to do the whole shop

Bad idea. A box will kill your airflow. Ideally, you'd want to run 6" the length of your runs, and only drop to 4" if you have to. Keep the runs as straight as possible.

[Mountaincraft]

Bad idea. A box will kill your airflow. Ideally, you'd want to run 6" the length of your runs, and only drop to 4" if you have to. Keep the runs as straight as possible.

Not sure how I'm going to be able to afford to do it any other way right now... Having custom made sweeps and reducers could get pricey....

Here's kinda what I had in mind.....

[louieatienza]

You should be able to find a T-Y instead of making one... Nice buy, looking ot get one soon as well.

[CarveOne]

Mine is the green version. Keep an eye out for sales on these. I found it for $275 last year and jumped on it. (Probably won't see that again) You need hearing protection if it is not in another closed room. There is a DIY separator plate somewhere online that will fit it with a little modification to the drawing. I haven't made one yet, but need to find the web page again.

[Mountaincraft]

Mine is the green version. Keep an eye out for sales on these. I found it for $275 last year and jumped on it. (Probably won't see that again)

That's a really good price seeing as they charge $200 just for the filter canister... I paid $395 which is $50 off regular price...

You need hearing protection if it is not in another closed room.

Yeah, it's in another room...

There is a DIY separator plate somewhere online that will fit it with a little modification to the drawing. I haven't made one yet, but need to find the web page again.

fix what? separator plate for what?

[ger21]

Google Thein Seperator.
It helps to keep everything down in the bag, rather than clogging up the filter.

[Mountaincraft]

Google Thein Seperator.
It helps to keep everything down in the bag, rather than clogging up the filter.

Basically, a cyclone?

I was considering putting one of the trash can kinds in each of the three main four inch lines right before it entered the six inch main line... I was also wondering if I could build a large one that handled the six inch line at the dust collector....

But I'm getting the impression that the Grizzly itself can be modified to do this internally? It seems to have a some pretty serious cyclonic action going on in the clear bag as it is...

one thing that concerns me is larger chunks of wood hitting the impellers of the grizzly... Pieces as small as a nickle make quite the clang when they go through that thing....

I'm thinking that some sort of separator 'before' the grizzly would be even better, so that nothing hits the impeller.... Anyone have any plans of one that can handle a six inch pipe? Would be cool to use a trash can style separator right next to the grizzly... Would this slow down the air flow too much, or would it have much of an impact at all....

[CarveOne]

This is not the one I was looking for that goes inside the G0548Z with a can in place of a bag but is the type that goes inline before the G0548Z.

Building a Thien Cyclone garbage can separator - Woodworking Talk - Woodworkers Forum

[Mountaincraft]

This is not the one I was looking for that goes inside the G0548Z with a can in place of a bag but is the type that goes inline before the G0548Z.

Building a Thien Cyclone garbage can separator - Woodworking Talk - Woodworkers Forum

I prefer the external kind as it keeps 'chunks' from getting to the impeller.... and since I want to use it to sweep the floor, as well as hook it up to my compound miter saw and radial arm saw, 'chunks' will be part of the deal....

I'd just buy one from Grizzly if I were to go 4".. they sell them for $35....

What I need is this exact thing only with 6" input/output...

I'm wondering if that is just a matter of building it exactly the same only with bigger pvc parts, or is upsizing 'everything' required (including the collection can)

I guess if I 'really' wanted to do it right, I'd build an actual cyclone from sheet metal that sits on top of a trash can... Probably end up being a 7' tall monster...

[Mountaincraft]

What do you guys think of THIS ONE?
Worth building? Or would a cyclone do a better job?

Here's a video of it in action.... I'm curious how it works with larger chunks, and how much it affects overall CFM...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZSK88Hjl3A"]VIDEO[/ame]

[CarveOne]

I haven't had a problem with significant sized objects getting sucked into the impeller so far. A small solid piece of 1/8" birch plywood has gotten through in the past but it was of no consequence. Does make you say "ouch" though.

[adprinter]

What do you guys think of THIS ONE?
Worth building? Or would a cyclone do a better job?

I think this is the actual video which served as my inspiration for my cyclone design.... I basically built the same thing, with the only difference being, that I mounted the blower & motor (of my Harbor Freight dust collector) directly onto the cyclone box, which sits directly on top of a plastic 55 gallon barrel. The cyclone box I made features a 6" diameter intake pipe. For connecting to the main pipe in my shop (which I have yet to complete running the pipe). I am currently using the 5" diameter Y (with the dual 4" pipes) that came with the HFDC, with one of the two 4" capped, and the other connected to a 4" flex hose about 20 feet long, going to my CNC router.

So basically, the filter/bag of the original setup is now functioning as only a secondary back up system to catch the fines dust. The majority of the chips, and big stuff falls into the trash can. But the real challenge, was designing a dust shoe for the CNC Router, which would capture all of the dust produced. You wouldn't think so, but RESTRICTING the air flow (at the dust shoe end) actually IMPROVES it's performance in terms of how much dust it will pick up!

To demonstrate the concept, pick up the hose of your dust collector, and vacuum some saw dust. Now, cover the end of the hose with your hand (all except maybe a 1" area) and try vacuuming some more saw dust. Both tests will pick up the dust, but notice the speed improvement you will see on the second test. I utlized this in designing my dust shoe, and the only dust it doesn't pick up during use, is the occasional escapees blown out the top of the dust shoe by the air blast from the router.

I built MANY versions of dust shoes for my machine, and ran my machine with NO vacuum system at all at times. Observing the path that the chips would be thrown by the router. I noticed that my router consistently threw the chips to it's left. Therefore I located the intake of the dust collector hose to the router's left side. This allowed me to make as much use of the forces at work as possible (to keep the sawdust/chips moving in one direction as much as possible). But at the same time, I did not want some big honking assembly adding extra weight (to be lifted) by my Z axis on the machine.

So, this required several test assemblies, before I finally came up with one which works. It is basically a combination pressure foot, and dust shoe of sorts...... it "Floats" over the surface of the table on the tips of the brush strip. But the real secret to making it suck, was the realization that one must achieve a complete seal of the dust shoe against the work surface. This required the addition of a plywood "Border" around the perimeter of the table surface, so that when the router is near the edge of the table (and the dust shoe's brush strips would normally be hanging out into thin air) a membrane is provided for the brush strips to seal against. FINALLY! A dust collection system that actually WORKS! (Collects all of the dust!).

[Mountaincraft]

Bad idea. A box will kill your airflow. Ideally, you'd want to run 6" the length of your runs, and only drop to 4" if you have to. Keep the runs as straight as possible.

Thanks for the tip Gerry... Ran 6" throughout the shop, and this was definitely the hot ticket.. makes sense to me now..... Thing works great...