Mini-Cyclone WIP >> UPDATE <<

Stuart Ablett

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Tokyo Japan
Well, I'm finally getting around to building the mini cyclone for my shop vac.

My shop vac sucks, as in it is not very good, it does a decent job until it fills up a bit, the paper cartridge filter works well too, but in no time at all the thing is full. I looked at buying a new one, a better one, but the one I want, an nice Makita is around $500 :eek:

I've been busy, got a lot on my plate as of late, so I did not take many pictures..............

HI370019.JPG

I've still got to do the inner cylinder and the air ramp, but so far the cone was the most difficult part.

Not sure what I'll do with the transition for the inlet, might just get the heat gun out and form some PVC pipe?

Should work fine when I done, the larger version of it works VERY well.

Cheers!
 
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Looking good, Stu. I've got a simple 5 gallon bucket chip separator on my shop vac, and it's made a world of difference. Yours will be even more effective, I'd guess. Having the extra container makes things a bit more cumbersome to move around, but I very seldom have to empty the vac itself...the bucket catches 99% of all the material. The vac filter eventually gets caked with fine dust, but I use the blue washable filters, so I just knock off the loose dust and wash it off. I've got two filters, so I've always got a dry one to use immediately after I wash one.
 
I've got a 20 gallon ShopVac, which I used the vacuum bags with. With the bags I can run for 100 times longer than using the blue filters and you don't have to clean up the mess inside of the vac, just change out the bag.

I used to do drywall years ago and cleaning up was always a pain. Those blue filters would clog up after about 100 sq ft of floor. The bags would allow me to do almost an entire house before needing replaced, so that's why I'm sold on them.

Nice job on the cyclone Stu, can't wait to see how it turns out.
 
Maybe this is helpful ??
 

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Well, it has been an adventure :rolleyes:

I got the "Cone" right on the third try, and the rest of it, fairly well on the first tries, but, on the air ramp, I gave up after the 7th try, I could NOT for the life of me get it to go right, so I moved on........

I put it all together late the other night (OK, morning:eek:) and gave it a shot..........

clean_filter.JPG before_empty_bucket1.JPG before_empty_vacuum.JPG

OK, there is the cartridge filter from the vacuum, I cleaned it with the LARGE cyclone, that is about as clean as it gets. The vacuum is clean, and the bucket in the bottom of the cyclone is clean too..........

after1_bucket.JPG
Well, there is the bucket, yep, has some stuff in it for sure.........

after1_vacuum.JPG
Uh-oh...... the vac has just about as much stuff in it :doh:

Darn, at that point, I gave up, and went to bed.....

.....the next day, I went back down to the Dungeon, ready to get to the bottom of this problem. I know the cyclone is built to the right specs, sure, I omitted the air ramp, but that should not have caused this problem. Usually, the main reason that cyclones have a separation problem is air leaks. I got out the silicone and started to fill every single seam I could find, or even think of.

after2_bucket.JPG
Boy the bucket full this time :thumb: Hope the vacuum is empty.......

after2_vacuum.JPG
Alright:D
Yep, nothing but the very very finest dust, the stuff in here is like talcum powder.

OK, now to build a bit of a cart for this monstrosity..........

mini_cyclone_cart1.JPG mini_cyclone_cart2.JPG mini_cyclone_cart3.JPG
This is not the "Final" version of the cart, but the basics are there. Sure, it is a fairly large footprint, but I plan to get a better hose for it, one of these.......

51B0P9YS11L._SS500_.jpg

.........the 15' Mr. Nozzle set up, should make things better, as I'll not have to drag the unit around the shop much.

I used it on the router today, boy it sucks! :D

A note on the construction, I used medium CA glue, and the Jelly CA glue, this worked well, after things had set up, I then used silicone sealant to back up the CA glue. With the accelerator sprayed onto the CA glue, I got almost instant bonding, which made the build very much easier.

Should have done this a LONG time ago. Just the vacuum, I can fill that sucker up just cleaning up the Dungeon, this new unit should take a little longer to fill up.

Cheers!
 
Looks like it works great, Stu. :thumb:
...Curious how it would work for your lathe...
I suspect it would be underpowered for sanding (and turning dry wood) at the lathe, since a shop vac generally is not up to the task. In the case of lathe sanding, it's all about airflow volume, as opposed to pounds of suction. With the cyclone, the shop vac is not moving any more air...it's just separating the debris better.

For other turning fallout (the wet curlies), I don't know of any turners who try to try to catch that stuff before it hits the ground. There's too much (you'd be emptying the barrel every day or two), and it goes everywhere.
 
This is not the "Final" version of the cart, but the basics are there.

Good, because that thing is ugly with a capital ugh. :rofl:

Obviously you've cleaned and reaorganized your shop far too much, as you're back to building floor eating thingies like this. what happened to having the vac hanging on rope from the ceiling above your bench?! :D

ON a more serious note. I saw your comment about using CA glue... but what is the raw material, is it metal? I didn't know that CA would bond metal. I didn't think there would be enough material at the edges for 'bite'. Learn something new.
I wonder if I could just take a standard plastic bucket with lid, cut out the bottom and attach a cone to it... Or maybe that's just more trouble than it's worth. But my old Sears shopvac is already too big, IMHO, so I sure wouldn't be adding a cone to make it even bigger. Seems like a business opportunity for someone to come up with an all-in-one arrangement.

but enough rambling. Happy Family day.
 
Art the material is glavenized steel, very thin, only 0.3 mm thick. The CA glue only holds things in place until the silicone adhesive dries, I have no expectation of the CA glue holding it together over the long run, as it is too brittle.

I used the Mini Cyclone tonight to clean up after roughing out a bowl.

Here is the mess after I shoveled up the bulk of the curlies..........

mess1.JPG mess2.JPG
and behind the lathe as well, this area is NOT easy to shovel, so I just vacuumed it all up.

mess3.JPGmess4.JPG
Nice and spiffy clean now! :thumb:

I'd been using the Mini Cyclone for a while now, so I wanted to see how it was working..........
mess5.JPG
Well, there is next to nothing inside the vacuum.......

mess6.JPG
Now the filter from the vacuum is no longer "Clean" but it really only has a very light dusting of the super fine dust on it.

mess7.JPG
Inside the dustbin for the Mini Cyclone, yep, lots of stuff there. I just pick up the bucket and dump it into the garbage, easy, and way less mess than cleaning out the vacuum all the time.

One thing I did notice on the inside of the bucket, some air leaks...........
mess8.JPG
........right now the bucket is just sealing against the circular groove I routed into the piece of plywood, I guess I need to get some weather stripping in there.

So far, I'm pleased as can be with this set up, sure makes cleaning up the Dungeon easy!

Cheers!
 
would a set up like this with the actual cyclone seperator work better then one of those plastic lid seperators you can get for 5 gallon buckets? i really like how clean that vacuum looks, mine gets so clogged it wont suck anymore after a short period of uhh sucking :D
 
Yes Mike, this system will get a very high percentage of all dust, that is drawn into the system, before it reaches the vacuum, a garbage can separator will not get much more than the largest shavings.

Cheers!
 
Stu, when you get those air leaks sealed up you may need to opt for a metal bucket. I have one of the plastic separator lids for my shop vac, and when I put it on a 5 gallon plastic bucket, the vacuum collapses the bucket sides. Now I use a metal bucket, and it stays in the right shape.
 
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