Dust Collector Trash Can

"tdup2" wrote in news:ShaVh.14$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe06.lga:

I made mine from 1 1/4" subfloor plywood and PVC pipe. It only fills the bags on my Delta 1.5 hp DC when I don't empty it soon enough. 2/3 full is soon enough.

Patriarch

Well, I have the observation that I know too much about how it's supposed to work to buy the plastic top for a regular trash can, as it's an abysmal screw-up that ignores how it should be built. As it happens I bought the Oneida cyclone/collector, but I'm happy to share what I know of how it should work, which might help you to either build one, or buy one that's built better. I know that some folks are happy with the things, so I guess the first question might be if you have it hooked up the right direction - chips should feed in the edge, and the collector should suck out the center.

As for doing it right: chips should feed in the edge as close to perfectly tangential as possible, with a straight run of pipe for the last several feet. The idea is to fling the chips along the edge of the can, so they slow down and drop out. The typical flex pipe leading to an elbow that's not really at the edge of the can is multiple forms of poor design.

The suction into the dust collector should pull straight up from the middle of the can, and should ideally be a large diameter vertical pipe for several feet (larger than the dust collector input) - this will reduce the air velocity and help chips to drop out (or keep them from being sucked up from the bottom). That pipe should extend some distance inside the can to help direct the airflow around and down before it's sucked up and out. The run to the collector can go back to collector-input sized pipe. Again, the typical setup on the trash-can-lid is not a good design, engineering-wise.

In the "properly built" commercial collectors, the separation function is separated from the collection area by having the separator funnel down before dropping stuff into the collector below. A more easily built, but still effective home-made method is to make the collection can as a rather tall box. The separator section should still be round, but the collection can be rectangular. Take a 30 gallon trash can, flip it over, build a weatherstripped box for it to sit on. Bring a 4-6 inch dust collector line in at the top (former bottom) so that the shape from above resembles these letters: "q" or "p". In the middle of the former bottom of the can, cut a hole to put in an 8 or 10 inch stovepipe or duct. Stick that into the can for 12-18 inches, and up as far as your ceiling or finances allow, before reducing back to 4-6 inches and heading off to your dust collector. When the chips in the bin reach up as far as the trash can opening, empty the bin. Everything needs to be well sealed, as leaks will stir up chips, as well as reduce suction at the working end.

Hope that's of some help.

SNIP

I've got the trashcan-mounted version similar to the classic Delta Shop Vacuum you saw in shops before they started calling them dust collectors. JET still makes one. DC-TS650

It's not a cyclone, nor is it meant to be. The intake is baffled away from the impeller opening, and has a J shape to decelerate things as they hit. Straightening this baffle has the effect of allowing more dust to enter the bag in mine. It's pretty obvious when things are getting full by the sound of the stuff hitting the fan, so to speak. PSI sells a unit suitable for mounting on your own home-built, so give it a thought. Nice to be able to roll the collector around from machine to machine in a small shop. Quickly converts to the appropriate pickup device, too. When used on my drum sander it can get to 50/50 settle and filter, so don't expect the world, but when sanding on the lathe with much less dust available, most settles.

Thanks for all the information and the time to respond. Lots of good ideas.

Tim

I used a Toro leaf vacuum/ blower from Lowes for $58 for my vacuum collector. WOrk beautiful, about 90% capture.

Walter H. Klaus