J. Phil Thien's Projects

1/30/18:  I've changed spam software and settings to hopefully prevent the SPAM onslaught I was experiencing.

It will no longer be a requirement to introduce yourself and then be approved for posting.  You should be able to sign-up and post immediately.

Of course, feel free to continue introducing yourself if you like, it is always nice to hear what others are working on.


***** Original text:

This is the official "Introduce yourself" or "Accounts w/o posts will be deleted after 14 days" thread.

One thing a great many people that join online forums may not be aware of is the large # of spammers that attempt to create accounts solely for the purposes of posting their fake Cialis ads.

The battle requires constant adaptation of methods to prevent their carp from being visible to all users.  And because the spammers use bots to perform their chore, a huge number of accounts can be created in a short period of time (think 100's in a 24-hour period, even WITH anti-spam controls in place).

I delete these accounts during regular housekeeping.  Basically, I delete any account with zero (0) posts that has not be active in the previous (approx.) fourteen days.

So if you create an account with the plan of posting something, and then don't follow-through, don't be surprised if your account is gone in a couple of weeks.

If you want to create an account so the system can keep track of new posts, etc., and you only plan on visiting once a month or every other month, just create a simple post (you can do so in this thread) introducing yourself.  That way your account will be safe from my housekeeping.

Thanks!

Hi! My name isn't Fytrius. I'm a dust separator addict. I've tried to quit but I have intermittent relapses. ;)

Hi - I just joined today and thought I'd introduce myself. I'm a hobbyist woodworker, working out of a largish two-car garage. Everything needs to be movable so I can pull the cars in when I'm done. 

I have an old ShopVac wet/dry vac that I roll around to whatever machine I'm using. I plan to build a silencer cabinet for the vac similar to the one in FWW #195 (below), and then put a Thien separator on top of the cabinet. Build in a couple of holders for attachments, etc., and I think I'll have a pretty nifty, small footprint, movable dust collection solution.


I also noticed that Mr. Thien has an article on making an alignment tool for a Ryobi BT3100 table saw. Hey, I've got one of those, too!

Chip
(aka drum365)

Hi I am planning to build one of this engineering marvels for my shop vac; as well as my total shop portable dust collector, thanks for all the great comments on this forum.

Just joined today although I've been reading the articles for a while.  I'm a lifelong woodworker (woodwaster depending on who you ask!).  In my later years I've taken up (again) woodturning and have joined the San Diego Woodturners, a really great club.  I last did woodturning back in junior high school.  I'm a great-grandfather now so it's been a while.  While I enjoy it immensely, the mess is also immense, so I just built my first Thien Cyclonic Separator.  I must say I'm impressed.  It works beautifully.  And my wife doesn't bug me anymore about all the shavings.  Thank you J. Paul!!!
I intend to post a short article on my separator build along with a few pictures.  Who knows?  It just might help someone.
I'm looking forward to lots more great projects!

Dave  (Imprimis)

Hi All,

I'm new here, looking to build a top hat Thine separator for my new shop.   Don't have a DC system yet, need to design and build  a system for my new shop.  Looking to meet woodworkers in CT.

JP

After 25 years of W W I am going to buy a Harbor Freight DC and try to make and use a Fein Separator.

Hey, I'm Shawn. Well now I know where my old account went.  :P Been working for years with minimal to no DC setup. Going to change that soon, and am going to be building a tophat to go with my DC that I have purchased. Been reading about the many interpretations of the design and find everyone's thoughts and willingness to share awesome.

Hi Folks,

Been reading the post for a few days now and decided I'd join the fray. 76 years young and as much as my eyes will allow, I am very much into woodturning. Just bought a new 16 gallon shop vac and right away knew I needed a separator. Since jt will be home made I have settled on the Thien. What a great design. I start building tomorrow. Thanks for all the great posts and responses to questions from those, like me, who are relatively new to this stuff. Since I hope to read a big portion of the posts, I'd better get started. Later.....

Phestus

hello new to the site hobby woodworker from making firewood to building projects mike652

Well newbie for sure. I just stumble across this site and glad I did.  Got  some hot tips here for sure.  Just started in the wood working.  Just about ready to retire I thought I better find something.  So I am giving this a shot.  Well anyway hey guys and I will be talking with you guys for sure.



Joe

Greetings ! I just joined a few days ago. Looking forward to building a few separators for stationary tools. I collect and restore vintage woodworking machinery to use, not just to look at.

I'm Allen-in-Sheboygan (Wisconsing, that is).  I plan on making a DC soon for my woodworking basement shop.

I'm a long-term amateur wood and metal worker in Kent, UK. Dust collection in my workshop has been a work in progress for some years but I'm hoping to move towards dust-free nirvana with a Thien cyclone.

phil, out of courtesy to you, I would be glad to know how you say your name.

Safe working to all

ega

I think I've figured this out so I'm on my third try to participate.
I have now figured out there is no drawing to purchase.
After reading a substantial number of these posts and reading the instruction page I have made my own drawing with modifications.
In the process of securing materials for my first small model version I discovered the internal dimension (ID) of 12" PVC-DWV Schedule 40 pipe is very suitable for a firm slip fit with the outside diameter of a 5 gallon plastic pail.
I will post my build soon.
If it is within the site rules I will give anyone a copy of my drawing.

Quote from: SouthpawFWA on January 21, 2014, 05:32:15 AM
If it is within the site rules I will give anyone a copy of my drawing.

This site is entirely about sharing.

I for one would love to see that.  :)

Hi everybody.  I have been looking for a dust separator and saw the name Thien in a number of Youtube videos which lead me to this forum.  I will be building my first separator soon.  Thanks for the great design!

I've been following this forum off and on for over a year and am finally getting around to building my dust separator.  I have a Jet DC-1200.  I will be redoing all of my runs from 4" to 6", adding the Thien separator, and exhausting outside.  My basement shop has a 6" planer, 10" table saw, 12" band saw, planer/molder, oscillating sander, and a portable 12" planer.  I need to get the fine dust under control from all of this equipment and am hoping my DC redo will do the trick.  My latest project has been making a Michigan shaped cutting board, photo attached.

Quote from: Harnell on January 25, 2014, 07:17:48 AM
My latest project has been making a Michigan shaped cutting board, photo attached.

Welcome!

Nice cutting board, did you cut that w/ a bandsaw or scroll saw or something else?

Coming over from SMC to learn a bit more. 

Thanks for doing what you do and posting the results.  I'm a thief of information.

I've been perusing this forum for a couple weeks now. I am slowly getting a shop set up in my basement and have been anxious to protect my lungs. Just finished building my separator and will try to get some pictures up soon. There is some fine tuning to do but I am pretty pleased with the result

Hi,
My name is Neil and I am in the process of re-working my dust collection system. I am still trying to work out exactly what I want to do, but I definintely want to incorporate some kind of Thien separator into my system. There is some great information in this forum.

Thanks,
Neil

Quote from: phil (admin) on January 27, 2014, 02:09:23 PM

Quote from: Harnell on January 25, 2014, 07:17:48 AM
My latest project has been making a Michigan shaped cutting board, photo attached.

Welcome!

Nice cutting board, did you cut that w/ a bandsaw or scroll saw or something else?

Used a Craftsman 12" band saw.  It was my first attempt at detail work on the bandsaw.

Hello everyone....I built a Thien baffle a couple of years ago (before this forum was available).  It has served me well. 

With the addition of a 12" jointer, 20" surface planer and 600+ bdft of rough cut maple, my shop dust collection is due for some improved performance.  Part of the improvements include: increasing the diameter of my flexible hose from 4" to 6" and changing machine dust ports sizes. So, I need to create a new Thien baffle that has 6" input and output ports. 

I thought that I would check the forum for any new developments.  I have been impressed by the posts of Retired2, so I thought I would include his design in my next build.

Howdy all. I found this site through Mathias Wandel's woodgears.ca woodworking website. I'm a hobbyist woodworker with a CNC router that makes plenty of dust, which I would like to do a better job of collecting. I'll be posting a build I just completed, using the CNC. Watch for the  "Tophat CNC Design & Build" topic.

Nice place you have here, Phil. And your separator is fantastic!

Best to all,

Brad

Hello,

My name is Hersh.  I've been a wood worker off and on for about 45 years.  I have made the thein baffle for my shop vac and I love it.  Now I have the 2 HP HF DC.  So I'm going to get started on a' hose system for my 24' X 24' shop.  This looks like a great place to get the info I'll need.  Any suggested would be appreciated.

Hersh

In case you couldn't figure it out, I'm Greg. I have a new twist on a Thien Separator I will be posting in thenear future. (THIEN DUST RETURN)

Recently retired ;D with my wife.  I've started to set up shop in the basement of  "This Old House."  I gotta  be creating something even if it is only a mess...in order to feel alive (translation..not grumpy) 

My main form of creating is bird carving using power carving tools, bits and wood burning tools.  Then I paint em with acrylic paints.

Dust is a big concern with power carving because I am always using fine bits to grind and sand the tupelo or basswood.  I've used a tabletop dust collector up to now and it has served me well. 

As I use bigger and more powerful machines, table saw, band saw, planer, router table drill press etc. the dust collection needs to be ramped up. 

Reading Bill Penz' articles on dust scares the "dust boogers" outta me and wonder if I will be able to protect myself, family and Jack the dog from all of the miniscule 1 micron or smaller particles.

I have a Harbor Freight 2 1/2 hp dust collector hooked up to an old Delta 10" table saw and a 12" planer and/or a router table.  So far I feel like I am heading in the right direction but always willing to get better results and techniques to do a better job.

I am building a top hat seperator on a 20 gallon steel trash can and purchasing a Wynn filter for on top of the HF DC.

I am impressed and thankful for you creating this site Phil... to help us create something that can change the lives of a bunch of wonderful woodworking enthusiasts and couple of ole farts.

I am contributing some time and even donating a couple of dollars for your efforts..thanks to you...you are changing lives..you should be proud to know that you have made a difference and one could even argue that your/our ideas have saved lives or at best improved the air we breathe.  Thank you.

Another new guy looking for answers.  My username is Kevin, but my real name is Kevin. :)

Howdy, ......... Always wanted a DC. Then, thanks to the internet, see that it more than simply going to the store and buying one, needing to mod them. Thanks Al Gore.

Hey All,
I'm going to be a bit of an anomaly here as I'm not a woodworker. I found the Thien Cyclone on YouTube and am intrigued. I've built a couple of my own coffee roasters to roast commercially and had the base model Penn State Industries cyclone (2HP!) for chaff separation effluent evacuation and bean cooling. To put it mildly it was overkill. I was roasting 10 pounds of coffee per batch so how much chaff do you think there would be? After roasting 500 pounds of coffee there would be maybe a gallon of chaff.

Anyway, I'm building another roaster and want to try something different. The new roaster will be a 5lb batch size, so there won't be much chaff to pull off.

Would it be sacrilege to build a Thien cyclone from steel?

How small can the diameter be and still be effective? I was hoping that 6-8" diameter could work. I have no estimate of cfm and don't know how to calculate it.

I'll post this in the discussion area too but at least I've introduced myself now.

TIA,
SlingBlade

Just found this site. I was researching the HF DUST COLLECTOR improvement options. Looks like all of you have solved that already. GREAT FOR ME  ;D

Anyway, might be new here but not new to woodworking. Started this "hobby" in high school so I could make mom a set of salad serving forks and before I knew it, WHAM, I'm retired and still working with wood.

BTY: Mom did get those salad forks and thought they were the best gift she had ever received. In fact, they passed on to my son recently.

Anyway, lookin forward learning lots here and hope I can contribute a little along the way!

REMEMBER, THE EARLY BIRD MIGHT GET THE WORM, BUT THE SECOND MOUSE GETS THE CHEESE!!! 8)

I just joined, I live in Northern CA, and have been doing remodel projects for about 10 years (not the same one). 

Started to get into serious woodworking about 3 years ago.

Have been lurking and reading here for some time but just decided to join up and participate this weekend.  Built a quick and dirty first build after I got tired of my dewalt planer clogging my HF dust collector repeatedly.    Now that I have something that works I will be building another one. 

Have to say that I am quite impressed with some of the craftsmanship and design skill that has be demonstrated  in many of the designs posted up here.

Brentley

Hello everyone, I am a novice woodworker, and am looking forward to building the Thien Cyclone. Also, where are the plans?

Thanks

Fred

Hi I'm new here, my name is ninja from china. my father is a woodworker. I want to build dust collector for him, and I'm a hobby woodworker. very nice to see you all

Hi, U probably want to build a top hat separator. This is the best build to copy:

http://www.jpthien.com/smf/index.php?topic=563.msg3024#msg3024

Let us know details of your build hopefully with photos and some results. Hope it goes well.    Bernard

Hello. Henry Blint.  Amateur woodworker.

 8)
Hi Everyone from the Land of Snow, County Mounty here from New Brunswick Canada. I've lookint at the Thien Baffle and yes I was Baffle until I started READING about it.. You know Men and Instructions lol. I like making dust and kindling for the garage and I've started Carving wood yup more dust and Kindling but I'm having fun. I plan on building one of these baffle to help remove dust in my carving spot and one for the garage. I'm sure the Mrs will be impress. Also looking at how to reduce the NOISE so she will not be able to find out where I'm relaxing because we all know that It drive's them .... to see us relax..lol she may enjoy my absence after being together for more than 35 yrs lol. Thanks for allowing me to see your wonderful ideas.
:-X

Hi everyone,

I am in the UK and do a lot of CNC machining for my hobby and for other like minded folk. I generally machine epoxy board, aluminium, MDF and Corian and a few other materials. As you can appreciate, these materials, with the exception of the aluminium, produce a lot of dust and my current filter bag gets clogged very rapidly and needs constant cleaning - not the easiest of jobs. In my quest for better dust and chip removal I have done a hours of googling and research and eventually found the Thien Separator - bingo!

My hobby is competition model aircraft, with an emphasis on composite materials, hence the machining of epoxy modelling board and the like. To achieve this I made my own CNC mill/router capable of 1800mm x 480mm x 120mm (X,Y,Z). I also have an 80W laser cutter, drum sander and large band saw, all ducted to my extractor.

I really need to make one of these separators and hope to make a contribution to further its development. To that end, and with the help of this forum, I have already drawn up a curved entry that I intend to mould in epoxy glass. My system uses 100mm ducting and the entry goes from 100mm diameter to a rectangular section 142mm x 54mm. I will start a new thread with the details and will be looking for advice also.

Many thanks for the forum,

Mike

Hey folks, my name is Eric and I am (odd to this group) a custom and classic car restoration guy primarily media blasting cars. However, a large portion of my booth work is with walnut shell media for very fine finishes on high end automobiles that you just don't take to any old idiot with a pressure pot and some coal slag. Anyway, not only do I want to build a Thien plate for my walnut shell dust, I want to design the plate to be adjustable in many ways (damper, neutral vane or otherwise manipulate the airflow) to actually allow fine dust to exit the exhaust while keeping the heavier media in the drum. I would then take the dust to another Thien collector optimized to take as much out as possible before hitting the vac. I am a mechanical engineer of 25 years by trade and do understand that running two of these devices (or cyclones or whatever) in series will make for a pretty substantial pressure drop. The purpose of doing this is obviously economic. If you were to research media blasting reclaimer cyclones in my industry you would quickly understand the raping that happens. Prices for reclaimation are absolutely ridiculous even if they are made of stainless with wear plates! I have substantial experience in 3D CFD software and hopefully I can contribute some info in return. Cheers! -Eric

Has anyone purposely tuned their plates to drop only chips and then exhaust dust? 

I'm a hobbyist woodworker in Minneapolis, MN with a basement shop (7' ceiling) in an old house. I've done some lutherie work but these days when I have time it is mostly home improvement. I've been looking for ways to improve upon my Jet dc1100 ever since seeing the dust cloud that wide-drum thickness sanding a spruce guitar top made through the canister filter some years back. Have been reading with interest off and on ever since the mention in a FWW article. Already have a better filter, but now looking for ways to keep it cleaner without blowing the budget or having to raise the ceiling or lower the floor.

Hi my name's Dan, I make sawdust.  Not much else, just the dust :)  Just picked up the HF 2HP DC and looking to add on the separator.

Thanks for all the great ideas and plans.

Hello all, my name is Fred. I am just getting back to cutting wood after a few year hiatus. I came across this and am very interested in both a shop-vac version as well as for my Delta 50-850 DC.

Thanks for all the great info.

G'day folks,
Long time lurker, having nearly fully digested most of the info! Gonna do a top hat similar to retired2's design (very GOOD, mate!) with wall mounted/transposed blower to my 20 year old Jet DC1200. Thanks in advance/arrears for all the help from everyone and mostly to Phil for the initial design. Cheers

Jim
South Coast, NSW, Australia

I just found the site a couple of days ago. I mostly do iron work, but sometimes need to work in wood. The saw dust led me to investigate DC and that led me to dust separators which led me here.

I just got a 2HP HF DC and plan to build a separator, probably using a 55 gal plastic drum.

My name is Leland Schultz and I joined this site to learn more how I can apply this baffle design to my DC system.

Steve Nelson here. Finally got logged in as a member. I'm currently building Phil's separator baffle for a Harbor Freight DC using 4" adapters and a 32 gallon metal trash can. If anyone else has done this, all recommendations and experiences will be greatly appreciated.   

Hi Steve and Welcome. My experience is that a 5" system would be better. Others here have said the same. 32 gallons is fine but you need to check out that the rim of the metal can is flat enough to get a good seal otherwise the plastic Brute can is almost universally used. Although it is a long thread it is well worth reading about and using the design here:

http://www.jpthien.com/smf/index.php?topic=563.msg3024#msg3024

Hi.  I am a retired Machine Shop teacher and have been woodworking for several years.  Currently looking for a new DC.  My old one is a hand me down WoodTek 1HP and I am using a Woodstock trash can lid.  Everything seems to work well but I am looking for something better.  Been reading this blog and seems that a Thien top hat or lid is in my future.  Thanks everyone for all the input on this blog for some of the best information on seperators i have seen.

Hello all,  My name is Matt and I've found this forum by searching for 'Thien' after seeing some info & videos on the web.  I have a 2hp 'cyclone' dust collector (I'll withhold brand name to prevent any blowback from company) which has a bad scrubbing problem, pulling dust & chips from the collection bucket below the cone up through the impeller and depositing them into the final bag under the filter at a high rate.  It occurs to me that I can probably fit a baffle below the intake and just above the cone and reduce the scrubbing, so I'm going to give it a try.  This seems a bit different than most of the builds on here, where people are buildling stand-alone separators or incorporating a top hat into a single-stage DC.  If anyone sees this who has used a Thien baffle to improve performance of a 2-stage DC, I'd be interested to hear any advice or results.

Best,  Matt
Juneau, Alaska

Hobby woodworker just getting serious about DC. Looking to improve the performance of my Powermatic 75. Have a 16 x 24 detached dedicated wood shop.

Hi,

I've got thoroughly fed up with cleaning out filters, so I'm going to make a separator to try and reduce that hassle. In my research I tripped over this site - and I'm hooked!
I've got a 5x3m workshop (shed!) that I've insulated but I've only got a 1.9m ceiling so I'm "vertically challenged" in everything I do - it can be a right royal pain.
Thanks for a great site.

Mark in NJ here. I'm just starting to research a DC system for my shop while making do with an overhead Jet air filter and a couple of ShopVacs. Started looking at the HF 2HP DC and most of the reviewers were talking about this absolutely necessary mod called a Thien separator...and here I am.

Welcome aboard, I use the HF 2hp DC with a Thien separator ahead of it.  Works pretty well. :)

I'm looking for the complete opposite of you guys research, as I want to use a dust separator to Fluff lightweight materials without going through the impeller - so tell me what does NOT work for you

Thx,
Fluffy

Hello Everyone. I am not a robot. I am a moderately-competent woodworker! I have a Harbor Freight Dust Collector and am building the Thien baffle to go onto a 31 gal. metal garbage can. I am daunted by the thousands of postings/strings/replies. I want to put the 90 degree elbow on the side of the trash can near the top, so my hose will not turn 180 degrees as it would coming out the top. Can anyone point me to any posts where someone has done this successfully, and anything I need to watch out for?

Phil - everything seems to be working fine now. Thanks!

Hello all, my name is John and I'm an over 50s woodworker, engineer, and like beer with big flavor.

I'm working on modifying my jet 1200 DC with a Thien separator and a MERV 15 filter. 

As a former mechanical engineer I've actually designed a few dust collector installations.  However this will be my first time messing with the guts of a DC. I'll start a thread so I can hopefully capture some knowledge and experience from everyone else.

John in STL

Hi Folks, I've been woodworking since the 7th grade and I just turned 74. Built my first shop in the early 60s. Started with a Craftsman radial arm saw. I then added a Shopsmith with a band saw. I now have a complete shop I only want 2 more machines, a Woodriver bench top mortiser and a Harbor Fright dust collector. I like the chip collector Phil designed. I need something for the huge amount of chips from my surface plane.  :)

Pop

My name is John. Just joined today. I have plenty of dust in my shop that needs to be corralled.  I plan on building the Thein baffle soon!

Thanks for the resource here.  I'm building a top hat style baffle for my small garage shop.

cheers,
-Josh

  I'm William Brown from Forest, VA.  I make 18th century reproduction furniture in my basement.... LineAndBerry.com

   My lungs are begging for a dust collector.

     --Bill

Howdy!  I'm Mac and I hang out in South Central Texas.  I am gathering up what I need to build the separator to help me keep the sawdust and metal chips in my small shop cleaned up.  I thank you all for the research you have done and shared!!

Regards--Mac

Hi,

My name is Jim, I live in Orange County, California. Very interested in building a tophat separator for my home shop: Grizzly contractor style 10" table saw, Delta 14" bandsaw, Red Star 14" RAS (under restoration), Dayton 12" disc/6" belt combo sander.

Does my account need some sort of vetting before I can post a new topic? I don't see an option to create a new topic when I view the forums.

Thanks,
Jim

Hi,
I am a newbie to woodworking. My shop is a small part of a double garage and is populated by low price equipment. Hence my interest in DIY Dust Separators. The forum seems to offer a variety of experiences and knowledge. Thanks in advance to all the contributors.

Hello all.
I have been wanting to get into woodworking for such a long time and finally started to take the plunge.  I have been lurking around this site and it has SO much information it is kinda overwhelming. :o  I have recently purchased a HF DC and I am planning on building either the lid baffle of the top hat.  I am looking forward to tapping into the wealth of knowledge that is here. 
Thanks for the site and thanks in advance for the forthcoming advice and help.
Happy New Year!

Hello all. Brand new here. Discovered Mr. Thien's baffle through of all places, YouTube! lol I've been an avid woodworker for 40 plus years, but had quite a spell where I just didn't have the time to do anything. I'm getting a shop back together now, upgrading/modifying some of my tools, building jigs, etc, etc. Just like so many others. I will post a help question in the next day or so, and hope you experienced folks can help me. Before I discovered the "Thien baffle" and all the separators built on it's design, I found a dust collector build on YouTube that looked appealing to me, and from the video I watched, it looked like it worked well also. So I ordered a fiber drum, and built it! Made a couple boo boos, corrected them, and finally thought I was done. Let me add also, that I don't own a DC, but rather use a 16 gal, 6.5 peak horsepower shop vac for my workshop cleanup tasks. I just didn't know any better! I can't really afford a DC right now anyway. OK, having said that, the vac works fairly well for what it is, and I get nice airflow through my new fiber drum collector/separator. But what I'm finding now, is the shop vac is "scavenging" some dust/planer shavings/debris, from the bottom of the drum, even when the hose is just laying on a clean floor, and not actually being used to suck up stuff. It's not extreme, by any means, but it's more than I think it should be. So I'll post some pics of my build, and ask for y'all to help me,and give me guidance/suggestions. Like any other subject with which we are unfamiliar, I'm learning so much, and have become fascinated by this whole "dust collection" subject. I appreciate all the hard work and experimentation you all have put into this, and hope to be able to contribute myself someday, to help others. Ok, enough introduction. Thanks for having this discussion group!  :) Oh, and I totally messed up, and put this intro in the "Here's the Plans" section. My apologies.

Hello.  My name is Jeff and I have been putting together a small woodworking shop for several years.  Like many others I have the HF 2HP dust collector.  I have known for a while that I wanted/needed to add a separator and have been aware of the Thien baffle for some time.  However, I was not aware of the wealth of information available on this forum until just about a week ago.  I have done a fair amount of reading on the site since (when I should have been sleeping) and it is a little overwhelming but very impressive.  My current plan is to build an extra tall top hat design with PTEG plastic sides.  I have gained many ideas from Retired2 and Rudy81 to name just a few.  It will probably be a few months yet before I start my build, so I have some time for more research before I start.

Phil, I want to thank you for your original design, your prototyping and testing, your continued insight, and providing and managing this website for the benefit of the woodworking community.  I also want to thank all of the other contributors on this site that have provided an unbelievable number of ideas and testing results so that we can all benefit.  Who knew, I think this internet thing might just catch on.  ;)

Hi,  I'm a wood carver and do some woodworking.  Have harbor freight dc and planning to convert to 2 stage.

Hello,

My name is Brian.  I'm a scientist by trade, but a lifelong woodworker--mainly home remodeling projects.  Lately, I've gotten into "timber framing" and just built an old fashion barn exclusively from hand tools--turning this into a workshop.  Just bought a DC and quickly saw a "Thien cyclone" would be a great addition.  Looking forward to make one.

I am a passionate woodworker but never had a shop class in school or any other training.  My skills, such as they are, were gained through much trial and error with some ideas from some good woodworking magazines, WOOD and WOOD SMITH.  I have a mechanical background and desire and that's about it, and I've been at this for over 25 years.  I have a 26 x 30 shop that I never dreamed I'd have and it is filled with all the machinery to make mountains of sawdust so a means of collecting is a necessity.  Years ago I built a cyclone collector from a plan in WOOD or maybe SHOP NOTES.  It has served me well but I chintzed on the blower and bought something that is really too small to serve more than one tool, not something you could run ducting to and service multiple machines.  Recently I upgraded to a Harbor Freight dust collector but I don't want to give up my separator.  I'm going to explore using the larger blower on the current cyclone but if I can't find a way to make it work, will build another but use the ideas Phil presents on this forum. 

Hello,To All those trying to breath easy in their shop. I'm new to Phil's site and have been researching the amazing Thein Baffle to use on the dust collection journey I am embarking upon. Let me just say thank you Phil for open resourcing your invention.
Just got a new house (well new to me )and have to redo my shop ,its a chore but its a chance to make all the improvements that was needed in my old shop.Outlets every 4ft and in the ceiling, more lighting,insulated and heated ,well away from the house so wifey don't bother me much And a dust collection to keep everything tidy to name a few.

Hi There

My name is Chris and I'm from Denmark.

I've build my first cyclone/baffle for a normal vacuum cleaner out of a 10L bucket, which actually was quite effective. My second build is on its way, and i wanted to share the process.

Hi,

My name is Jerry.  Long time woodworker always hampered by space and sharing it with the family. I'm a "young" empty nester now and can finally use my woodshop as it was intended (< 400 sq ft). I intend to make a small portable dust collector using a Thein separator. Looking forward to discussions with the group.

Thanks,

Jerry

Hi, I'm an engineer by day, occasional hobbyist woodworker when I can stop over-analyzing and designing projects.  I'm currently exploring ideas on how to make an efficient separator/filter occupy as little space in my 1 car garage as possible.

Hi, my name is Ray. I'm retired and have been a woodworking fan for many years. I have a very small shop now and I am concerned with keeping the dust down to the barest minimum. Whatever system I decide on will have to be very compact. I am most interested in scroll sawing at this time. I found this site by accident but it looks interesting. Thanks for welcoming me aboard.

Ray

New to the forum...most all of my woodworking activity revolves around carving and most of that is hand tool carving as I prefer it to power carving. Most of my power tool activity is in initial steps taking large blocks of wood down to the sizes and shapes I need for a particular carving. So I produce a good many chips in the carving activity that I pick up with a standard shop vac arrangement and everything power for me creates dust...some of it fine to very fine dust. Currently have a 1.5HP DC setup for that and a can with a Woodstock lid as a separator.

Hello everyone,
New to the forum as a member but I've read most of the board over the last year (lurker is such an ugly word-LOL). I like working with wood, have the usual hobbyist tools and a 3 hp dust collector with double 1 micron filter cartridges. Planning to build a top hat to protect the filter cartridges.
Many thanks to Phil for the effort in running the board and the original idea and all who post their work, comments and ideas.

Hi everyone, I've messed around with woodworking all my life, but am getting close to retirement and about to get much more serious about it.  Was able to do an addition to our garage so I have room for a real shop - so that part was/is sweet.  The next step is to figure out what to do about dust collection.  A shop vac with a Thien separator is looking like a very logical starting point even if it turns out not to be the ultimate solution.  Haven't poked around the discussion group a lot, but have picked up other good ideas already and look forward to more.

Hi everyone. I just joined . Wood working is not my primary hobby. My main hobby is building and flying radio control model airplanes .My secondary hobby is Audio .   I do use various wood working tools to build them especially the larger ones.  I have several questions re the Dust separator but I cant seem to find the button to post a new topic. Tks

Hi There
Names Roddy  , Im in London England, we have a small workshop and have just bought a Sedwick planer thicknesser . so were trying to sort out some useful extraction  - we'd appreciate any advise - ive just bought a 45 gallon steel drum with  a medal lid and band clamp , hoping that will be a spring board for getting the cyclone up and running  - any advise much appreciated.

best rod

Hello, my name is Jon.
I live in Las Vegas & have a High End Car Audio shop.
We specialize in exotic vehicles, building sound quality vehicles for audiophiles, & custom fabrication.

Sawdust has always been a problem & I recently became obsessed with making our system to run as smooth & efficiently as possible.

I can post a link when I'm able.

We're running a Grizzly 1028z2 with the motor/impeller flipped on top & a baffle in a can that I stole Retired2's bellmouth idea & air straightener.

For the bellmouth I used a 6" Aeroport from a precision port.
Fires right into the 6" inlet on the 1028z2.

Hi all,
Russell here and I am from the land down under, I have been working with timber and plastic for the past 10 to 12 years.
Up until now I have managed with a broom, dustpan and an old "shop vac" finally having completed restoration of a set of drawers and facing 3 days of dust cleanup  >:( my next project will be your dust separator.
I have looked around at suppliers and other plans and this seems to be the most compact, versatile and efficient unit around(not to mention inexpensive).
I hope to get started this week and keep you informed of the progress.

Hi, I'm Bjorn in Toronto (BinTO) – newbie to the forum and this is my first post.

My dust collection journey started with a shop vac with predictable unsatisfactory result.  Then I invested in a Delta 50-850 with a bag filter, which also proved to be unsatisfactory.  That was followed by modifications to the Delta (installing a doughnut to support a pleated filter cartridge (Farr 0.5 micron, 99.99% efficiency).  Vastly better filtration, but filter got filled with chips and dust fairly quickly, so the search for better result continued.

Then, I came across Bill Pentz 's Cyclone site and thought about building a proper cyclone, but never got around to do it.

So here I am having decided to do the next best thing – make and install a Thien separator baffle.

Will post about that project in the Separator Lid thread.

Bjorn

My name is Doug, journeyman union carpenter [687] for 15 years.

Am looking to start a thread, don't see any options to create a new thread so ..... What gives ?

edit: Nevermind figured it out, cookie issue

Hi, I'm Tim. I'm not actually a woodworker at all; I make knives and am trying to learn about dust collection systems so I can build one for my grinder. My plan is to build a Thein cyclone to collect all the metal dust in my shop. I'll put a spark arrestor fore and aft of the cyclone for safety, and I'm considering building a fire suppression system into the device. I can almost hear all of you wood workers saying "this is OVERKILL!!", but trust me, metal dust fires are SCARY!

Quote from: phil (admin) on October 16, 2013, 11:57:34 AM
If you want to create an account so the system can keep track of new posts, etc., and you only plan on visiting once a month or every other month, just create a simple post (you can do so in this thread) introducing yourself.  That way your account will be safe from my housekeeping.

Thanks!

I am just starting a wood shop in my garage and realize dust management will be important.  I hang out on lumberjacks.com and learned of the Thien cyclone separator lid and this forum.  I'm here to learn about this.

For now I plan to get a Harbor Frieight dust collector with a cyclone separator in line.

I am seeking info on dust extraction.Thanks!

Hi I'm Rod, I'm a hobby guitar maker (made  to date) and as most folks here, I'm looking at improving my dust collection and found the Thien baffle idea.

Thanks for a great forum folks.

Howdy,

I am Eric and a cnc router user in my garage in Colorado.  I have been using the Thien separator for about 4 years now on the top of a 55 gal steel drum.  Wonderful design and it has worked wonders. 

Thank you very much for sharing your design with all of us!

-Eric 

I am a hobby woodworker.
I have a chip separator made from a design in shopnotes magazine.
I joined to learn about the tophat design for dust collectors.

I bought a hf dc several years ago and am finally installing a wynn filter.

I thought this forum would be a great place to learn about Mr Thien's seperator and the tophat design which looks to save some needed floorspace and improve efficiency.

Hi folks,

I'm a hobby guitar maker who's also a bit of a tight-wad  :o so building my own jigs, tools etc is something I like to do.

I'm in the middle of making my own full dust collector system and going to build a baffle into a 55gal barrel which will connect to my DIY blower.

Great site and group.

Rod

Greetings from South Louisiana! I've been busy building a shop that is nearing completion. Construction is complete and I'm in the organize and set-up phase. I did a search and returned relevant results of older posts from the discussion forum, but cannot seem to access the older info. My point of curiosity - I intend to build a top hat version and want to leave a couple inches of material on both sides of the can rim for a wide stable ring. If my can is 22" in diameter, my "hat" will be 18". I am using a Jet DC650 and will move the hose to each machine as needed. Any particular performance issues with the "hat" not being as large as the bottom receptacle?

....or give me hints on why when I click on search results, I am simply returned to the most recent posts in discussion rather than the relevant topics found from 3 yrs ago. I'm sure this football has been kicked around before - I just cannot access the old discussion. Thanks, curlie

The smaller the D, the higher the velocity, the greater the resistance, the more the loss to CFM.

I'd advise making the separator as wide as possible, given the other parameters of your vessel.

I just signed on. I added a simple 30 gallon trash can dust separator to my Delta 50-760 dust collector in my work shop 6 yrs ago. This was not working at all. 95% of the dust and chips were in my collection bag. Only 5% made it to the trash can collector!! This week, I decided to add the Thien baffle to my trash can dust separator. I am very happy to tell you that my test run after installing this baffle (few minutes ago) was very successful! It separated out over 95% of the dusk and chips! Thank you for sharing your great design!! I did notice a great reduction of the air pressure in my fiber air filter bag. It used to be like a blown-up balloon when the dust collector is in use. With the Thien baffle installed, the air filter bag is having trouble getting blown-up! It is now only about 40% blown-up!!!  I have the radius of the baffle reduced by 1.125" per plan on the 240degree portion. Do you think I have to increase this reduction of the radius to 1.5" to reduce the resistance of the baffle to increase the air flow of the system??? I am sure you have already answered this problem. Help!!

Thanks for the suggestion! I will try enlarging the D. Actually, the CFM is now much better than before after I restarted the separator today. The CFM actually is now up to 90 to 95% of what it used to be!! It must have a clogged some where that went away!!! The separation is actually more like 95 to 98%!!! I will let you know about the results if I enlarge the D. At this point, I might not do anything because I can live with the present condition of losing 10% of CFM with 95 to 98% separation!!

Hello all.

My name is Nathan (NLAlston), and I hail from Amherst, NY.  Want to thank J. Phil for this very nice, informative and highly instructive site.  I will certainly learn a lot, here.

Hello, Call me Scott. getting into ww a lil bit...dust control is the bane of my existence.

Hello all,

Im Big Fred.

I have been looking for ways to "catch" the lint and dust from the dryer in my house.  Whoever put in the lint vent had it dump into the garage.

Would the Thien Cyclone Separator work for this application?

Hi Everyone

I'm Friedrich Elliott, live in Dallas. I'm a high school AP Physics and Engineering Teacher, also Head Coach of our FIRST Robotics FTC program. I'm creating a small Makerspace or "shop" at school for our engineering and robotics activities.

Like everywhere in our building, our little space is not partitioned off from the rest of the school's HVAC so anything I put back into the air goes everywhere. Therefore, I *must* have fantastic dust and debris collection. Researching these topics online eventually brought me here.

What an incredible resource and community! Thank you, Phil!

Hello,
          Just joined the forum in my long  search for a dust collection solution.This will be a long post since I kinda have a lot of research I am trying to find the answers to. I am student finishing up my degree, have been woodworking since a child but only in the past few years I feel have graduating into fine woodworking. To cut a long story short I have been researching dust collection for the past several months gathering information on the best DIY solution. Bill Pentz provided a myriad of information and research that explains the whole idea of dust collection. My original plan was to build a cyclone to suit my shop vac. I am sure anyone who has seen his research was overwhelmed, as I was, with the engineering of the task. But April Wilkersons' YouTube channel saved the day when she posted about the Thien Baffle. To make this short, I understand the 240 degrees drop chute as well as the placement if the inlet. I have seen baffles where the inlet is a simple 90 degree fitting, straight tube right into the baffle, or a small rectangle that takes the inlet tube then enters the baffle after a short run (much like the toilet bowl rides at the water park). Which way would be the most effective? I believe the 90 degree fitting is the easiest but understand fluid resistance I feel a forty five degree fitting would be better? Either way I will not be doing that method, as I think that the fitting interrupts the cyclone action. Another question was how tall should the the chamber of the baffle be. I see most plans having the baffle chamber being as tall the inlet to maximize the refuse space below. I will be using a 1.5 inlet possibly 2" but nothing much larger. I feel that the baffle should be be no smaller than four inches. That way the thien baffle begins to act more like a standard cone cyclone separator. If anyone has constructed one and found some results were lacking I would appreciate your input and will post my final results and some specifications that I found to be helpful. Potentially SketchUp model if this forum would benefit from one.

P.S. There were to many influences in my research to cite all of them, the above mentioned were the ones that stood out in the past weeks and changed my evolved my design greatly.

I've been butchering wood in my basement for most of my life and finally got tired of breathing sawdust. So, I'm building my DC system with Phil's baffle and Harbor Freight components.

New to woodworking and dust collection.  This site looks great.  Hello. 

Hi.  Looking to modify my HFDC with the Thien baffle and the WynnEnv filter.  Thanks!

Greetings,

First, thanks to Mr Thien and all on this forum for sharing your knowledge and experience.

The name is Don and I live in the Texas Hill Country (AKA God's Country). In April of this year I had an urge to become a beekeeper (Beek). After
doing a lot of research on the subject  I decided to jump in with both feet. However purchasing hives is but one of the many expenses a Beek must
face. After seeing several plans to build hives I decided to go that route.

I haven't done any woodworking since I was in Jr High and I wasn't a whiz at it then (almost 73 now). But, after many more hours of research, a
favorite pastime, I bought a Craftsman 113.197251 Electronic Radial Arm Saw to make sawdust during the hive builds. I quickly discovered my choice
of a RAS was made in ignorance so I bought a 10" Rockwell Homecraft Table saw. With money for new blades, accessories and other tools I could have bought my first two or three hives. Oh well...

The bottom line is I have a start on becoming a woodworker as well as a Beek! I don't need my beehives until next spring so I'll start by
reconditioning my old power tools and building a Thien DS so I can keep my Ridgid vacuum and my lungs healthy.

Thanks again and Warm regards,
Don Bomer...

Hi Everyone,I am Mike and I just joined.I am a wood turner and make flutes,bowls and hollow forms.I just love turning and so I have a lot of opportunities to make dust and want to learn a lot on here.I know I will.Thanks in advance for having and helping me!!

Hi all - just joined.

I was hoping to get input on a potentially unusual/constrained design for a separator but it appears I can't post new topics. I assume I need a certain length of time/number of posts before I can start a new topic?

Hi, I'm Tim, just joined. I make saw dust in my garage and sometimes there is something else leftover. I am intrigued by the separator lid...hope to take it on. Thanks for all the future information I will be absorbing.

Nope, no spam here.
I'm a real dust hating wood wasting person.
I'll post elsewhere later, but first have a lot of reading to do.

 :) A Big Hello To You, One and All.
My name is R Serr and I am new too this site and process's. I have found through the Years that I truly can still be classified as a Newbie, I am at that good ole ripe age where it takes along time to get it straight in my head what I read and what I see, for this I apologize! I didn't mean to do it!
I am Relatively new at my new end ever of becoming a wood master (hope I have time), I just turned 70 yrs old. Still have all my movable attached Body Parts and I hope too keep on Panting on to the end.
I hope I can keep My smile cause the good looks and the physic are suffering a big set back. That is what I hope everyone
here can keep in mind, if I loose my smile I will have lost everything. Thank You all for Your Patience and understanding, I am looking forward to Keeping ALL my fingers and meeting you all as the time gathers around us too swallow us all.
Sincerely: watch4it

Hello all, I just unloaded the bones of a Delta 50-851 into my shop. I will have questions. Thanks, Woody

Hello im a carpenter from denmark ... saw the Thien baffle concept by chance on youtube and now i bulit my own ... and already modified a few things .. i'll post pictures a a video later ;)

Hi, I'm a new member from Sydney, Australia.I'm new to woodworking, I started a class 2 years ago and discovered my new obsession. I was using a workshop vac for dust extraction. To protect the vac I used a 15 litre bucket with a lid with 2 pipe entries, the outlet had a simple filter cover. A simple but effective separator. I've now upgraded my machines and the dust extraction needs to keep up. I've purchased a Carbitec 1hp dust extractor  air flow is 500cfm. This machine is supplied with a needle felt filter bag, I replaced with a pleated filter cartridge( this should increase performance markedly). My new task is to build a separator to catch the first line of dust and chips. My first question is when constructing a Thien separator, what dimensions are required to accommodate the dust extractor with a 100mm inlet. To complicate matters further My space is limited, I am happy to have a small separator( which would require more frequent emptying, as long as it could handle the air volume)

Hi all,
This is an amazing site full of DC information. Many credits to all the contributors. I have enjoyed wood working most of my life as a hobby.  I am looking to retire in a few years.  Based on the information in here, I am making a top hat prefilter for a HF DC.  My biggest concern is pressure loss when adding the TH.  When I finish, I will post it some where in here.  I am trying to do a spiral wall so that the incoming flow is parallel with the return flow.  It will be easier to show pictures when its done.  I thought that this would reduce turbulence and minimize pressure drop. I'm using a bellmouth exit pipe and intend to use a simple X straightener.  I am toying with the idea of putting in a flow diverter between the bellmouth and the bottom baffle to help guide the air up the pipe rather than allowing it to spin.

Hi!

My name is Rich Morgan and I live in west central Wisconsin. I just completed a half-day project to build a chip collector for my Jet DC so I can use my planer without plugging up the ducting with long gnarly planer chips.

I used a leftover 4" blast gate and elbow, an old Rubbermaid garbage can and some scrap wood. Only out of pocket cost was $5 for the vinyl foam weatherstripping to seal the top. Works great! No more running back and forth to clean out the Jet inlet.

Thanks, Phil!

I'm Bill and mostly build wooden boats, canoes, paddleboards and oars. This makes piles of saw dust. I have a Delta DC but....well you know. I have tried some of the things Wood Craft offers that aren't much better. Then I discovered J Phil Thien and his unique design. I'm building one now. Thanks Phil!

Hi, my name is Ed and I live in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado.  Definitely not the place I grew up anymore!!

I have done tons of DIY things over the years, helping my father with projects at his house constantly and then purposely (insanity) buying a fixer-upper when my wife and I got a house of our own, 20 years ago.  I always loved the wood work when we did any project and have recently turned to WW with a passion.

I am in IT as a profession and I have found that that same troubleshooting/fixit mentality is how I approach WW as well.  I strangely derive FAR move pleasure in making new jigs/tweeking equipment, etc than the actual WWing projects....  Troubled :)

LOVE the tweeks I have found on the website and the sharing of knowledge is inspirational.

Upgrading my HF DC with a baffle now, have added the Wynn filter and looking forward to continuing my tweeking :)

Thanks all!

Ed

hi.

names guy. no formal wood training. mechanical engineer, ex aerospace. small garage style workshop. extractor is a kity 692
Technical data: KITY692 
Air capacity 100m3/h
Filter 1m2
Hose connection 100mm
Motor input power 230v 600w


ive made a plate from a bit of 18mm ply and a 205litre (55 gallon?) plastic drum

Greetings and salutations!

I am rekindling the hobby of wood working and have created an impressive amount of sawdust already -some but not all has entered my lungs and/or the house through the kitchen door.

I shall need to build myself a separator as my little shopvac is not enough (it gets full in about 2 minutes).
I am sure I will have questions and ideas...

Many thanks to all contributors!
Hasse

Just arrived.  Very interstedin dust collection.  Plan on building one of the separates in near future after reading further about them.  Everyone have a great weekend

I've been reading a lot about the Thien baffle and debated whether to make a Thien separator to go underneath the 2HP Harbor Freight Impeller/Motor or to put a Super Dust Deputy under there.  I went with the Super Dust Deputy because it is plug and play but my impression is that the performance is about par with a Thien separator.  I'm putting in a Wynn cartridge instead of the Harbor Freight 5 micron dust dispersal bag and I'm interested in whether or not a Thien baffle inside the filter ring would be wise, used in conjunction with the Super Dust Deputy pre-separator.  Would it result in less dust making it to the Wynn filter?  Would it reduce the CFMs being pulled much?

Fine Woodworking did an article called "Soup Up Your Dust Collector" or something a couple of years ago where they compared a Super Dust Deputy pre-separator to a Thein baffle in the collector ring, but I don't think I've seen anyone discussing doing both combined.

Sleetings and Granulations, it being December... though here in Northern BosWash we're still seeing temperatures approaching 60F.  (That's OK, we had plenty of white stuff last year.)

Brief self-description: I consider myself an educated novice as a woodworker -- I know a lot of the principles, can talk a good game, but am still in the process of setting up the workshop so I can actually start Doing Something. (Too many hobbies, too many projects, not enough organization.)  As a woodworker, I make a good locksmith. And as a locksmith I make a good programmer, which is my real paying gig.

Obviously the Thien Baffle is what drew me in here. (Or separated me out?) The most Baffling thing is why nobody invented it sooner; quietly brilliant, Phil.

I've recently acquired a Harbor Freight dust separator, which I'm planning to initially mod as per Vaughn's approach (http://www.jpthien.com/smf/index.php?topic=145.0 (http://www.jpthien.com/smf/index.php?topic=145.0))  -- though I'm still on the factory floppy filter rather than having converted to canister.  I think I'd like to initially try it without the neutral vane, for the sake of simplicity. (And because it feels like not having circulation in the chamber obstructed might be a Good Thing. Or might not.)  Is the 1/3-2/3 division still considered optimal for a side-injected chamber, or have folks concluded that it could benefit from a bit of fine-tuning?

Hi Im Todd. I have actually already built 2 Thein baffle systems so far. Well One and modified my Luguna DC16 with a Thein baffle. Both work very well but are both Shop vac systems. I have been wanting to put together a system that has more volume. My Small units are not supplying enough to pull from my Table saw at all. So I am going to work on a bit of a system upgrade in my shop. I am going to do a full modified Harbor Freight 2 HP system. For most of my shop my small 2.5" pipe system has done a decent job I want to improve on what I have so No I am doing a bit more digging on some sizing. I have been batting around using a 20 gal steal trash can but I am slowly moving away from that and leaning more towards a 55gal fiber or plastic drum set up. I am not 100 Percent sure on my actual runs yet I am thinking I will probably have 3 drops in my system 2 for equipment and one for a floor sweep.

My overall equipment consist of 10" table saw, 14" bandsaw, 1meter X1.8meter CNC Router, 10" Miter saw, 10" Radial arm saw, 13" Lunchbox planer,17" Drill press, 4" belt/6" disk sander and a Spindle Sander.  The only real stationary equipment is my Miter and Radial Arm saw witch share the same bench and Drill press.. All of my other equiment is on wheels for the most part so they can be moved around when I need build space and such. Right now I have zero dust collection around my drill press so I am leaning towards my one floor sweep drop being near my drill press.

Hello, my name is Harry and would like to thank Phil for his wonderful seperator design!

Harry

I'm a long time woodworker who is tired of sweeping up sawdust.  I've had a Shop Vac for years, but typically only use it to get where the broom can't.  I've long wanted a real dust collection system, but haven't had the budget.  A month or so ago, I stumbled across this wonderful thing called a Thien baffle.  I could afford that!  Over the last few days I've built my first.  I had everything I needed in the shop so it cost me nothing but scraps.  I used a 30 gallon galvanized steel trash can, a tophat Thien separator, then set my 10 gallon shop vac, minus the wheels, on top of that.  I cut a hole in the bottom of the shopvac and gasketed it directly to the top of the separator.  It works really well.  There is never any sawdust in the shop vac, but fine dust is getting to the filter.  Once, the design is done, I'm going to replace the old ShopVac filter with one of the Gore Cleanstream fiters to improve filtration.  That's all for the introduction, I have some questions on refining the separator, but I'll post those in the separator forum.  Thanks to all, especially Phil for sharing his hard work with the world.

Ok, I am able to hit the reply button. I have built several variants over the last three years of the Thien baffle. I have some ideas and comments I would like to share in the forum. I have comments. I am now looking to build a one-off variant and would like to pass some of it in posts to come for review and comment. I have a first post in which I would like to clarify a few items in a way I see them and how they have already been implemented.

Post - if allowed - Disclaimer: I am only presenting common knowledge, approximate dimensions and other information for sake of discussion regarding the topic presented, that if in reality matches/conforms any actual product produced by anyone other than myself is nothing other than coincidence and is not related to any actual attempt to reverse engineer or infringe on the rights of any specific person or entity. Any post that I present as my knowledge or design is so and is presented in an open source style of information for use by anyone except for and excluding those I have specifically hold existing Patent rights to. Any idea presented is at own risk to anyone adopting such idea or suggestion. Yes, I am a US Patent holder and yes I am an engineer. Those facts do not make me an expert - am I am willing to learn, concede to a reasonable theory, talk and discuss in an open and productive manner. Call me whatever you wish, to my face or behind my back, as long as we can get results. I represent NO institution, company or related entity regarding my post and if I ever/should my status change I will divulge such change.

Hi there! I have been following for a while and decided now is the time to get serious. I got a Harbor Freight DC for Christmas (from myself) and now I need to get busy. Hope to be posting soon.
I'm really impressed by the work Phil and others have described here. I hope I can contribute.

Hi!  Maker of fine sawdust here.  Weekend Dust Warrior.  Just got myself a Harbor Freight dust collector for Christmas.  Getting the stuff together to make a tophat for a Brute trashcan.  I've got a Wynn filter ordered, and plan to order a Rikon impeller soon.  Planning to open the inlet to the HF blower to 6".  Wanting to see what I can do to make the transition from the output of the HF blower to the inlet of the HF collector as efficient as possible.

Yada Yada Yada

Hi Everyone,
After reading about 1,000 posts and getting up to speed on the ins and outs of dust collection I feel I may be able to contribute and add to the knowledge base.
So, I joined up.
Me, I have a 4 person industrial design practice, mostly lighting and lighting design. I like to do a lot of the prototype building myself and have a 1-car size shop with many hand tools, mostly Japanese, a Felder Hammer C3-31 saw/JP/router/thickness planer combo machine connected to a Delta DC, and an RF31 mill/drill.

Thanks to all for the shared information.

Brian

Brian Van Ness

I'm about to get into the mass chip producers and my CT mini Dust Deputy combo isn't going to cut it.  I found this community when I was looking for alternatives to spending $1,000+ on an all in one dust collection solution.  I've read many of the posts here and like to build my own baffle, but need to get a dust collector first. 

Hi Everyone,

Ingenious idea! stumbled across it after looking for a way to reduce the number of dust bags we use. I'm interested in making a Thien baffle to allow better dust collection and more effective removal of fines from the exhaust air.

See you in the discussions!

Hello Everyone,

My name is Keith Huffaker. I've been a creator of sawdust for several years. I'm in a new house and have limited space for my wood shop. I own a HF 2hp dust collector but have not uses it much due to my limited time. My next project is a Thien baffle and have enjoyed to wealth of information, knowledge and experience found here! Thank you all for taking the time to post your successes and failures! Phil, Retired2 and many others have been a huge help as I plan my system. I'm glad I took the time to read the entire thread "Rectangular Inlet, Bellmouth Outlet with Air Straightener, Top Hat Separator".(All 15 pages and 222 replies!) I changed the plan in my head at least 5 times as I read through the posts!  :o Highly recommended for anyone about to build their own. You never know how someones response might relate to your own build.

Hope to post my build soon!

Keith
Measure once, cut twice . . . or is it the other way? I forget.

Greetings

my name is Stephane, I'm 41, and from Reunion island (that's in the Indian Ocean, near Madagascar)

I've been reading a lot for a year now, since I started to learn everything I could about woodworking, as I like to do things with my hands.

I'll try soon to build a thien separator in a systainer 5T dropped on top of a festool CTL SYS:)
I did say try to because I'm a real newbee in this world, so it'll be a real experience for me.

stephane

Hello,

I'm not really a wood worker... just a home worker ;-)

Well... Now, I'm a home worker, Thien's fan ;-)

Pierre

Hello, I am Owkaye.  I want to build a dust collector.

Hi all - I just purchased a HF 2HP dust collector for use in my home workshop, and I'm interested in building one of these separators.  It looks like it will be a great addition to the unit.  I have a smaller Oneida dust deputy on my shop vac, and have been very pleased with the performance of that unit in separating out dust and chips, and in keeping the filter clean. 

My thought right now is to keep the dust collector unit in a separate store room adjacent to my workshop and run the piping through the wall into the workshop.  I think this will reduce the noise level, and should also further reduce dust in the shop.  I'm also considering purchasing a Wynn filter as a replacement for the stock filter bag on the HF unit.

Thanks Phil for creating the separator design and for hosting this site. 

-Alex

My name is Bill Cromwell, I just joined today. I am getting into wood working and one of my first discoveries is the amount of
dust and chips created. Research on you tube sent me here to learn the details of the baffle. I read it can be scaled for large dust collectors. I would like to learn the details.

Hi Phil and all. Glad to have found your site Phil as well as the discussion forum which I am finding invaluable in my HF DC modification research.

Hi all.  Just bought a new house and it came with a 40x25 insulated metal building with it's own 9' roll up door and paved driveway with attached 25' carport over the overhead door.  Main reason was a place to park the RV's and to use part of the shop as a kitty condo for our cats.  By the time I'd got done building that with the spiffy new Ridgid 4512, the woodshed bug hit full tilt. My dad had a killer workshop in the garage as a kid, and my lovely new wife started saying things like "crown molding throughout", "display cases", "pergolas" and "raised flowerbeds".   The net result is tonight I'll be picking up a band saw, drill press, VSR router and table to go along with the 12" double bevel slider miter and Delta T3 fence for the 4512 I got last week.

This of course means a LOT of dust.  I read about as much of Bill Pentz's site as I could handle before even my engineer geeks brain could accommodate in one sitting, and while I fully get the whole fine dust thing, I just wasn't ready to drop $2K on a collection system.  Then I discovered the thing Bill should have put at the top of all his very fine (and very wordy) articles:  If you can vent outside you can ignore 95% of this site. 

That being the case I'm heading down the HF separator (stealing just the intake and blower bits) with a trashcan Thien separator in front and exhausting the blower out one of the shop windows.

Fortunately, until I get this thing built I can just wheel the saws and whatnot out the 9' door and do all the cuts outside under the carport part.  I'm not sure if I'm going to go the whole blast gate and PVC pipe route yet, and may just start with hose for the current tool in operation, but I'm fairly convinced with an external exhaust the core of the rig being the HF blower with a trashcan Thien separator will do what I need it to do.

So with that in mind I come here to read up on what I need to know. 

Cheers,

Mark

Hi all, I have been a fan and user of Phil's baffle for close to 10 years now and never knew he had a Forum!  And Phil - I felt like I was taking the woodworker's SAT just to register!  :o

I am a hobbyist woodworker, doing various flatwork and now a whole lot of turning.  Looking forward to seeing what improvements I can make to my setup.

Quote from: Bill in Buena Park on March 16, 2016, 05:12:04 PM
Hi all, I have been a fan and user of Phil's baffle for close to 10 years now and never knew he had a Forum!  And Phil - I felt like I was taking the woodworker's SAT just to register!  :o

LOL, we need to maintain high standards to keep out the riffraff.

Every time I've relaxed those questions, spammers start signing up and posting all sorts of porn or links to online pharmacies, stuff like that.  Of course, I have to okay the first post, but they seemingly consider it a "win" even if only I see their post before canning it.

But I will confess some people get downright perturbed at the registration questions and send me fairly annoyed E-Mails.

Hello everyone,

My name is Luke and I'm in Idaho and am an amateur woodworker, and have always loved building things and anything DIY.
I've been on this site quite a bit the last year and am in the middle of building my Thien Top Hat.  I just wanted to introduce myself first, and to say many thanks to Mr. Thien for his willingness to share his designs with all of us woodworkers, it is very appreciated!

Please check out my Thien Top Hat build and share your comments or suggestions!

Luke

Finally registered. I am planning to build a 5 gallon paint can separator using a recycled upright vacuum cleaner. To reduce required storage space  I have disassembled the vacuum, modified base to allow for rolling the bucket around shop, reinstalled handle to store cord and facilitate placement , and plan to attach vacuum motor to top of bucket lid. Discharge from motor will go into original vacuum bag. Vacuum inlet fits nicely to 2 inch pvc pipe. 1 gallon plastic paint can with ventilation holes nicely covers motor and exposed moving parts.
Now off to HD for some hose and fittings.
More to come
Gene

I'm a long-term amateur wood and metal worker in Lake Charles, LA. Dust collection in my workshop has been a work in progress for some years but I'm hoping to move towards dust-free nirvana with a Thien cyclone.

Recently completed the construction of a Top Hat Hood.  Still working on how to fine tune to allow maximum suction force.

Would appreciate any advise based upon the following:
FLA via nameplate - 7.5amps
6 inch line to Top hat 6.85 amps
with Top at on an (2) 4 inch lines open - 5.38 amps

Greg2409

Hi
Luv wood projects. I've done a lot by hand, and now that I'm retired, I have invested in some quality machines. As usual building means questions, and I'm glad to join this forum!

Just  joined the forum this morning.  I am a hobby woodworking enthusiast and have recently taken up the challenge of modifying my friends and my dust collectors to reduce/eliminate the collection of dust and chips in the upper filter shortening the clean life of the filter and reducing the overall collector capacity.  My first effort was to modify my Canwood 850 CFM unit.  Won't take the time here to tell you what I did but suffice to say that the results were only marginally successful.  My second go was to a Craftex 1250 CFM unit with almost acceptable results.  Realize now that I should have done some research first as there are several examples of mods attempted.  I haven't had the time yet to read the many post on dust collection but will do so before posting or asking too many silly questions.  This forum certainly looks to be very interesting. 

Hi.  I am Clark.  I got here by sort of a weird path.  I started out researching rocket mass heaters.  That lead to keeping the fly ash out of the horizontal chimneys which lead to vortex type cleaners.  Apparently a number of people have gone that far and found that it generates to much heat lost and/or to much back pressure to work.   That left me wondering if they were doing it correctly.   That lead me to the DYI stuff for wood working hoping for a better answer and left me looking for low back pressure low surface area answers that might apply which eventually lead here.

So has anyone tried this as part of a rocket mass heater build?  My thinking is to shorten the length of the J tube and put a mildly shorter top hat design in below the heat riser. 

Heat loss is surface area so the chamber size need to be as small as possible and as close as possible to spherical or worst case a cube.  Problem is the material to be separated is all really fine fly ash to which bigger is better and I understand that too.  Are there tables here some where of pipe size with  velocity and separation quality information in some form.

Beyond that though having been a shop nut for my whole life I can't help looking at the current designs for wood working and thinking I can easily do that for wood working and fume ventilation.

So the next question is there a list of things that were tried and failed or succeeded with various designs.   Of the changes that I would like to try I have seen 4 or 5 shot down and 3 that actually seem to have improved things from the reading starting forward from the original baffle design..  But that still leave a list of other thoughts I haven't crossed off the list yet.   If this is stupid questions ignore them.  I will get to it reading on.

1. If the blower is mounted directly in the outlet has anyone tried spinning the outlet pipe with the blower to reduce friction in the chamber.?  This might also include spinning all or part of the ceiling of the chamber with the blower?  This one is totally going with air flow if I understand it right so it should help.

2.  What about a spinning disk on the baffle plate?  If it spun freely with air flow it would reach some speed between static and air flow but should manage to reduce internal friction.  It might be pumping air the wrong way because the centripetal acceleration is fighting the tumbling effect of the air is why it might not work.  This one is way more questionable

3.  What happens if the chamber opens to a bigger diameter up below the baffle plate?  Conservation of angular momentum would seem to say that it would help with separation if I understand the air flow correctly.  The particle should be slowed horizontally by its outward trajectory transferring energy from forward to outward while maintaining most of its vertical velocity which should improve separation. 

4.  Has a key hole in the baffle groove been tried to provide a place for larger stuff to fall through?

Finally are there good pictures somewhere of what the air flow is doing?  I think I understand what is happening above the baffle and would like to confirm it.  But the air flow below the baffle literally has me baffled.

Good Day Everyone! My name is Varp and I'm currently building a mobile Shop Vac cart with on-board Thien Sepparator and a Dewalt 735 on top. I've got some questions to and figured this forum would be a good place to start!

Cheers,

Varp

Greetings.

I'm a novice woodworker and "LumberJacks" refugee (I had to search the registration questions, blush.)

I'm building a new shop from a corner in a large garage in our new house.  I'm paranoid about dust, so I'm spending a lot of time trying to figure out how to outfit the shop.  I have the option of working in the driveway for part of the year, and will be able to vent to outside and even put equipment in an adjacent outside covered area, but I have to figure out what equipment and ductwork.

Of course as a DIY guy, the whole DIY flavor of the Thien baffle is attractive!

..later...

Hello! I'm tired of my shopvac's inability to control the dust in my basement shop, so I'm about to start putting together a fully DIY dust collection system. I'm excited to experiment with the Thien Baffle!

Thanks Phil, for a great baffle and forum!
I have been lurking for a while and thought I would finally join.
Amateur woodbutcher since the 7th grade, which was quite a while ago.  :)

I was tired of my older Rigid shop vac getting clogged so fast, so I was looking for something to help. Stumbled across the Thien Baffle in various places, landed here for ideas and finished my version yesterday. Will post to the shop vac discussion once approved.

Next up is a Top Hat based on retired2's version for my old Delta small dust collector.

Hi Phil, I'm Nico from Argentina (sorry if my english it's not quite well). And I'm starting to work with wood on my own.

First of all, thank you for posting your Cyclone Lid proyect, I was looking for a home-made system for my shop and I don't remember how I had founded your proyect. It seemed well to me so I decided to build my own following your model the closest I could.

So, I bought a home vac without bag Samsung 2000W (Half price) and get myself a barrel (it's seems to be MDF or something like that, with aluminium rings), then I went to the shop and get some PVC tubes including the elbow, and a threaded rod to make the spacers.
I've finished it a few days ago, and I find out that a terrible thing happened.... When everything it's connect and the Cyclone it's working (it works very well) it began to make an annoying and acute sound (like a metalic thing vibrating).

I've tried to cover the threaded rod with silicone, to cover the upper metalic ring with a cloth, and even to fill the "C" cut from the PVC elbow...  but nothing happens  :-\

So I've decided to write to you, thinking that you might have the ideal solution to my problem here.. Can you help me out? I don't understand much of this type of systems and I'm a bit confused..

I atach a video and some photos that I took today.

youtube:  /vJWIUt7xdXY

( I've tried to post this on a topic or send you a private message but that options seems to be blocked to me, sorry if this it's not the place for this kind of things.)

Every help would be a relief,
THANK YOU!!!

Attempted a "search" regarding mods to HF's 2hp collector and found I had to register. I'm here to improve my (initial) Thien baffle build, utilizing said collector in a 2-stage system.

On first test it collected (by eyeball) 50% of the dust/chips in the 55 gal barrel and 50% on the baffle. During the test the inlet was fed by a 2.25" hose, outlet to the impeller is 6" HVAC duct, inserted to just above the HF's cone (about 4" into the 10" tall cylinder). I'm trying to decide if the problem is lack of air flow (due to a too-small feed hose), height of the outlet above the baffle, or some other issue.

Hi there.
I am a hobbyist ww from Spain and I am planning to make one of your baffle separators. I don't know if this question has been asked before but what would happen if the baffle was made conical in an inverted funnel shape, would it perform better or worse? I am a complete ignorant about dust collection so please bear with me. I just think that it would help the dust not to stay in the baffle and fall down if any stays at all. My assumption is that being conical upwards it wouldwould be more difficult for the dust to climb up spiraling to the center outlet.

I insist, this is a complete newbbie question, so don't get mad at me. 

Quote from: Toni C. on June 15, 2016, 06:06:20 AM
Hi there.
I am a hobbyist ww from Spain and I am planning to make one of your baffle separators. I don't know if this question has been asked before but what would happen if the baffle was made conical in an inverted funnel shape, would it perform better or worse? I am a complete ignorant about dust collection so please bear with me. I just think that it would help the dust not to stay in the baffle and fall down if any stays at all. My assumption is that being conical upwards it wouldwould be more difficult for the dust to climb up spiraling to the center outlet.

I insist, this is a complete newbbie question, so don't get mad at me.

No dust stays on top of the baffle, there is no need to make a funnel, and the funnel can work against you as the debris builds below.

Hello there,

My name is Kip and I came to this forum to plan Thien separators for 10", 7", and 6" ducting.

Been lurking for a couple months, finally need some help to figure out my DC situation.

I currently use my router/saw on the driveway and do lighter stuff in my basement.

My only DC is a 6hp Rigid shop vac that I set up on whichever tool I'm using.

I'd like to upgrade my vacuum and use the corner of my basement for more of a 'shop' (probably 12'x12') for some smaller woodworking stuff.  I'd still be able to use the driveway/garage for serious sawdust creation (thickness planer, serious routing ...), but would really like to work in the basement.

I can exhaust to the outside from that side of the shop and don't mind moving the DC from tool to tool.

If you were starting from scratch, how would you proceed?  I'd really like to 'overkill' the CFM, use a cyclone + filter and exhaust outside when the weather is nice.

Tools:  Router table, track saw, drill press, sanding station, jigsaw, hand tools ...

Ideas?  I thought about going directly with the Grizzly G0777HEP and only using the HEP when it was too cold/hot outside to exhaust through the casement window.

Or, if I knew what DC to start with (Harbor freight, Delta, Grizzly ...) I could build a kick butt Thien separator and then exhaust to the outside with whatever sneaks through?


Thanks,
AJ

Hi, Thanks for all the info, research, trial n error that went into your projects and plans and then sharing with rest of us struggling to sustain our in home hobbies and still keep an amicable relationship with our families.

Think 'Dust Collecting' is sad past time when I consider all the time, money I've invested researching/devising ways to keep my small basement shop cleaner without cluttering it up even more with tall cyclones and a jungle gym of piping, not to mention putting up with the roaring jet engine and reverberating sound chamber concerto whenever there is constructive activity in the shop. Am obsessed with objective, but wish evolution would get closer to a reasonable conclusion.

Have built, but never installed an early adaptation of a 4" inlet cyclone from an old article in Wood Mag, only to abandon it after visiting  B Pentz' website. Quickly fell into a downward spiral of depression, settling in the dust bin about what is best system and method to manage dust in my small shop. Was convinced I would surely die at an early age of some respiratory ailment if I didn't construct the whole shabang with 6" ducting. Ruefully admit that was several years ago and I have since constructed components for, but not assembled,  a better designed cyclone with spiral ramp, built a 3hp blower/housing with custom impeller, purchased expensive drum filter and still not committed to completing project and installing 'ductwork' that would make plumbing and other utility access a royal pain. Have learned much in the process, but still aching for reasonable solution.

Started viewing 'youtube' videos on DC and came across the 'Thien separator'. After months of viewing/rethinking ideas and my situation, have come to conclusion, two small, short run, 1hp DC systems with your separator design will 'hopefully' better suit my needs. Thought I heard a faint sigh of relief coming from my poor shop vac (recently upgraded with mini-cyclone and drum) when I had a verbal "Aha!!!!" moment about upgrading to a compact, blower mounted separator to service my old Unisaw and bandsaw. If successful, I will adapt the same design to servicing my chop saw, and belt sander, with 4" wye, blast gates and flex hose - much better than swapping shop vac hose from port to port and crawling around in missed dust to access them. Would also eliminate the need for oversized Habitrail suspended from my busy ceiling which is also encumbered by a recirculating box filter.

If project is successful, will post some pics, hopefully to help others consider 'is bigger always better?' before heading down the same path.

Thanks again for sharing your trials and successes. Would like to make donation to your website.

Hi, my name is Alan. I've recently built a 34x34' garage and I'm looking to equip it with a decent dust collection system, which is why I'm here. I primarily work on car audio systems (I run a few car audio forums), but I'd like to get into woodwork also.  8)

I am a boating person, but I am mostly into wooden boats, and they need woodworking.
Woodworking resulst is dust, so here I am. :-)
BTW, I live in nothern Norway. It was a bit difficult to find the answer to some of the questions when registring since we don't speak the same language and your pocket hole jig is totally unknown here.

-- Trond

How's it going fellas?  I am a hobby woodworker that migrated over from the welding trade.  I have recently moved from my two car garage over to my new shop and am interested in improving my HF dust collector with a top hat and am looking for ideas.  Anyway, I've lurked here for a while and have decided to sign up to hopefully get some specific help to some of the questions I have.  This is a great site!

TJ

Hello,

I'm a french hobby woodworker. I have interest in improving my workshop air conditions and that's why I just registered.

Hi.  I have been a woodworker for along time and have built at least 7 Thien top hats. Three for myself and the rest for friends.  They are the best?

Mike

Hi,
I'm Matthew, I live and work in France. I have a large home workshop that I am always trying to keep dust levels down! I intend to make a Thien conversion to a to a large 4" bore extractor unit that I have. I am also going to experiment with a large paint tin model.

Regards, Matthew.

Thank you for this terrific resource. Finished my first baffle yesterday, huge difference!

Hi everyone. My name is Brian and I have lurked for a while. I had been using a dust deputy and was happy with it, but not my shop vac. Recently I was looking to buy a full size dust collector and came across the deal of the century on Craigslist. A Jet DC 1100rc with filter canister for $150. I couldn't let that pass by.
Before assembling the unit, I knew I wanted to install a Thien baffle internally. Pictures to post later.
Brian

I'm Jake and live in Kansas City.  I just got hooked on pen turning which has led me to, in addition to the lathe, buying a drill press, bandsaw, and small chop saw.  Of course the hobby has me now thinking I'm a real woodworker  ??? so I'm using my table saw and sander more than I ever have.  Hence the need for a dust collector. The more I read and view photos, the more I'm looking for the perfect set up, the perfect recipe.  I see now that the ideal system is really what's best for you.  I have my Harbor Freight 2 hp DC, Wynn 35A nano, 30 gallon metal garbage can, MDF and dowels and I'm ready to desert my family and make it happen.
Thanks to Phil and all those that make this site great.  I'm posting some questions and I hope I get it right.

Hello all. I made one of these cool little contraptions, and it doesn't work as I expected, so I'm here to find out why.

Long-term woodworker; shorter-term user of dust collection system; eager to complete the modifications to my Harbor freight dust collector.

My name is John from Minnesota and I have a Harbor Freight dust collector I am considering modifying to better serve my x-carve cnc machine.

Howdy, just a quick intro.  I do a little woodworking and some metal working.  Trying to determine if I can combine dust and chip removal systems and if it would be a good idea or not.  I use shop vac to remove chips when milling works well with aluminum, clears chips to prevent dulling mill cutting edges and provides some cooling.  Two separate collectors maybe what I have to use, right now I move the shop vac from one machine to the next.

Howdy.  Longtime woodworker, first time caller.  We just got a Shapeoko XL 3D Router which gummed up my shopvac filter in less than 1/2 of a small project.  Time to build a dust collector.  Through copious research, the dust collection gods have pointed me in this direction.  I shall build and hopefully not disappoint.


Bob

Hello all, cudos on all the fantastic information here.  I'm a longtime carpenter and contractor.  Finally setting up a decent little shop.  Purchased the green HF beast, found this resource and am know incorporating as many of the recommended mods as possible. 

Hello,

I'm new to the forum. I have zero dust collection but I'm trying to educate myself.  I have a 2 car detached garage and I'm looking at getting a Harbor Freight DC system and modifying it someway with a Thien Baffle.  I do have some questions and I hope I'm not asking something that has already been covered in previous posts.  If I do I apologize, if you would post a link to the appropriate post so I can read up on the information already discussed.

Thanks,

Jake

Hey folks- couldn't wait to sign up when I saw the JPT dust thingee on Pinterset.

I favor old iron machines (ol' Arn  in a certain world) as well as removing the extra sawdust from around wooden things and  making  things rather than buying them.

I have been a woodworker forever.  Not a good woodworker, you understand, but a woodworker who enjoys the job.  I am a retired electronics engineer who just enjoys building stuff - radios, computers, wood working projects, wood turning, model railroading, .... and the list goes on and on. Right now I am digging into dust collection (again!!).  I have been using a shopvac/Oneida Dust Deputy combination (on a homemade stand) for a couple of years - it is great for cleaning up the shop and ok for connecting up to the power tools I have (e.g. Shopsmith saw, a lathe, a Craftsman 6" jointer) but not really adequate for the power tools.  So my son-in-law, Steve, gifted me with a used Shopsmith DC-3300 single stage dust collector which I am rehabbing at the moment. It is small  (330 CFM, 6 to 7" SP) but also low HP so fits in well with my small shop (and the cost was great!!). But I would really like something in the front end for better dust collection and to catch large harmful objects before they break my fan blade. So very very interested in the Thien Trash Can collector.

Hi everyone.
I'm Mr.C.
I'm a disabled American VET, living in Lima Peru, because I can't afford to live in the US and have any resemblance of a life.
Anyway, I've got a small project down here in the neighborhood that I live, making wooden toys for the poor kids that don't have any.
I'm buying or building the equipment I need, as I'm able. At the moment, I'm trying to build a dust separator. I was asking questions about the math involved on sawmillcreek.org and wasn't getting any where. Then Andy Giddings gave me a link to this site.

Hi all,

I'm a very inexperienced woodworker / maker trying to scale up a bit with limited budget and space. In dire need of some sort of dust collection solution.

Ciao, I am Sergio "Silverdog" from Italy.
Passionate DIY builder from electronic to woodworking to CNC.
I want to add a separator to my Mechmate CNC.

Hi, my name is Ray and I'm a 73 year old retiree. I used to have a nice shop with all the neat toys in it but we decided to sell out everything and go out on the road living in our RV. That lasted about 3 years and due to health reasons we had to come in and get a permanent home again. So, we are in a senior mobile home park now and I have a very small shop that measures 9 x 13 feet. It is small but I seem to be able to have most of what I need. The one thing that still and always has been a problem is dust control. So, in the process of watching Youtube videos on how to make a cyclone separator I ran across this site. I am now in the process of reading through all the topics and postings here. Thanks for your efforts in putting this forum together.

Ray

My name is Dave. Retired. A woodworker buddy of mine told me today about the Thien Separator Lid. I was fascinated. I'm wondering if my old Sears Shop Vac could be modified to work with this directly. Going to post to see. I've already tried to search to find out, but the search terms are way too common to be useful.

Dave

good day folks! just saying hi, I'm looking to start on a small 5 gallon bucket seperator this week

Hi all.  My names Brian.  I have a HF DC I'm looking into upgrading.  Great info on this forum. Thanks so much for sharing it.  Hope to add some of my experience as I move forward.

Hi,

I'm Staffan. I've ordered a 3 hp dust fan that I plan to use in my new dust extractor system. All pipes and hoses will be 6". I'm making a new dust hood (in sheet metal) for my planer/thicknesser to accept a 6" hose. I will use no filters. The dusty air will vent outside.

Hi, My name is Tom and I was surfing the net looking for info on dust collectors and ran across this site. WOW! much info to digest and then build one. Thanks all for the info and experiences.

Hi, my name is Jun. I am from the Philippines. I am currently into my 2nd build. This time using a 4 inch TH.

Hey everyone. My name is Jason and I'm from Texas.

I'm thankful for this great collection of knowledge. I've lurked for awhile now and I am about to begin a top hat build for my HF DC. All of the different ideas, implementations, and research you guys have done ahead of me is really fantastic. Phil, I'm thankful for your "open source" contribution as well to get all of us started. I'm not always the best documenter of my projects, but I'll try to keep up with it as I go along and create a post at some point. In the meantime, keep the posts coming, and know I'm thankful.

Best,
Jason

Hey I'm TJ and I'm working towards adding dust collection to my shop.  I have lots of questions and I plan to start my own thread but this is definitely the right place.  Everything on the entire Internet seems to point right back here eventually when talking about custom DIY dust collection.  THANKS for all the folks here answering the hard questions from guys like me.

I built my first separator a few years ago. Interesting to see how the design has evolved. Getting ready to do some upgrades to the old one and build a second unit.

Thanks all
  Bridger

I just joined the J. Phil Thien's Projects group and find that I cannot post. I see the list of existing posts, but there is no "New Post" button displayed anywhere on the screen.

I am using a Mac computer. Is that a problem?  I have a question concerning the use of the Thien separator before a 5 HP Oneida cyclone collector to reduce filter clogging.

Thanks

Hi, my name is mike and I'm an ...

No, not really - more of a dreamer than a doer and have been dreaming about dust collection for 10+ years!

Hello,

Just built a Thien Baffle for my Delta dust collector.  Learned a lot from this forum.  Hoping to post some pictures to help other people who are interested in building one themselves.  Thanks

Hi, everyone - Once a professional furniture maker, I am now getting back into it as my children grow, and my "fall-back" career gives me the opportunity. I am interested in modifying my old Jet single stage dust collector with a Thien baffle and a cylinder filter, and look forward to digging into the great information on this board.
Thanks, Dusty

My name is Mike and I live in Germany.  I have a temporary workshop in my garage, but will be building a permanent workshop in my basement this Summer.  The shop will be designed around an effective dust-chip collector, so I want to put a good system in at the beginning of the project rather than try to retrofit something later after the walls and ducting are in place.

Hello hive!!

I'm a long-term amateur interested in dust capture... I am also a researcher who's trying to understand pollution and hazards of various types! 

Lovely to meet everyone here.
Cheers

Hello All,

I've been lurking for a little while - building a small shop inside my house and was drawn here by the need for more efficient dust collection in a relatively constrained space.

Cheers,

gray

Greetings
I am an amateur wood worker. My shop is small and very dusty. I have a shop vac to which I added a dust collector but it is not very efficient. Am upgrading to a 2hp Harbor Freight. I want to build a capture system. I built one from a heavy duty plastic trash can and a traffic cone. Both collapsed under the suction and a lot of chips made it to the vac. I want to learn and buld a more efficient system.

Thanks for sharing this information!

:)

Hi!

I'm a amateur woodworker from Germany and have some questions on the cyclone build.

Quote from: MrGlasspoole on May 07, 2017, 10:08:58 PM
Hi!

I'm a amateur woodworker from Germany and have some questions on the cyclone build.

Hello MrGlasspoole.  I live near Darmstadt and am just now setting up my hobby woodworking shop.  I am new to dust collection and want to build a Thien cyclone separator for my Bernardo dust collector.

Hi, I'm Kurt and I'm a hobbyist woodworker in Fort Mill, SC operating out of my 2-1/2 car garage.  I have a new HF unit that I got on sale for $150 (I love a deal). I'm halfway thru a 55 gal / tophat separator and have a question about inlet position.

Hi All,

Looking to convert a generic Chinese 3HP dusty.  Will be extracting as much as I can from this forum.

Cheers.

Hi, I am a retired engineer from a major auto manufacturer. 

My interests besides woodworking: grandkids (5 months to 7 years old), stock investing, computers, yard work/landscaping, home/auto maintenance. 

I plan to move my table saw and miter saw to the basement from the garage.  I'll need a dust collection system to make that possible.  I am going to replace a workbench that is attached to a wall with a Ron Paulk's design inspired workbench.  I will place it in the center of my shop area in the basement.  I will attach my Bosch 4100 table saw to the new workbench.

Just found this great resource - thanks for all the info.

woodworking for years but only got my shop together in the last couple of years - time for proper dust control . . . . . .

Do have a couple of questions - how do I get permission to post?

Retired newbie.  Have done a lot of carpentry over the years and now moving into more sophisticated wood working.  Never paid much attention to dust until I got my first sheets of MDF.  Dust cover garage shop and coated everything including my brain.  So have been researching DC and stumbled on Youtube videos.  Have made about 6 with baffles to get 2 working ones.  have a few more to go.  found they work best when sticking to plans on another post. 

Hi,
I'm from from over the pond so please allow for my eccentric dialog.
Been interested in woodworking all my life as my grandfather was a master cabinet maker when he was alive.
Sadly in the UK we struggle with cheap timber and a lack of good tools so any info available will help. :)

Hi ,I'm brand new here,and just wanted to give this information in case some are searching for parts for the separater. I used 6 inch as my woodmaster 3 hp allowed. Menards has the green grates that I cut the center out of,and screwed through it's base to connect. Mine is atop a brute trash can,44 gal. 10 inch lexan. It has no ledge in the chip opening,and vents straight outside. Next to zero is coming out of the exhaust. I put a rubber seal atop the trash can,and the weight of the seperater is all that holds it down. Extremely happy. Can't see how to post photos,but maybe this would help someone. Best wishes

New but I have visited the forum many times B4.
I have built two Thien baffles and have been very pleased with the results.
The first one was for my shop vac which is in a 5 gallon bucket.
The second I built is a tophat style using a 21" diameter planter from the Depot for the walls. The planter is made from a thick and playable plastic. It has a 6" inlet and a 6" outlet was first used on a 1 1/2 HP DC. It collects in a 30 gallon barrel. It works great, collecting everything except some flour.
I learned a lot by reading posts on this forum. Thanks everyone.

Hello all,

I am an amature woodworker and school counselor.  I am setting up a basement workshop with a dust collection system and I am looking for ideas for my Harbor Freight DC.

I look forward to learning a lot.

Hello-
Lifelong woodworker/guitar builder. Looking to improve my DC system.
Stan

Hello,

Amature woodworker and longtime guest lurker on the forum. I am trying to expand my hobby into hopefully a post retirement business. Currently redesigning my shop for better efficiency and space for a real dust collection system. 

Looking forward to plagerizing everyones good ideas for the benefit of my lungs.

Hello everyone, Im new to the forum. Im a electronics guru during the day and closet case woodworker at night. Keep up all the great work everyone.

I'm Paul Schaefer and I'm doing the groundwork for a DC upgrade.  I'm currently operating a HF DC with a Thien baffle in the collector ring which does a great job of keeping chips out of the filter.  I want to get some more airflow for better collection and am trying to decide whether to go incrementally larger with either another baffle or tophat separator, or just make the jump to a ClearVue.

Hi,
My name is Lappa. I've modified a 2hp 5" FM300 extractor which now has 6" inlet, 6" outlet and a 6" inlet to the dust separator. I blocked off the old 5" inlet to the separator. I have now found I have too much airflow for the pleated filter (rise in back pressure) so I have opened the 5" inlet and fitted a Thein separator in a 200 drum, in parallel with the main filter.
Works great. Airflow in my main workshop Duct has increased nearly 100 CFM.
I'd post some pictures but not sure how to do it. Thanks for any help.

Greeting to all , just signed up today 9-26-2917 and want to thank J Phil Thien and his brilliant design for chip separator for a shop vac dust collection. Just completed mine and followed Phil's instructions to the tee and was supper surprised how fantastic this separator works. Thanks agin.

David

Ps woodworking off and on for the last 45 years and now I am retired will have more time for what I enjoy the most making tons of sawdust and sucking it all up with the Thien Seperator, thanks Phil.

Hi,  I am retired, part time inverter of a few things.
I have designed, built, programmed CNC'c  to cut instruments.  Violin, Guitar, Ukulele
My latest machine  has a 4.5 kw spindle motor, soon turns a garage of wood into sawdust. Which produces very fine dust.  hence my post:
I have small area, required small efficient  dust collector.

I firstly say thanks for your idea, which I bounced off. Redesigned it  to be the world's most efficient Wood/Dust collector.
Can I make that claim?  Easy,  nothing in the world comes close!
NO FILTERS WHATEVER and 4 micron collection

COMPLETE compact unit, is only 250mm H X 500mm X 500mm  with 125mm duct in.out
Acts as multi Stage
Full Flow
Single Drop Box
Large chips to 4 micron   (fine white flour)
Even at full duct choke load, collects large chips, down to 4 micron in single drop
Queensland University  witnessed, verified, Electron microscope tested. 

Only Additional Equipment:
2hp with 400mm blower X125 duct, a 600mm X 600mm X 900mm high dropbox
The  very small amount less than 4micron   exiting externally. 

Thank you

Hi, I'm Alan.   ;)

I have been looking to step up my DC setup.  I recently bought the HF 2HP separator,  but haven't set it up yet.  I have the small Dust Deputy hooked up to my shopvac and it works OK, but I want a more permanent solution for the several machines I use with DC.  Especially as I'm building a router based CNC and that will create lots of sawdust.

I want to build a Thein separator and will probably have a few questions, so here I am!

Hi, new member here rom the UK.

I'm Will a hobby woodworker in Cheshire in North west England.

I usually make items of cabinetry for myself and family. My largest being a dressing table and a number of wardrobes for our main bedroom. Painted MDF cabinetry with solid wood beech doors and dressing table top.

I joined this forum as I have been looking into upgrading my current dust extraction set up and have settled on a Thien type top hat design.

I will be posting a new thread with a few questions which I hope someone will be able to answer shortly.

HI I'm just a brat that is building my first seporator. Looked around stumbled onto this site and would rather build one than buy one. Love the simplicity of design along with the effectiveness. I'm a one man shop who does his research no more huffin dust for me. Wearing resporator while working is over. Working as an electrician has disabled me with T.O.S. so I am getting back to woodworking.

I found this website by searching for cyclone building plans, It's a very interesting site. My name is Buck, I fell in love with woodworking in 7th grade and have been at it for over 40 years. After my stint in the service I went to work in a friends machine shop and became a tool-maker. Now being a tool make and a woodworker causes a couple of problems. At work we routinely worked with tolerances as low as .00005 of an inch, that's 50 millionth's of an inch so I had become a perfectionist. There's not a chance that you do that with wood, so I have a huge scrap bin of pcs I consider out of tolerance from what i wanted when more than likely they would've been just fine. I have a basement shop with I have made into 3 areas. There is a wood storage area with homemade lumber racks on a wall, the scrap bin on wheels, my 12" sliding miter saw on a table I made with its own lumber racks above for what I'm working on, planer and jointer. 2nd area is where I do all the work to make things, I have my tablesaw setup permanently with out feed table, in corner are 2 drill presses. Router table, band saw, wood lathe, mortise mach, spindle sander are all on wheels. Some shelves with supplies, library, hand tools and other items. I have a cover I made for the table saw when I need an area to glue up, sand and assemble. 3rd area is just for finishing so its more or less my clean room. So that's me in a nut shell

Hi Andy here from the UK.

been watching many YT video on the Thien baffle its great to have found the creator, Great work Phil

Evening all, I'm Joe, a new member of the forum. I've just moved from a 3 car oversized garage in which I installed 240/120 wiring, a modified Harbor Freight DC with a Thien baffle with some additional modifications and piping to all my tools, to a barely 2 car garage house where I'm still trying to figure out how to get my '46 Chevy 3/4 ton stakebed into the garage next to mama's suv. Anyway, I've come up with a folding workbench and rolling stands for most of the tools and am back looking to build a dust collection system. I came across a You Tube video showing the baffle inside a 55 gallon drum, which, given the lack of space in this garage looked like a space saving idea. As it happens there was an ad on good old Craig's List from a company giving away as many 55 gallon drums as you'd like. I picked up 2.

I've been reading lots of posts regarding the benefits/downsides of the internal style baffle as opposed to the "top hat" version. From what I'm seeing it's a 50/50 proposition. I only use one tool at a time so all the suction will be going only to that tool so I'm thinking I can do the internal method with the 2 hp DC.

I couldn't find anything regarding the direction of the input port and its position in relation to the beginning point of the hole in the baffle. The photos on Phil's siet seem to show the inlet about midway along the uncut portion of the circle. I was going to use 6" ducting cut right into the side of the 55 gal. drum. Would I place this port in the same location?

I'm not sure if I should be asking all this in the intro section. If not please advise.

thank you
Joe

Hello,

My name is John. I generate sawdust in a small shop north of Seattle. This is my mandatory post to keep my account alive.

I plan to build a compact "top hat" style dust collector system that uses an old Cincinnati DC blower that I have had for years. I have long thought about building a DC system with a cyclone but I cannot justify using so much space in my already too crowded shop. The Thien style separator should allow me to create a system that will work well and still not take up too much precious space.

Greetings from New Creation Woodworks in Ruckersville, Virginia!

First, I am by no means a skilled or professional wood worker. Everything I do is because I love to CREATE.

My shop is a 12x24 semi-insulated garage in Central VA. I've purchased several low-end (but still good quality) tools and machines to help me to turn ideas into reality. Usually this involves wood, but I've also done many projects using metal, plastic, foam, and cardboard. Here are some of the main tools I am currently using:

• Rockwell Tools 15A 10" Contractor Table Saw
• Wen Products 14" Drill Press
• Rockler Router Table with Porter Cable Router
• Harbor Freight Tools 12" Double Bevel Sliding Miter Saw
• Harbor Freight Tools 12" Thickness Planer
• Harbor Freight Tools 2HP Dust Collector (modified)

I'm also somewhat of an inventor, and have come up with a remarkable tool of my own which I call "The Spacing Jig". I'll share more about that later.

Warm Regards,
Tony Gardner
New Creation Woodworks
Ruckersville, Virginia USA

Hi, my name is Bill Wright.  I am a retiree living in Columbus MS.  I have a little shop/man cave that I spend a lot of time in.  Recently got a single stage dust collector.  While researching installtion videos on youtube I ran across the Thien baffle.  Going to make one for DC.  Thanks Phil

Wowww I see that either nobody introduces themselves anymore or I'm just late to the party! Lol

Hi my name is Shawn and I'm live in Oregon. I know enough about woodworking to get myself in trouble. With my background as a Millwright I have learned to be a "Jack of All Trades & A Master of None" or just " Jack~Master"....
Since I look at things like this~ Why buy it if I can take pride in not only making/building it but making it better and last longer! So that has led me to this really educational web site! Thank you
Mr. Jp Thien for all your hard work and not keeping to your self! I have learned more on this forum in the last day and 1/2 than the last couple months of researching the inter~web for everything from dust collection to reclaim systems and after reading most the posts I come to the realization I don't have to look any farther! 8)
Ty again!
Shawn

Did the tapered walls of the planter cause any performance issues? The draft of most planters or tubs is noticable.

Greetings to everyone.  I am a moderately skilled hobbyist.  I found this site in my search to solve my dust collector problems.  My old shop vac just isn't getting it done!  I have been looking for its replacement and this site seems to have lots of great advice and ideas. 

Thanks!

Just a quick introduction... I am over 65 and have been woodworking for a number of years. My best work tends to be off the cuff ideas that I see somewhere and say to myself.. I can do that.... lol

My finest accomplishment was a  lighthouse which I built without any plans, just added or adjusted as I went along. 5 LED lighting over entrance, in windows, in the Red Flashing light on top as well as in the main light itself, all Solar Powered.

I spend most of my summers building outdoor lawn furniture, single chairs and double benches with table in between.

Looking forward to giving and receiving ideas to all!

Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of neither wealth nor fame....

Just couldn't resist.

Looking to build a top hat with 6" inflow and outflow.

Many questions which I'll be posting soon.

Joe

Hi All:

Been woodworking for about 30 years. Graduated from my Shopsmith (Still have and use) to a full cabinet shop.

Finally got around to upgrading my dust collection then came upon this site...

I'll give details about my collector that I built on the board.

Good evening, all. I'm Martin Senior, from Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire, UK. I had a joinery manufacturing business - had to pack that up 5 years ago due to deteriorating chronic back conditions, and now I'm fully retired. I'm in the process of building a small workshop, for my own amusement, and I'm getting to grips with adapting to smaller equipment I'd once have dismissed as toys.

I've been perusing the Thien separator for some time, and intend building two in the coming weeks - one large, for the 1000 watt extractor for table saw, thicknesser etc. - and a smaller one for the smaller kit - chop saws, routers, etc.

Cheers,

Martin.

Hello my names Mike and i live in South east GA in a small town named Jesup. I recently started setting up my wood shop and since i normally join forums which coincide with which ever of my interests I need help with, here I am!!!
I look forward to picking yalls brains on dust collection.

I'm a new hobby woodworker, just setting up a shop in an old shed.  Currently using an older ShopVac, moving from took to tool.  Building some dust hoods.  Planning to do something better, but I have a lot to learn before I make decisions.

Just wanted to say hi and thanks for letting me join. Been a carpenter for 45 yrs. and a woodwork almost that long. Brand new to dust collection though, so I hope you bear with me through what sounds like stupid questions.

Hello everyone I'm new to the forum, But I've been lurking around for awhile as a guest!

My name is Doug and I live in Southeast MI. I'm slowly getting my two car garage set-up for woodworking, I've always had an interest in woodworking but I never really had the room for the equipment until just a few years ago.

I'm at a point in my garage where just a shop-vac won't keep up with the amounts of sawdust I'm able to produce, So it's time to start planning out & setting up a better dust collection system.

I worked in machine shops for about ten years & gained a lot of experience running various machines & equipment. As a result of the machine shop experiences, One of my other hobbies is rebuilding old woodworking & metalworking machines.

Doug

Hello Phil Thanks for the add. I'm an old Sawmill Creek guy with a new shop and lots of Grandsons. Carpenter for 50 years and a woodworker for 40

Hi All,

my name is Luigi and I'm an italian hobby woodworker.
I'm a mech Engineer, turbomachines specialist (gas and steam) and any other rotating machine :).
I hope I can fix the dust problem in my shop/garage, I'm swimming in the dust  :o

greetings to All !

Hello, i am a novice woodworker from Wentworth, Quebec, Canada.
I am somewhat retired and have setup a shop in my garage approximately 24'x24'.

My dust collection system includes a 2hp 220v single stage collector with 5in flex hose main conduit, reduced to 4in to tools. I have 5 separate machines connected.

For a while i used a separator built with a plastic lid purchased at a woodworking store. The lid had 4in hole and was used mostly for jointer/planer. It was quite effective even without a baffle.

After a lot of googling i found this website and learned a great deal from it and the many contributors. I have recently changed my separator and built a « Thien » separator with 5in size intake and outtake on top of a 45ga plastic baril.
Now all my all tools benefit from the separator that is located next to my dust collector on the second floor of my garage. Works marvellously.

Many thanks Phil for sharing your knowledge!

Hello All,
Retired,  amateur woodworker with medical background.  Hence an interest in DC.(Also increasing dust in garage shop I share with DW car.)  Just changed impeller on my HF. On my third Wynn filter, and need a separator. Outstanding site, thanks to Phil and all the knowledgeable engineers contributing.  Waiting for my anemometer and hope to add some meaningful data.

Thanks.  JTM.

Well, I have HF parts on the garage floor. I've become obsessed via reading posts on what the perfect mod(s) are ( I realize everybody's needs are different). Mechanical engineer by trade (but I don't fit the anal mode). I am a hobbyist stringed instrument builder. Yes, I have a drum sander (finally got it 2 weeks ago 10-20), so, I am now forced to pay attention to dust collection. Two-car garage shop with a "clean room work area" in a spare bedroom.

North Houston, TX

Amateur hobbiest who has dabbled in furniture refinishing and minor repair for over 20 years.  Finally getting more of a formal shop set up in my basement and in need of dust collection in a major way.  Delighted to find this site and will be here often educating myself.  Would like to upgrade the HF dust collector that is being shipped to me, and hope I don't have too many noob questions!   

Yo,
Setting up a mini-cnc in my basement. I anticipae that fine air-borne dust is not compatible with my open-flame propane furnace which is in the same room so i am setting up a 5 gallon dust collector.

Rob

I'm new here. Small hobby projects like boxes, chests & trying clocks now. I need to upgrade my DC to more than the small cyclone & shop vac I have now. I'm sure a Thein baffle works but can't seem to find the location of the slot in relation to the inlet. Also the depth of the exhaust drop in the lid. Are there dimensinons and angular relationships somewhere in this post that I'm missing? On the pictures it looks like the slot ends about under the centerline of the vertical of the inlet elbow. The only real numbers I found were the 240 deg. for the 1.125" slot. I'd like to try 4" duct so I'm also wondering if there is some science to scaling up your 2.5"?

Thanks!

Den

Hey, everyone, I'm Mike Grier. I've worked out of my garage for decades but after a car accident in 2015, I'm disabled with more or less constant pain.

Last fall we got a shed for my tools and I got a Delta contractor saw off CL. So now my need for dust collection has accelerated. I think building a DIY Thien baffle separator seems like the logical next step.

Hi All

Many thanks Phil for making the plans for this device available.

I'm just a hobbyist, I've built a couple small boats and a few boxes etc. I use hand tools as much as possible due to an aversion to loud noise so I've been fine with just wearing a  respirator up till now, but I just got a bandsaw and they really need dust removal to work properly.

First I looked at buying a system, I looked at prices and winced, I looked a decibel levels and and winced even more, I looked at how much precious shop space one would waste and stopped looking :)

So now I'm looking at building one into a workbench I can move around as needed using a blower from an electric furnace and the Thein separator.

Since I like to have everything I build do at least two things (Hence my choice of forum handle) I'm also looking at designing in air filtration for the shop using furnace filters, I'm hoping that by eliminating as much ducting as possible I can get by with a bit less airflow, I'll post it here if it works out.

2b

I'm brian and I am a painter ( watercolorist @artbybrianmeyer ) who really got into wood working to make picture frames. I've been learning how to make jigs and boxes, but also easels and the like.

I am looking at getting dust collection built into a table I am designing for my new delta 36-725 model table saw. My cheap ( the $100 ones at home depot ) old saw just burned out, so am having to redo the entire table, jigs and the rest I built for it. I have to push all my stuff out into the drive way to use it.

My goal is to have a table with everything self contained, router, saw, dust collection. The cyclones were my first idea, but they seem like they are rather tall, and so I am looking at the thien style baffle on a short box. I found those mentioning that phils design is effective, so am researching it.

Well, I grew up in a relatively poor family and learned DIY repairs from an early age. I actually failed woodshop in Jr. High because I had no use for a jewelry box and everyone thought I was being a smart@$$ when I was asking questions that were beyond the basic level of the class.  As I've grown, my DIY projects have grown with me and as my mind started getting creative, I've discovered a new appreciation for those woodshop skills I considered "too basic" and started teaching myself to make useful things with power tools and neat hardware that the schools could never have provided.  The need to deal with dust and grit and shavings has increased with the complexity of my projects and when I started looking into it I learned about the health issues and the Thien units.  I've also seen some stuff around the web about making DC's from old clothes dryer fans so I'm eventually going to try and hybrid together both ideas and see how well it works.

Hi,

I'm brand new to DC and the Thien Baffle. I'm looking forward to learning more and improving my working conditions. Cheers!


-mm

Greetings. I've been doing occasional woodworking for a long time and have most of the basic power tools. I suspect that I still belong in the "beginner" category, however. Had more than one bout with bronchitis after using a router, so now that I am retired and have more time for woodworking, I've become serious about dust collection and especially wearing a respirator. Got the Harbor Freight DC and trying to decide how I want to build a Thein baffle.

Hi all!  I just registered, and am posting this so that I don't evaporate away from the site in a couple of weeks.  I'm retired, and now finally have time to really turn on my love for woodworking, and am just starting to put together a woodworking shop in our stand-alone 30 x 40 ft. garage building.  I recently picked up a single bag, Delta dust collection system in virtually brand-new condition at an estate auction, and I found this site while looking for plans to make my own cyclone separator.  I'm looking forward to learning and helping where I can.

Just registered after reading through enough of the forum to decide that I need to add a baffle to my Jet DC. Just restarting my woodworking after retiring a year ago and moving to a new town. Trying to get the new shop insulated and cleaned up so I can begin.
John

My name is Paul Stone. I have been aware of the Thien Baffle for two or three years and have recently decided to get serious about woodworking.
I retired from the Boeing company in March (research engineer) after nearly 29 years with the company.
My Father graduated from mortality to immortality just before I retired. He was only 6 days away from his 97th birthday. My wife and I moved in with my 94 year old mother and bought her house.

I am building my dream shop; a one bedroom apartment over a 3 car garage. Her sewing area will be upstairs.

I saw the dustopper at HD and knew that somebody ripped off Mr. Thien?s intellectual property.

I have more than 50 inventions, 12 granted patents and a dozen patents pending. I also know some good patent attorneys.

I would love to help.

Hi, I built your baffle into my Delta 50-850 dust collector last year and it's just terrific. Air flow doesn't degrade so I don't need to blow out the filter very often. I recently changed the collection bag and when I checked the baffle I was surprised to find the top was absolutely clean! A friend is interested in doing it too but I don't remember the site that had the build info. Would appreciate help. Thanks. ephriam

Hello everyone. I just retired and built a garage/workshop next to our house. I have the Delta 36-725 table saw and a miter saw and really need to do something about the dust!
I have a Delta shop vac and would like to make a Thien baffle dust collector. Is there a site that gives the particulars?

Hello Phil Thien and everybody that contributes here,
I'm a retired land surveyor starting to get into making shavings, saw dust, and maybe something worthwhile and deserving of shellac. Thank you for this site, the fostering of inventive spirit, and a supporting community.

Hi

I'm a long-retired, former technical director of a couple of the major UK loudspeaker companies. Feeling lazy and stiff from lack of exercise about a year ago, I decided to fit out my single-car garage as a woodwork shop.

Because of the confined space, I chose a moveable, universal workbench [a Wolfcraft Mastercut 2500] and had a new, single-piece worktop made by a local CNC shop, cut for a standard router lift. [The original two-piece top with its large cut-out for the Wolfcraft tool-holder plate is prone to warping if the humidity gets too high]. I then designed and ordered plates to fit the same aperture, one to mount an upside down circular saw, and the other for an upside down jigsaw so I have three rapid-replace power-tool modules for the main cutting functions. The next phase will be to make a sanding station and probably a removeable bench top and guides for my pedestal drill press.

I came here because I saw some YouTube videos of Phil Thien's clever dust extractor plate and wanted to know more. It's good to meet you all.  :D

Ed Form

Howdy...

IT guy who likes to make things, all kinds of things, wood, metal, glass, what ever...tired of everything in my garage having a thin layer of dust on it :)

Hi All
I am  Realtor in a little town called East London, South Africa.
I have always dabbled a bit with woodwork but my wife decided she wanted a new kitchen at the end of last year and then things got a bit real!.
The kitchen has one top to go and then its finished but i now love working with wood.

Hello everyone, a warm greeting.
I am happy to be part of this group.
I am an Italian maker (https://www.youtube.com/hobbygaragediy) and I recently discovered that our projects related to the separator cyclone, come from here!

A dutiful thanks to Phil for his passion and creativity.
Probably the question has already been asked, and if so, I apologize!
Do the measures of the project refer to the upper part of the 'separating cyclone'? Or does it have its own measures? Where can I find the measurements?
Thank you so much!

Agostino

Hi all.  I am starting to design a wood shop. Dust collection will be a big part of the design.  Pretty much here to learn.  The shop will be small so dust collection will have to be small, portable, and efficient. 

Hi All,

I'm in the process of converting a garage to a workshop. I've purchased a Powermatic 1300TX DC with canister. While trying to sort though all of the info on ducting, I ran across this site. Now I want to add a cyclone separator into the mix! Looking forward to woring with you all to achieve a successful result!
Hope you are all staying safe in these crazy times.
Clark

Hi All,
Before we moved 3 years ago I had a two car garage set up for my workshop.  I built 2 separators for shop vacs I collected from flea markets and craigs list.  We moved and I have a separate building.  I purchased a HF 2 HP DC and have it hose connected to table saw and band saw.  I still have my 2 separators connected to my mitre saw and router.  I am working on a third one for a Rigid shop vac that is integrating the baffle inside the vac.    Then I'll move on to the HF and build one for a 30 gal drum and turn it into a central system.  For those that ask:  they work.

Hello Phil.
Thanks for you straight forward ides!
I?m retired from general contracting (10 years ago).
I rent shop space and build mantles, headboards, doors,Bathroom vanities, etc. (try to stay away from kitchen cabinets)
I have a shop full of tools and have purchased a ?Star Industries? 24? dual drum sander.
Saw dust collection is my main safety concern (after rotating cutters)!
Wood working keeps me moving and exercising my brain!

Avra Cohen: cabinetmaker and avid scuba diver. I am a volunteer diver at the NY Aquarium. I am well familiar w/ cyclonic dust collection, now looking to build an underwater model that will separate out sand. We have powerful vacuum w/ 2" hose built into the exhibits, but need to separate out sand to redeposit it elsewhere in the exhibit, while keeping it from getting into the system where it will chew up the impeller.
Welcome any thoughts on modifications that would be useful or thoughts on consideration of the difference between airflow vs hydrodynamics. I think a Thien baffle will be needed for the same reason it is appropriate for sawdust collection.

Hi everyone, I?m Mike. I live in Australia on a 0.5 hectare plot of land with my wife and 2 cats in a small rural hamlet about 180 klms West of Melbourne.
I have a metal clad (ColorBond) workshop 9m x 6m  with a 2.7m wall height and a roof pitch of 22 deg. There?s no ceiling or internal lining boards but it is fully insulated so tolerable in both summer and winter. It?s divided into the equivalent of a 2 car garage space inside (6m x 6m) with an attached single car space carport (3m x 6m). All built on concrete slab. 
It?s a real mess having been storage for the last 10 years or so and needs organising and tidying before it can become a useful workshop. I?m 67 and my health situation makes any project a slow moving chore. I have been known to complete jobs eventually. I do a little frequently so getting I?m getting a little more control over the space each week.
Anyway I?ve been drawn here by the mystery that is Dust Extraction/Filtration and not having any brings home that it must become a priority for my next project.
I?ve been watching quite a lot of YouTube and have settled on a design inspired by young Marius Hornberger?s channel and his construction of what he called his ?small dust extractor.? Matthias Wandel is my biggest inspiration and have brought a few of his plans to life.
Thats it for me - hope to chat with some of you as time passes. Thank you Paul, for generously sharing your space and your ideas.
My workshop comprises an assortment of hand held power tools (mostly 18v Makita) along with a floor standing pedestal drill press and an Evolution Rage 5S 254mm contractors table saw. An assortment of small bench tools like a combination disc and belt sander, bench disc grinder, spindle sander and a 230mm band saw with a very meagre 65mm cutting height completes my setup. Oh I have a 3HP 75litre belt drive air compressor too.
Writing it all down like this makes it seem so much - I guess I?m fortunate to have so many tools readily at hand but every project and video I watch, reminds of things like a jointer, thickness planar, decent bandsaw and table saw (all the expensive tools) that I?d love to have one day. My age and health probably don?t make them realistic goals but a dust extractor with some air filtration is a must.
Now that Ive committed my self in writing to undertaking this as my next project , I?ll have all the motivation I need to get it done. Wish me luck.

Hi all!
I am amateur woodwoker from Russia. I have a few questions about the design of the cyclone separator. I hope I get answers here

Den!

Hi, Phil Barrett here.  I've been a big fan of the Thien Baffle for a long time.  Built several for my shop.  One for my shop wide DC and one on a small sanding cart.  Posted about my next design.  It is for my 4'x4' CNC Router.

Greetings,


I found this handy forum because I was looking to build my own dust separator and was fortunate enough to find a YouTube video (The Considered  Nut) that mentioned the Thien Cyclone separator and outlined the basic principle... I have to say that this appears to be a very elegant design, simplicity in Form and Function...I was thinking of buying one of those fancy injection molded off the shelf cyclone units, but the cost in some instances for something made in the U.S was somewhat prohibitive, especially for something that is basic in  Form and Function, in my view the commercial unit by design implied high level of engineering... perhaps even computer modelling...It led me to think that I might not be able to fabricate something that would function to the level of commercially molded cyclone unit...


However....Thanks to Phil Thien's forum I have been enlightened...this looks like a great unit, I am going to build it....I have an old two stage Mastercraft (Canadian) dust collector that I am going to adapt this too..

Has anyone done one?


About me

I'm 60 years old and near retirement about three years ago I started to plan for my retirement. I decided to build an open-source CNC machine which I completed about a year ago. I wanted to specialize in making antique reproduction wood signs that utilized Bass relief art. I built the CNC  machine and I built the computer that drives it... with zero experience or knowledge... most of the software that runs on is also open source...I think it's important to keep yourself active and to constantly challenged yourself to do different things and push yourself past your comfort zone...I'd be happy to share  and post about the experiences if anybody's interested..


In the meantime greetings to all very thankful that I ran across this form and I hope contribute in my area of knowledge, I would also like to say thank you to Phil for his generosity by way of sharing this design with all of us...

Its  brilliant....and  will make using my CNC machine a lot more tolerable..

Regards,

Since I can't find my post, and I am coming back after a few years away due to life events I would rather not go into, I figure it would help to re-intruduce myself.

I am a home DIY / Woodworking hobbyist with a garage workshop in Galveston County Texas. I dove headlong into building the shop on a budget with the blessing of my beautiful bride... And I am SOOOOO glad I did it when I did, man have prices shot up!

I'm the guy that wrote the sticky thread "Heres the plans" for building your own Thein separator. And am a Youtuber, one of my more popular videos is an explanation of how the Thien baffle works. At least to the best of my ability...

I digress.

I started with Thien separators with a 2.5" shop vac based system, including a full tubing setup. It worked, but not well enough. The baffle / separator was great, the vac wasn't even close to strong enough.

I upgraded to a Harbor Freight 2HP DC with a Wynn 35a .5 micron washable filter, and a 55 gallon side inlet separator, using a 5" x 4x4 splitter with 2 4" lines...

I am building a smaller shed workshop, with max SQ Footage of 200 due to permit restrictions for sheds in my town.  Thus I am downsizing.

The 2.5" shop vac version is still around, but only really used for drywall work in the house. I am doing a project to do an internal separator and impeller upgrade to the HF DC, this way I keep the dust collection footprint in the smaller shop down.

My family suffered some big losses several years back due to a large number of deaths of friends and family, so I stepped back from a lot of my woodworking forum activity.

We are back on our feet more or less, and I am trying to get back to my prior hopefully helpful input.

I look forward to doing all I can to promote Phils baffle design. This is a brilliant idea, and so very easy to deploy that anyone could do it!

Hello all!  Hobbyist woodworker from Central Florida here.  Been getting serious about it for last decade, but been playing around in woodworking & carpentry for 40+ years. 

In my small shop, I have been using a Dust Right separator with my Shop-Vac for a little while now.  However my Shop-Vac just died about 2 weeks ago. 

Grizzly had their 1.5HP wall mount DC with HEPA canister filter on sale for July 4th for about $720 shipped to my door, so I bit the bullet & made the purchase. 

Now I have started my own Thien build since the Dust Right only has 2 1/2" hose connections.

newbie here from up north of the 49.