J. Phil Thien's Projects

How much was the rikon? I paid 139 for my HF unit + tax and the impeller was around 110 with shipping. So I paid more than some nicer used units on CL, Especially since I chopped up my unit after a couple of months to make a separator. I'm glad the rikon is working for you, I'd be interested in hearing more about your setup and amps pulled etc...

I didn't realize how much heavier the impeller was when I purchased the grizzly unit. Looking back I should've
Removed the HF impeller to get a weight and compare. The detailed info on the HF units is slim at best so I took a gamble. Hind sight is like that unfortunately. Now that the info is available, I can't imagine myself doing this again. I just look for deals on CL for a beefier unit. My new .02

It was a bit of a pain to get the impeller to fit, especially because it didn't work afterward... I had to enlarge the the diameter of the hole for the shaft slightly using a drill press. I also had to open up the inlet to the blower housing and make it larger. It's obvious it wasn't meant to house such a large impeller once you open it up. Now I have a cool piece of wall art in my shop, I wonder if I can then it into a clock?...hmm

well this is definitely the next thing im going to do when I have a little free shop time. i'll see just how well I can get my HF dust collector to perform. I'll go bigger later for sure but im content for now. I think I build a youtube manometer or whatever its called before I do this mod...

You want to keep the rotation going the same way when the impeller housing is directly on top of the baffle. switching directions is not advisable when the distance from the impeller inlet to the baffle outlet is minimal. the incoming air is still spiraling from the rotation of the impeller so reversing the direction of the baffle would cause turbulence upon entering the baffle...

my .02 at least

I was considering these same questions...especially about the noise and how much dust settles outside.

I know outside exhaust is best for performance so id like to take advantage of this if I can. thanks

the windows in the ducting itself is pretty cleaver wally. you can use it for troubleshooting or for testing purposes because if you're anything like me...you can never leave well enough alone.

you just want your separator to look like a cyclone, hehe. i'll stay tuned and see how this comes out.

ahh...makes sense

installation is simple on wynn cartridge filters with the hf unit. ive had mine for a couple years now, still works very well.

on a side note, what about a 1 micron bag on the bottom with a wynn on top? would that further increase flow over the plastic?

isnt the point of the chimney to keep fines in the lower bag or just chips? if its for just chips then it def makes sense not to add it to the ring...

so does making the separator taller have any advantages? i know most cyclones are taller than the inlet size in the upper section...

well in all honesty i should have cleaned it MUCH sooner. probaly at the 6 month mark. i dont use too many fine dust producers regularly so its nice to not have to clean the filter often...

also dont forget, adding the separator is lowering cfm even further....

i found an article with actual testing on dust collectors and duct sizing etc. it shows it is not advisable to use 6" ductwork with the hf model dc. also it shows it barely meets the minimum cfm for 5" ductwork. granted these are all in stock form so any mods will definately help, i.e. wynn filter etc. its too bad hf did not use a larger impeller to take advantage of the stronger motor since these tests show it is being outperformed by smaller hp units....

http://www.portercable.com/uploads/PCD/Documents/News/182DustCollectors.pdf