Tophat questions with drawings

Started by cdsmith12, September 23, 2019, 12:07:03 PM

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cdsmith12

I have a HF Dust Collector and am getting ready to build a Thien Baffel Tophat. I am including my sketchup drawings and have a few questions before I build. I have read multiple threads, but I figured I would just post what I have and get everyone's thoughts.

The barrel that I have is 30 gallon and if I cut everything above the ring lip, the opening is 16 inches. My design has a 3/4 pieces of plywood that will slip over the lid so I can screw it to the side. Then I will attach a 3/8 piece for the baffle. The intake and the exit will be 3D printed and I can do just about anything I want by modifying the angle of entry or changing the bell on the exit. I drew it with the 4" entry hole being 1" lower than the 3' x 5" exit that is elevated 1" off the floor of the baffle. The plexiglass is 6 1/2" tall and will slip 1/4" into a lip on top and bottom.

So here's my questions.

Will my intake angle and exit bell work of do they need to be modified?
Is 6" tall enough?
Is there anything else I should or shouldn't do to what I have designed?
Does the baffle need to be tilted at all?

Thanks in advance
David

cdsmith12

No one has any input? I realize a lot of the question have been answered in other post, but I didn't find anything about angles of entry. I also have the ability to print the baffle and wanted to get thoughts on this baffle with it sloped.

tommitytomtom

#2
I built a tophat that is 1/3-ish the height of a 55 gallon drum. The sacrificial drum had 3 rings around it. I cut just to the underside of the top ring. This allowed the ring to fit tightly on top of another 55 gallon drum. My inlet is square and provides a flat inlet to the top edge of the tophat. My baffle is 3/4" thick and mounted flat. My drop slot starts at 1 1/8" wide and transitions to 1 5/8" and is chamfered for perhaps better flow. My outlet pipe is 4" and extends into the tophat about 6". The baffle is positioned about 2" from the bottom of the tophat. My design is very much like yours. I am using a Reliant 3HP blower with stock impeller. It works great for my use which is currently connected to my Unisaw. I'm curious about your design for a sloped baffle. Most of the designs here are either following Phil's setup or derivatives of his design. Experimentation is encouraged. Please post your results here so that we may learn from your setup.