Question about wall material for Top hat

[donfbecker]

I am planning to make a top hat dust separator.  Most people use plexiglass or something similar for the walls.  I found a plastic barrel in the woods that washed up in the floods.  It had a hole in the bottom, so couldn't be used as the dust bin, but I figured I could use the sides for the walls of the separator.  I figure it's already round, and it's bends easily enough if I need to make it tighter.  Is there any reason this would be a bad idea?  I figure I can put a clear window on the top if I want to be hypnotized by the cyclone action going on.

[retired2]

When I built my separator, I decided it was important for me to see what was going on inside because I was testing several new ideas.  However, at this point I can't say that the clear walls do anything for me except provide peace of mind.  That may not sound like much of an endorsement, but I tend to glance at the separator at the end of every run just to make sure it is working properly and the chamber has cleared for the next use.

If I were to build a new separator for myself, it would have to have clear walls.  Maybe the peace of mind it provides is more important to me because removing my separator to open it up is a huge PIA.  I have done it once as a result of planing wet cypress, so it is nice to see at a glance that it has emptied properly at the end of a run.

[tommitytomtom]

I think clear sides are a good idea as retired2 stated. That being said, every separator I've built did NOT have clear sides. This is because I used the materials at hand. That and I'm a tightwad.