seperater for metal

[alan m]

hi there.
i would like to build a seperater for colecting the dust from my drill press when i drill steel and aluminium.
are there any changes that should be made to the design to cater for the metal and its extra weight etc.
i am wondering about slot width etc.

i wil probably use my shop vac.

i am afraid to let the  metal dust and swarf etc into the normal dc system  as they might spark or be hot enought to start a fire.

do you think there would be less dust getting through due to the extra weight of the dust.
i am thinking of a top hat type  with a section on top for the motor of the shop vac to sit into . sort of a direct drive set up if you get me. no hose to a seperate unit. all in one.
i am thinking of sitting the whole seperater on the base of the drill press ( floor model)   and runing a 50mm flex hose up to the bit area.


has anyone used a baffel design on metal dust

thanks alan

[phil (admin)]

Metals are actually easier to separate due to the added mass.  You don't really have to change anything on the design.

I will note that if you build a tophat design with plastic sides, the metals will abrade the clear plastic and make it cloudy pretty darn fast.

[alan m]

i would imagine that drilling metal there would be no dust  only little chips. so filtration won t be as much of an issue.
is there any way to vent a shop vac out side.

i am hoping that the waste (disk in the middle) from my bigger baffel on a 55 gallon drum will  do this baffel  and maybe a normal shop vac one as well

i will probably put plastic on the top of the seperater like i have done on my 4" version. so far it is clear enought to see the dust swirling around . dust sticks to it but i think that would happen anyway

[phil (admin)]

Most shop vacs apparently use some of the air coming from the exhaust to cool the motor.  So the danger in not using a filter, and exhausting the air outside, is that any dust or metal debris still in the airstream will wash over the motor on its way out.

I'm really not sure how much of an issue it would be.  I suppose if I was going to embark on this, I'd first take a look at the design of the particular shop vac.

One thing I HAVE considered is using one of those shop vacs that can double as a blower.  I'm 99.99% certain they have a separate fan for the motor, and that the airstream they suck/blow wouldn't touch the motor/windings/bearings.  So I have considered using on of the blowers from those without a filter, and exhausting outside.

Doing so for me would require popping a glass block element in the window in the basement, and replacing it with a vent.  There are just other things higher up on my list at this time.

[alan m]

i have a shop vac  sort of (cheap but has socket for tool ) i have no filter for it as the owner ruined it. it was used as a domestic vac .

i will examine it and see if i could exaust it outside.