J. Phil Thien's Projects

I'd start right at the source of your issue. The separator isn't efficient enough for separating the fines as well. A better design will be more efficient and require less filter cleaning. If you want the separator to be small, check 5 gallon sized designs. If you can benefit from a larger designs, then Phil's design is great. You won't get ALL of the fines collected but you can certainly gain better performance with Phil's design or modifications here.

Greetings ! You can start with Phil's "Here's the Plans". This is where it all started.

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.

Regarding a sawdust collector or cyclone vacuum, the HEPA filters are likely going to catch some of the "fines" depending on how well they filter. Wynn Environmental makes large scale filters that are adaptable to sawdust collectors and are going to get even more of those' fine" particles. Another way would be to exhaust the fines through a sealed port to the exterior of your building although you'll most likely need to replace the air being exhausted by some type of filtered inlet from outside. Basically "out with bad air and in with the good".

That's pretty clever ! I have my 5 gallon separator sitting side by side and now I have a new project ! Thanks for the post ! This particular vac of mine is purposed to a Ryobi BT3XXX table saw.

Well executed ! Looks like it works very good !! I use a 5 gallon separator for a table saw at work. Designed for one tool only, it works wonderfully.

My outlet pipe on my own 55 gallon drum collector is about 3" into the top. the drop slot ends at just be fore the inlet as well. So far, results are promising. I have a 3HP HF collector. I have yet to underscribe or chamfer the drop slot but I feel this is a good idea. I don't mill green lumber but my jointer will be connected to this unit. I'm still up in the air about a permanent mounting location. I used the original platform from the 2 bagger DC so the footprint is the same.

I've never personally tied it, but my concern would be that the cyclonic spinning of materials would be disrupted. Are you talking about using the lid to hang the baffle from ?

How did you make the Bell Mouth ?

John T, Check my post. You may find it interesting and hopefully helpful.

As I've just finished most of my collector and in testing stage, I'm very curious about you bell mouth and did you make it or make it from some common object ? I need a 6" bell mouth.

What is the diameter of the lid or top hat you plan on using ? If you're going to follow Phil's design I think using a 1 .25" drop slot tapering to the end out to 1.5" would be a great start. Undercut or chamfer the bottom of the drop slot too. If you're going for a side entry then I'd start the same drop slot where the END of it is within 2" or so of the inlet. These are just my suggestions that have worked for me. I'm using a HF 3hp blower unit so my inlet from the tool is 4" hose. The blower unit requires 6" just for ease of design. I get PLENTY of suction and virtually zero fines out the exhaust. It really depends on the HP and CFM of the blower unit. Most of the posts here have been helpful with this journey of figuring out what work best for us/you. Experimentation is part of the fun. You can get into the ballpark of reliable dust collection with Phil's and other's designs. Personally, I like the Top Hat design and side entry.

Almost done. More painting to come and a new circuit in the shop but here's a link to a short video. https://youtu.be/vuLWAyMRF8c

More work accomplished this weekend. I decided instead of permanently mounting the collector for now, that I could use the original base and not take up any more floorium than needed. as I had decided the motor would be best suited for horizontal mounting, I built a stand the get the blower to a height that would accommodate removal of the 90 degree bend into the top hat. The frame was welded together using bed frame metal. Anyone familiar with bed frame material will understand that it is hard to bend, hard to drill and welds nicely. The first picture show the stand in place and the second pic shows a mostly complete, unfinished paint job but a proof of concept. I'll power it up with a new circuit added to the shop.

I'm back at it. (pun intended) As the motor/impeller have always been mounted horizontally, I've decided to go with the same configuration as the bearings don't have good axial load characteristics. If the bearings in the motor were tapered, then I would go vertically and mount the blower and motor above the tophat with room to remove the tophat for emptying the drum. I had hoped to mount the motor to the wall using its mounting plate but now I think I'll utilize the cart bed and set the motor/impellar on an elevated horizontal mount with a 6" sweeping curve to the top of the tophat. Pics to come soon.


Edit now with pics.

The first picture is a collar that will hold the pipe going to the blower unit. The second is the pipe mounter and sealed with polyurethane sealant. The pipe extends into the center to  about 4" above the baffle. The total distance from the baffle to the top is 8 1/2". I can adjust if needed but for now this will be the starting point.