J. Phil Thien's Projects

Thanks retired2! That's good to know, and it makes sense. I can't imagine the "talcum powder" having enough weight and/or mass to sink to the bottom like the other stuff. I really appreciate your time in responding and helping me. Stay safe my friend!  ;)

Ok all. My final update, and hopefully this will help anyone else that starts a dust collector/separator on a different design, like I did. I do want to stress that I wasn't aware of the Thien baffle when I started my build. I was fortunate to later find, and watch some of videos on YouTube that showed this "new to me" baffle system. Then I found this site, and benefitted greatly from it. My initial build was exactly like the pictures show thatI posted above. I was getting bad "scrubbing", or I believe at one point I called it "scavenging". In other words, my shop vac was ultimately pulling the dust and debris that found its way to the bottom of my fiber drum, back into the shop vac. So I asked for help here, and now I have a system that works actually better than I hoped! Retired2 got me started in the right direction. The center outlet pipe, the pipe that goes to my shop vac, is still dead center of the drum lid. No changes there, except for the depth of the pipe into the drum, which I lowered, after finishing my baffle. I removed the inlet pipe from the sidewall of the drum, and moved it to the lid, right to the edge. I used another piece of sheet metal to plug the holes left from the pipe, and screw holes for the original wooden caul the pipe was mounted to. The sheet metal serves a secondary purpose of preventing the wear that would occur from the sandpaper effect of the dust/planer shavings/wood chips entering a high speed, and rubbing the wall of the fiber drum on the way to the bottom. I built my baffle from the only thing I had that was appropriate. 1/2" MDF. I would have used 1/4" tempered hardboard if I had it, and someday I will build another baffle out of it, and replace my current baffle. I used 1/4" all thread rod, covered with steel tubing to act as spacers to mount the baffle to the lid. The rest of the details I just tried to match the look of Phil's unit he shows on his page. My baffle is sitting 1" below the inlet elbow, and the outlet pipe extends to approximately halfway to the centerline of that elbow. It works very well as it sits. I've used it a lot since finishing it, and there isn't ONE small wood chip or planer shaving in the bottom of my shop vac now! And nothing on the filter either! I'm sure I'm getting some of the super fine, talcum powder like dust that refuses to settle to the bottom of the drum, but nothing that will cause me problems between drum emptyings. I'm very happy the way it turned out, and hope anyone else who wonders if they can "get by" without the baffle will look at the before and after pics, and understand the terrific difference I've experienced from the baffle. Thanks to all for your suggestions and help for a newbie!  :D 

Ok folks. I removed the pipe coming through the side of my drum, and built a baffle. Ultimately, I hope it will look and work like Phil's original. I'll post some pics when I get a chance. My latest question pertains to the pipe that goes to my shop vac. It's located dead center in the lid. It is still exactly like the above pictures show it to be. But now that I've mounted the other pipe, (inlet pipe from the tool being used), and will mount an under lid baffle, should the pipe in the middle now protrude down into the cavity above the baffle more? How much? I read somewhere else on the forum here, that it was recommended to have the bottom of the pipe approximately at the centerline of the 90 degree elbow? The bottom edge of my elbow will sit around an inch above the surface of the baffle, so the above recommendation would put the bottom of the pipe in the middle of the lid about 2.5" or so above the surface of the baffle. Sound good? Thanks again everyone for their help!

Thanks everyone for your replies. I think I'll put both pipes through the lid, and hang a baffle under it. I need to get a couple things. I'll put hose adapters (or dust ports) on the lid on the outside. Can they be straight, or should they be at some angle? The pictures of the lid Phil put on his home page show his to be at an angle. Looks like exactly what I just mounted on my bandsaws lower wheel cover. I'll order a couple more and use them. Sound good? Thank you all for your help. 

Thank you retired2, for your quick reply! I don't mind reworking my build, to make it work better. I can remove the side inlet pipe, and cover the hole with some more sheet metal. As it is, the pipe to my shop vac, is dead center in the lid. So I can redo the piece of lumber on top, and add the second pipe beside it, like Phil shows in his photos. I'll also need to put a 90 degree elbow on the bottom of the pipe as well, correct? Then I would build the baffle, and attach with stand offs, to the bottom of the lid? Thanks again for your time and expertise. 

Hello all. I'm new here, and would like your help, and expertise. I wanted a better dust solution for my modest shop. I don't have a DC, and really can't afford one atm. I have a Craftsman shop vac, and attached a picture of it, so you can see the exact model. I also just recently discovered the " Thien baffle", but before I knew anything about it, I was browsing around on YouTube, and found a dust collector build that looked like would work for me. Here's a link, for those that would want to see it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNDc66V1_64
So I ordered my fiber drum, got the rest at the local hardware store, and built it. I made a couple mistakes as I went, corrected them, and finally got it finished. I've made some adjustments since, and attached pictures of the current configuration. Why I need your help, is that the shop vac is "scavenging" dust/planer shavings/debris from the bottom of the barrel. The reason I'm saying this is because I can empty the shop vac container, turn it on with the hose from the collector/separator just laying on the floor, (not actually sucking anything up) and after running for a few minutes, there is a small amount of debris in the shop vac, and on the filter. It's not a lot, but more than I think it could be. Obviously, the longer I let it run, the more stuff ends up in the shop vac. Again, this is with the inlet hose to the collector just lying out in the open. The unit does seem to work for the most part, and in one photo, you can see the "vortex" pattern in the debris at the bottom of the fiber drum. So, would one of Phil's baffles be what I need here? Or some other baffle? If so, where would be the best place to put it? I was thinking of snugging it right up to the bottom of the wooden caul, that holds the horizontal pipe. If anyone is wondering, I did initially play with placement of the bottom of the vertical pipe, the one that goes to the shop vac. The original design called for the bottom of the vertical pipe to be 3 inches below the horizontal pipe. But the "scavenging" was worse when it was located there. I finally ended up with it where you see it in the picture now, just even with the bottom surface of the lid. I used 2 inch PVC pipe. The drum is approximately 18.5 inches in diameter, and 26 inches high. Again, I didn't build this unit ignoring the Thien baffle, I just didn't know about them at the time. What do y'all think? Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Hello all. Brand new here. Discovered Mr. Thien's baffle through of all places, YouTube! lol I've been an avid woodworker for 40 plus years, but had quite a spell where I just didn't have the time to do anything. I'm getting a shop back together now, upgrading/modifying some of my tools, building jigs, etc, etc. Just like so many others. I will post a help question in the next day or so, and hope you experienced folks can help me. Before I discovered the "Thien baffle" and all the separators built on it's design, I found a dust collector build on YouTube that looked appealing to me, and from the video I watched, it looked like it worked well also. So I ordered a fiber drum, and built it! Made a couple boo boos, corrected them, and finally thought I was done. Let me add also, that I don't own a DC, but rather use a 16 gal, 6.5 peak horsepower shop vac for my workshop cleanup tasks. I just didn't know any better! I can't really afford a DC right now anyway. OK, having said that, the vac works fairly well for what it is, and I get nice airflow through my new fiber drum collector/separator. But what I'm finding now, is the shop vac is "scavenging" some dust/planer shavings/debris, from the bottom of the drum, even when the hose is just laying on a clean floor, and not actually being used to suck up stuff. It's not extreme, by any means, but it's more than I think it should be. So I'll post some pics of my build, and ask for y'all to help me,and give me guidance/suggestions. Like any other subject with which we are unfamiliar, I'm learning so much, and have become fascinated by this whole "dust collection" subject. I appreciate all the hard work and experimentation you all have put into this, and hope to be able to contribute myself someday, to help others. Ok, enough introduction. Thanks for having this discussion group!  :) Oh, and I totally messed up, and put this intro in the "Here's the Plans" section. My apologies.

Hi. Thanks for the reply! Yes, here's the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNDc66V1_64
I also just realized I put my intro in the wrong place. Not totally sure how I screwed that up so bad! lol Anyway, I'll copy and paste it where it goes. I also have pictures ready to upload for a new thread I'll start for my help question.

Hello all. Brand new here. Discovered Mr. Thien's baffle through of all places, YouTube! lol I've been an avid woodworker for 40 plus years, but had quite a spell where I just didn't have the time to do anything. I'm getting a shop back together now, upgrading/modifying some of my tools, building jigs, etc, etc. Just like so many others. I will post a help question in the next day or so, and hope you experienced folks can help me. Before I discovered the "Thien baffle" and all the separators built on it's design, I found a dust collector build on YouTube that looked appealing to me, and from the video I watched, it looked like it worked well also. So I ordered a fiber drum, and built it! Made a couple boo boos, corrected them, and finally thought I was done. Let me add also, that I don't own a DC, but rather use a 16 gal, 6.5 peak horsepower shop vac for my workshop cleanup tasks. I just didn't know any better! I can't really afford a DC right now anyway. OK, having said that, the vac works fairly well for what it is, and I get nice airflow through my new fiber drum collector/separator. But what I'm finding now, is the shop vac is "scavenging" some dust/planer shavings/debris, from the bottom of the drum, even when the hose is just laying on a clean floor, and not actually being used to suck up stuff. It's not extreme, by any means, but it's more than I think it should be. So I'll post some pics of my build, and ask for y'all to help me,and give me guidance/suggestions. Like any other subject with which we are unfamiliar, I'm learning so much, and have become fascinated by this whole "dust collection" subject. I appreciate all the hard work and experimentation you all have put into this, and hope to be able to contribute myself someday, to help others. Ok, enough introduction. Thanks for having this discussion group!