News:

SMF - Just Installed!

Main Menu
Menu

Show posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.

Show posts Menu

Messages - Lewnworx

#1
So here's my build.

I used the ubiquitous HF 2 HP dust collector, and jettisoned everything but the ring and blower assembly.

My build is more or less a rip off of Jay Bates design from his old shop on u tube, as I also have the luxury of venting out the window and don't need to mess with a filter at all.

I liked this design as the impeller assembly is AFTER the separator (in fact it's the last item in the chain) so it should hold up a lot better than having the bits slamming the impeller.

My changes to Jay's build was to add a lot of height (in order to get the blower outlet to line up with my "exit" window), and in the process it meant moving the can up to meet the ring.  My cheesy solution for this was to hang some all thread bolts above the platform that supports the can (a 32 Gallon Brute Bucket), and use T nuts on the bottom of the platform to engage the all thread.  A socket on a drill raises and lowers the can support platform enough to clear the frame to extract and dump the can.

It also makes for a very snug fit on the can. 

A few other items of note:

I unmounted all the HF clips and handles, taped over them on the outside, then filled them in with hot melt glue on the inside.

The motor assembly just sits on the top plate, and after test runs I was noticing some dust gathering on the top plate between the plate and the blower bottom, so I added a home depot "homer" bucket gasket to the blower assembly (it sits just inside of the 16 bolts that hold the plate on over the impeller dimensionally, and as a result of that have picked up a fair bit more airflow as the impeller junction is no longer leaking by. 

From several brute force tests (1/4 trash can worth of dust in under 30 seconds stuffed into the floor sweep) its proving remarkably effective at separating, as I'm not seeing any dust of any kind on the ground outside the shop under the exhaust hose. 

I didn't take a lot of shots during the build, just a few of the glue up of the top and ring / thein plates.

I did shoot some video and if I can figure out how to get it under 5MB I'll attach that in a separate post.

I tried to attach the photos but it says the upload folder is full.

#2
Hi all.  Just bought a new house and it came with a 40x25 insulated metal building with it's own 9' roll up door and paved driveway with attached 25' carport over the overhead door.  Main reason was a place to park the RV's and to use part of the shop as a kitty condo for our cats.  By the time I'd got done building that with the spiffy new Ridgid 4512, the woodshed bug hit full tilt. My dad had a killer workshop in the garage as a kid, and my lovely new wife started saying things like "crown molding throughout", "display cases", "pergolas" and "raised flowerbeds".   The net result is tonight I'll be picking up a band saw, drill press, VSR router and table to go along with the 12" double bevel slider miter and Delta T3 fence for the 4512 I got last week.

This of course means a LOT of dust.  I read about as much of Bill Pentz's site as I could handle before even my engineer geeks brain could accommodate in one sitting, and while I fully get the whole fine dust thing, I just wasn't ready to drop $2K on a collection system.  Then I discovered the thing Bill should have put at the top of all his very fine (and very wordy) articles:  If you can vent outside you can ignore 95% of this site. 

That being the case I'm heading down the HF separator (stealing just the intake and blower bits) with a trashcan Thien separator in front and exhausting the blower out one of the shop windows.

Fortunately, until I get this thing built I can just wheel the saws and whatnot out the 9' door and do all the cuts outside under the carport part.  I'm not sure if I'm going to go the whole blast gate and PVC pipe route yet, and may just start with hose for the current tool in operation, but I'm fairly convinced with an external exhaust the core of the rig being the HF blower with a trashcan Thien separator will do what I need it to do.

So with that in mind I come here to read up on what I need to know. 

Cheers,

Mark