J. Phil Thien's Projects

I kind of scanned through this post - it looks like the impeller is is made for a reversed rotation to the HF impeller. I seems it would not work anyways even if you were to reverse the rotation.

Hello everyone - Phil I hope all is well with you!
It has been quite some time since I last posted here. My how time flies.
If you do not know, I was one of the first to use Phil's baffle design and incorporate it into a top hat design back in 08.
Since then, I have seen many different builds on this idea.
All I can say is "wow" on how this simple concept has evolved.
I am in design phase of producing a clear version of this basic idea. I have the plexy glass but have not bought the solvent to join the ends.
Still using my original version and to be truthful, it has been working great. Do not get in the shop as much as i would like but have managed to run a few barrels of chips and dust with little to no buildup in the filter.
Thanks again Phil for sharing this life changing idea for those of use who can not afford the big cyclone systems.

jmbchap,

I found that putting the end of the solid end of the baffle at the end of the inlet seemed to have the best results.
I noticed that Phil's design with a 2.25 inlet has it in the middle or towards the beginning.
However, when people went to 4" it was placed more towards the middle.
Hope that makes sense.

It has been a while since I posted last. Being in Michigan with one of the worst economies in the country, I have not been doing a whole lot of woodworking but concentrating more on my job which required much of my time. Well the job thing has worked out (got hired directly from a contract position) and am now getting back into the shop.
I was asked a long while ago to update with hooking the filter up directly without the original separator and how it is working.
Well I messed up - the last time I emptied the can the top did not seat properly to the can. Well you can guess the next time I used it,  most of the stuff went into the filter instead of dropping into the can. Cleaned the filter and am giving it another shot.
As you can see by the pics previously posted, I had ran the duct work rigid into the tophat assembly. The rigid ductwork restricted the tophat movement.
To fix this issue, I installed a short piece of 6" flex between the tophat and my ductwork. This allows the tophat to seat properly without a possibility of lifting from the rigid pipe (hope that made since). Again I will update when I get to creating some more dust  ;).

Still checking out the latest mods - man you guys are really getting creative!
I still have not come up with a drawing on how to mount it directly to the cart. It would require a pretty sturdy frame to hold the motor as it is very heavy. Learning AutoCAD at work now, so when I get a chance I will draw something up unless I use Visio again.
I did acquire a very large piece of Plexiglas or acrylic that I might make another one with so as to see how this thing separates. Things are in the works but time is an issue at the moment.
Keep posing those mods - you guys give me some great ideas.
Happy Holidays to everyone.

Greg

Nice job, wish mine looked as good as that!

Nice job Alan.
I think you will like how it works.

I was looking at the mods that most have done on this setup and wonder if you added an extension ring of sheet metal or poly to the bottom to extend the height allowing Plil's baffle to be lower and of course, as already suggested, to modify the center (outlet) ring smaller and down towards Phil's baffle. Not the best of drawings but I think you can get the idea.
This would allow the air stream to circle around the cylinder below the inlet, thus avoiding air stream crash, which may be what is causing the debris to enter the filter instead of dropping down in the lower bag. Also you could be able to see above the baffle if poly is used and the lower bag is clear which may give more insight as to what is transpiring in the cylinder.
What do you think?

Rhino,
I understand your current setup works. remember though all it takes is a small amount of leakage on the filter side to spread dust all through your shop.
If the system is working properly, the filter should not need cleaning - just a few raps on the side once and a while though I rarely do that. If you are getting that much debris in the filter something is wrong in your setup.

Couldn't you use a small block of wood on either the filter or the DC as a spacer for the turnbuckles?

Being that I did not add a baffle to my original HF DC and made a top hat version instead, I can not answer that question. Anyone out there help him out here?

Big Dawg,
You are welcome and good luck on your HF DC mods.
Not sure on the neutral vain as a round pipe extended into the DC. I think I read here somewhere that someone who had one took it out. Now I could be wrong on that though - getting older and my memory is not as good as it used to be  ::).
I did post a possible suggestion on a sort of neutral vain in this thread http://www.jpthien.com/smf/index.php?topic=164.0 and was hoping someone would try it to see how it worked.
Would of probably tried that myself but as you know my setup is completely different.
Make sure to post pics for everyone to see. Good Luck

Regards,

Greg

Phil,
Glad to see you are hopefully making money instead of an illness or family emergency   :).
I myself have been busy as all get out but the news today with Chrysler filing bankruptcy, things my change in a hurry.
With today's job market, having a job seems to be a luxury.

Take care

Greg

You are welcome, glad to help.

Well it depends on which HF DC you have. If it is the 2hp version, then yes, that is 5" duct that is reduced down to two 4" ducts with a Y. The smaller portable ones I believe use 4".

Big Dawg,

I put my outlet closer to the end of the 120 degree section instead of the middle or beginning.
My reason was that being I was using 6" duct there would be more air flow entering the chamber.
I remember a while back Phil suggested doing that when someone upped to 4". Figured 6" being bigger than that, I did what was recommended at the time when I built it.
Not sure on how much that will effect your separation but so far it has worked great for me.