Thien Separator used with a Cyclone Dust Collector

[bigd]

I sent an e-mail to Phil and asked the following question:

I have an Onieda V3000 cyclone which works well, but the small container fills up quickly when I am planeing or jointing. I am thinking about making a separator of your design with a larger barrel to avoid having to empty the small container so often. So, have you had any experience with anyone trying this and/or what is your opinion about how well this would work?

He answered back that it will work fine and asked if I could just increase the container size on my Onieda.

Then he said instead of answering that, he suggested I start a new thread so others could chime in. So--- here it is.

As far as increasing the container size, I can't because of headroom constraints. When I purchased my system, the standard container was 35 gallon (which was what I got) with an optional 55 gallon. As noted above, this put the overall height of the system over the head room available.

I would welcome comments from anyone, especially anyone who has done anything similar.

[phil (admin)]

Aha.  So headroom is the problem, and you can replace the current container with one that is wider, either, I take it.

There is a gentleman that has a full-on cyclone that does use a separator with one of my baffles.  He does so because he doesn't want to empty the cyclone bin too often, as it is at the back of the shop.  He apparently works out on his driveway when prepping lumber and finds having the separate separator more convenient.

He you search some of the forums for "top hat separator," you'll find his posts.

[Negative_Zero]

I would be concerned about the reduction in suction if your blower has to pull air through two separators, or are you thinking that you would only use one or the other, depending on the task.

-Will

[bigd]

Will,

I guess I don't understand your question. Since the suction is coming from my cyclone to the Thien separator and then to my jointer, how can I use only one?

The cyclone is an Onieda V3000 (3 hp) and it seems to have a lot of suction. I would be running a 5" flex hose (about 5 ft long )between the cyclone and the Thien Separator and another 5" flex hose (also about 5 ft long) from the Thien Separator to the jointer.