J. Phil Thien's Projects

Phil, I think I did exactly what he is talking about with inserting the baffle into a shop vac directly...



Most of the added height is because you need to allow room for the vac filter which normally takes up a considerable amount of the volume of the tub of the vacuum. So, it's a pretty large rig now, kinda tough to haul out of the basement, but it works GREAT so far. And I could probably actually suck up 12 gallons of junk now!

Great idea!!

NICE! Another side entry :D Gotta love it. I have that same DC too! Good job.

Nice job dude! I'm a huge fan of side entry.

As for the baffle, how often are you going to be emptying it? And is using a power drill to unscrew 3 srews REALLY that much of a hassle?
Alternate idea: Attach three heftier support blocks under the larger dia section (eliminating the mid-slot one).  Make them with threaded inserts. Screw the baffle down with flat head machine screws so they are flush to the surface. If the blocks are solid to the can, and the baffle is nice and stiff, it won't move...  And then you just chuck up a phillips head or whatever and power drive them out to empty the can.

I would make a whole lid/baffle cylindrical assembly to sit on top, AND make a side inlet to it, cut out a couple curves in the process.  1/8" hardboard is flexible enough to make that curve I think...

Anyone tried reinforcing a can like this internally with some bracing?

Rhino, your DC is much less likely to crush the can than the shop vac, so go for the dual lid setup.

Quote from: Vaughn on May 20, 2009, 02:59:14 AM

Quote from: bennybmn on May 19, 2009, 06:24:48 PM
I used one of those adjustable circle cutters and my portable drill. It got interesting at times... But it eventually worked :D

Yeah, those things can be a real two-handed rodeo in a portable drill.  ;D

Luckily mine has a side handle!

I used one of those adjustable circle cutters and my portable drill. It got interesting at times... But it eventually worked :D

What's the difference between the neutral vane and the ramp?

The coffee can is a great idea! And green too :D

Yeah it definitely made my hose runs easier too! Just don't forget your paint bucket/fan shroud when you do it!! :D

Yeah I have my baffle set up the same way.  I guess I thought the 120 deg portion was supposed to be a "landing zone" for the debris... But looking at the pics from Phil's site, it looks more like the 120 deg section should be somewhat centered on the inlet. 

To be honest, I don't have any clear bags or anything to really SEE what is going on with mine... Might invest in at least a clear lower bag to check. Also, I should unclamp the felt bag and see what it looks like in there!! I'll report back in a couple days. Don't worry dude, we'll get it figured out!!

What's the overall diameter of the 850? I'm trying to figure out the relationship of the 8" ID to the OD so I can scale it down to my 650 if needed. Thanks!

I inverted mine because that little ring was upside down, and I didn't want to drill out the welds like Tom did :D  Basically, it's totally reversible (and cheap) so I had nothing to lose.  The purpose of the ring is to prevent chips from flying up. The baffle keeps the chips that are already IN the bag from flying up too. And promotes nice separation. 

An alternative would be to remove that funnel ring entirely, and make a new one.