J. Phil Thien's Projects

It's time to share!  And more importantly, to say Thank You to Phil for the great design of his dust separator.

As you can see by the photo, I was able to integrate the Thien separator into my 16 Gallon shop vac.  Also note that I used a Lowe's bucket to mount the shop vac to the separator.  To my surprise, the Shopvac lid locks with this bucket.



Follow the link to view the photo album this project.  Please note, I do not have plans or drawings and dimensions to share, however, the captions under each photograph illustrate how the separator was constructed.

https://picasaweb.google.com/104032558344910866540/ShopVacDustSeparator?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPKIrsSQ4POhWQ&feat=directlink

Last, but not least, this was not a project for advanced, intermediate, or amateur woodworkers!  For this project, you simply must be persistent  ;D

-Don

Hello Everybody.  I'm the new guy today.  I made this trashcan separator last October, and have since learned about Phil's design.  Needless to say, I'm impressed!

Click on thumbnail's to enlarge the picture.  When pictures are enlarged, comments are below the pictures.



Link to Pre-Separator album: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?cat=1022

I was not totally satisfied with how well the pre-separator performed, and decided to add Phil's baffle. 



Link to upgrade album: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?cat=1080

Initial tests with the upgrade are not very encouraging at this point.  I emptied the box on my table saw, and guesstimate about 30% of the dust went into the can. 

As you can see in this picture, I did cut the corner of the elbow per Phil's suggestion on this forum. In the following picture, note the white laminate (placed in the trashcan lid grove) that simulates the side of the can.  This orientation of the elbow was the first test.  The next two tests will be to move the elbow closer to the side of the can.

Enlarge the picture.  Click on the small arrow in the upper right-hand corner of the picture to view the next picture in the album.



My initial objective was to put the trashcan inside the frame of my Delta 50-760 dust collector.  This would require a special 5" to 4" adapter.  I made this one, but the was unable to make the can fit.  Win some, loose some!



Link to special adapter album: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?cat=1029

Comments, suggestion, observation, etcetera will be appreciated.

-Don