J. Phil Thien's Projects

i got think after seeing the cool sand doons in my drum that there is still air spinning below the baffle

would adding any vertical pieces sticking down help or hinder 

hi there.

im hoping to create a place for people to post videos they created or found online showing separators, dc hoods , machine modifications , pipework ect

hi everybody.

I hope Im not relighting a fire with this so , hopefully we can get some wider topics covered.


has anyone built any hoods or Shute's etc. for any of their machines.
if so lets see them.



anyone adapted any of their tools to improve the dust collection.

hopefully I will get time to post up some of mine soon

hi there
im going to build a manometer to test my dc system.
im finding it hard to find dc related manometers. they are all about gas appliences, and carberetters

mine will probably be just some 1/2" clear pipe cliped to some ply and a ruler

how much pipe do you think i would need
is the end open or sealed up. what stops the dc sucking all the water out if it is open

thanks alan

hi there,
the last few times i looked intot he drum on my seperater i noticed a shape to the dust. it seams to be the same each time.
i leveled it out a bit and it went back a bit.
is there any conclusions i can draw from the way it is building up

i had my seperater powered by a small dc unit . 1.5 hp i think. it wasnt up to the job so i replaced it with a 3hp  one.
the new one is great  but im left with the old one that works great but is financially worth very little
my dewalt 718 chop saw is almost imposable to colect from.
i put a 6"hose right beside the blade behind the fence. it works great for that side but the other side has nothing. iv tried blocking it but the dust just bounces back out

im thining about using my spare extracter to suck from the other side
my plan is to put the second dc up on the wall out of the way . i havnt room for a second barrel under it to colect the dust ,
given that there will be very little dust being sucked up at any one time im thinking of using the main dc to empty a small container under the 2nd one.

im thinking that if i put an 8 " pipe under the dc where the bag was(it willl require a funnel) and put a blast gate on the end. then run the main dc ducting under the blast gate. put a T fitting in the main line  so that the straight through part goes to the saw and the 90  degree part attachs to the blast gate.

when im using the saw i would run both extracters and have the blast gate closed . an internal baffle will seperate out the dust . when im finished with the saw i will open the blast gate and the suction from the main dc will suck up the dust when it drops down into the T. the blow from the second dc will help too.

if i do this every time i use the set up i dont think there would be more than a cup or two in the pipe. .

hi there.
i thought i would start a thread listing all the little add on design tweeks that have been tried
be it positive or negitive on the  end reult

i was thinking that someone elses failed idea might spark another idea or way of doing it that might be the next big (little in these cases usually) tweek



recatangular inlet. works great.
bell mouth outlet. shows a lot of promise
adding a little extra curve to the side of the wall just before the inlet to stop the air hitting the inlet side too steeply. seems to work well
chamfering the bottom of a thicker baffle to reduce it thickness and increase seperation
double height seperaters . starting to be built . showing promising  data
going from a top inlet to a side inlet . removes an obstical inside the seperater



i cant think of any failed ideas off hand but il add any i think of

hi there
is anybody using those 6"-4" transition boxs that clear view sell. they are a clear box (or clear front anyway) with a 6" port on the top and 2 4" on the bottom

i am thinking of adding something like this to the duct lines going to my table saw and band saw. it should help me see whats going on in side


thanks alan

has anyone put a cone under a thien baffle to drop it in to a barrel.
im thinking of relocating my dc ducts onto the ceiling . this way i would end up with better cfm at the farther away machines but the closer machines would suffer a wee bit

if i put a cone under the top hat baffel  and put the lid back on top of the barel and flex hose between the two.
this would allow me to make a larger diameter seperater if i decided to

thanks alan

hi there
i started building my dc sytem with a smaller extracter that i had. it wasnt up to the job
so i bought a startrite 3hp 2bag
i mounted the impeller housing up in the attic above the seperater
the dc has a 8" inlet . i put a 8-6" reducer and 6" pipe down to the seperater

problem is i think im missing out on some posible cfm . im thinking that if i build a new seperater in 8 inch  and then reduce down to 6" with the ducting (already there but slightly changable)
hope fully the 8" seperater would alow more cfm
but any lost cfm would fromt eh seperater would be like having no seperater on the 6" size. hopefully i would end up with the inlet cfm i have now before the seperater but after the 8" seperater


will an 8" still work on a big metal barrel . 24"in diameter

also im thinking of puting a y straight away after the seperater in 8" and running this to my chop saw (a nightmare to extract from) the 8 " should help a bit better than the 6"

what do you think

hi there
i am setting up my duct work  adn i put my thickness planer on the end of my run (mostly to see if i could keep up.
welll it managed to keep the machine clear but half filled about 6 feet of pipe. bit of a problem. the planer has a 4 " port but the duct is 6". i cleared it out
i was thinking last night about it .
today i put a spare 6" y fitting on the end of the planer. i put a 6-4" reducer on both sides of it and a blast gate on one.
i figured that the 4" on its own was starving the pipe of air. so i opened the blast gate on the y and let in air to make up for that.
everything worked a dream.
i planed a 4 foot long piece of 3" wide ash  from 1.5" down to 1/4"
not even a small build up anywhere.

the machine is a planer thicknesser combo so the dust schoot flips up over the cutter  for thicknessing but stays down for surfacing. the y fitting works great for thicknessing but would be a pain for surfacing because there would be nothing to support the y


anyway. i want to upgrade the 4" port on the planer to 6" but also want to allow in the make up air .
im not sure how to go about it design wise.
the flip around part has a slot across it that is 12" long and 1" high (less than half the area of a 6" pipe).
there is a transition from that to 4". i was thinking of making another one similar but a 6" down to 12" by  just over 2"

i am afraid that all the air will flow through the open part and not through the schoot

if i put that y on the end of the duct i think a similar result will hapen because of all the resistance from the planer and flex hose


i will post a pic tomorrow if i can

anyone have any ideas

thanks alan

hi there,
iv finally got around to starting my dc ducting.
when i bought all the parts i ordered 45 degree saddles for my branchs(only a blast gate and hose on each one) but i ended up with 90 degree saddles instead.
i wasnt able (not worth the  cost of shipping them back) to return them so i bought more 45 degree ones.
anyway they are sitting on the shelf  and i was thinking  what to do with them.

if i mount them to the 6" main line and put a plastic cap in it would it act as a window .
i was thinking of putting 3-4 on the system .
would i be able to see the dust passing by.
would there be a build up of dust in the saddle. i would only put them on the top of the horizontal  runs  or on the front of the vertical runs.

any other sugestions on what to do with them

thanks alan

hi there.
i started a new thread so that all the build would be  seperate from my usuall  ramblings and odd ball ideas.
my plan is to build 2 seperaters that are the same in every way exept one is clockwise and the other is anti clock wise. this is to solve a layout issue in the work shop so there will be a seperate motor and seperater for the two lines
i started this week  and have  most of the basic part done,


these are the barrels that i plan to use for the seperater . they are all the same diameter and have good smooth rims . i can choose which ever one i want at this stage. i will have the  others for back ups and storing the dust untill i can get rid  of it. nothing worse than having to emty the drum half way through a job. planing boards can generate a lot of shavings  so you wouldnt feel filling the barrel

hi there.
i have been researching bell inlet designs.
i am finding info that specs it at for a 6" pipe there should be a 2" raidiused section and then a flat  horizontal section.
so the over all measurment of the outside would be 12" for a 6" pipe.

does this sound right. 



i am finding the info on having the bell at the start of the outlet . do you think that there would be any point putting another on the exit end of the outlet.
from what i know about dust colection ,it is all about reducing pipe lengths and turbulence on both sides of the impeller .
so if it works on one side it should work on the other.


what do you think.

hi there.
i would like to build a seperater for colecting the dust from my drill press when i drill steel and aluminium.
are there any changes that should be made to the design to cater for the metal and its extra weight etc.
i am wondering about slot width etc.

i wil probably use my shop vac.

i am afraid to let the  metal dust and swarf etc into the normal dc system  as they might spark or be hot enought to start a fire.

do you think there would be less dust getting through due to the extra weight of the dust.
i am thinking of a top hat type  with a section on top for the motor of the shop vac to sit into . sort of a direct drive set up if you get me. no hose to a seperate unit. all in one.
i am thinking of sitting the whole seperater on the base of the drill press ( floor model)   and runing a 50mm flex hose up to the bit area.


has anyone used a baffel design on metal dust

thanks alan

hi there.
i was thinking of making a small seperater for a really small dust collecter(the small portable type you could put under your arm) i havent bought it yet.
i want to use it for demo work on site ,chasing walls,cutting tiles etc.
i will put the pipe out the window and blow the dust outside and away.
but i dont want stones or bits of tiles going out or hitting the impeller.
i am not worried about the dust  really but the bigger stuff.
how small do you think i could make the seperater 
i was thinking of putting it on top of a  bucket or small barrel .

thanks alan

hi there.
just a quick idea to make the forum better

could you put catagories in so that there would be a special section for all the different types of ideas.
as a newcommer to the forum (not to the idea thow ) i am finding it very hard and annoying to find the info i want and a dont like having to trawl through all the threads to find the qwirkier ideas
i am only half way through the pages and am sick of reading the same questions over and over.
i think have the forum layed out like this would help keep members here and get them posting about other dc shop improvement
i am sure there are some great ideas that are lost to the depths of the 28 pages

i am thinking along the lines of

• basic design principles
  frequently asked questions section
  shop vac sized baffels
  4" top inlet
  4"side inlet
  6" top inlet
  6"side inlet
  ducting
  dust colection for tool
  trouble shooting
  unusuall designs
  building materials
  construction methods

thanks alan

hi there

i am designing my new shop dc system. i want to put it in a corner with a run going along both walls away from the corner.
the troube is joining one line so that there is no very tight bends . the other line will be inline with the inlet to the seperater
i would go with a side inlet design as i feel it is more efficient
has anyone built (or even dreamed ) of such a design.
does the solid part of the slot have to under the first section of the dust coming in.

obvioslyboth inlets would both be going the same direction  (clockwise  etc)

thanks alan

hi there. i bought all the parts for my dust colection system a few days ago. the shop i ordered it through said they would get 45 degree saddle fittings(drill a hole in the duct and bolt on the saddle ) to keep the costs down.
now they say they can only get 90 degree saddles.
i dont think those are going to work efficiently. i would rather have it right  even if it cost me more.
i see some on a few ducting sites but they are 25 euros each or more . all it is a 4"pipe cut to a specific end shape (cant be complicated to make a template to cut the shape) and flare the ends.
i probably need 9-10
how do you think i should flare the ends

is it too much to take on trying to build them myself

is there another way

thanks alan

hi there
i made a top inlet design using 4" fitting . i found that it didnt seperate out all the dust . maybe 50-60 % efficient. it left a lot on the top of the baffel.
i have a plexi top to the baffel so i can watch the dust swirling around. it was getting hung up on the side of the wall going around and on the back of the inlet fitting.
i had to widen th eslot to allow more dust down but it didnt fix it much.

then i turned it into a side inlet . now i am getting 98%+ (sheet rock bucket in seperator and 2-3 spoons in dust colector) of the dust  even sucking it out of a bucket as fast as i could. i am sure it would be higher % coming off of a machine

everything else stayed the same (even the dust , and the dust was banged around a few times in and out of this thing so it was more likely to pass throught the seperater as it got finer)
so i get the feeling that the side inlet design is bettter/
has anyone else thought this