J. Phil Thien's Projects

I am reviving this build thread to provide some data I just obtained using a Pyle anemometer.

I am reworking my shop and have been contemplating purchasing a commercial cyclone like a Dust Deputy XL or one of the builds from the gent in East Caroga. 

Before trashing my build, I thought I should see what kind of performance I am getting from my build.

I measured my 6" metal pipe at a blast gate that is 5 feet from the top hat inlet.  The gate has a diameter of 5.5" so I used an area calculation of 0.164 sq. ft.

Results were 3785 ft/min velocity and 640 CFM.

Considering my 1.5 hp JET DC motor is on the low end of dust collector setups, I was fairly impressed with the performance.

I plan on measuring the performance of the DC itself once I take the system apart to move it to a new location.  This should show me what kind of losses I am incurring in the top hat.

If anyone can see where I messed up the calculations, please let me know.  Also, if you have experience with a cyclone vs. the Thien baflle, I would be interested in your experience. 

At this point I'm not sure a cyclone would perform much better, but I have no way of knowing.  Seems data points are scarce for these builds and the cyclone with a Jet DC.

Mike,

My project also turned out really well.  I do have the air straightener and bellmouth combination.  I needed to install the straightener since I purposefully made the baffle to rotate counter to the DC impeller.

The modest Jet DC is doing a great job with any and all of my tools, although I don't have anything producing more than a standard table saw.

I am venting outside and have not noticed any major problems with the air exchange.  At least not for the short length of time I have been running the machines.

In my case, the DC is also quieter than my Shop Vac which I use for cleanup and to suck up what the top of the TS blade throws into the  blade guard.

JeffQ,

I have used my build for about two or three days' worth of work and thus far have no complaints.  I am getting plenty of CFM draw from my modest Jet DC.  I can only credit a successful build to all the various posts and ideas others have come mentioned.  As you can  see, my build was a compilation of the best ideas I have found on the site.

I highly recommend the round to rectangular metal piece I used.  Works great and it is just to easy to install to go to the trouble of trying to hammer one out.  I would suspect you could easily adapt one to your ducting. 

I am still surprised at the effectiveness of the baffle I built.  If anything is getting past the baffle, it is not visible.....although I vent outside and don't spend too much time monitoring any output while working.  When I tested the system, nothing was getting past the baffle that I could see.

I hope this helps.

Finally got a chance to work on a project actually using this system.  The Jet 1100 DC together with the Thien baffle works perfectly.  No problems at all.  Cut plenty of MDF on the TS today and did not even have to do any clean up when I was done....just amazing. 

I did add a blade guard with dust collection connected to my shop vac.  Which is now also vented to the outside.

I recently purchased the Jet DC-1100VX and am very pleased with it's performance.  However, I am not using it with the bag.  I am using just the DC with a large Thien Baffle, and vented to the outside.  Bill does mention in his site that only two 1.5 hp systems get close to his minimum requirements.  I chose the Jet since I only use one machine at a time and have a small shop. So far, the system I installed seems to work very well.

Do you have any room at all below the trash can when installed?  I followed the KISS principle and just use a 2x4 under the can to keep it up against the separator.  Works like a charm.  I had started out getting all sophisticated as well and then settled on the simplest possible setup.

Phil, Thank you again for all your work.  I will report after I actually get to use it.  I'm still running pipe and setting up effective collection at each machine.

One thing I noticed when comparing youtube videos of various builds is that the taller the area above the baffle, the shallower the slope of the 'swirl' on its way to the Thien slot. The shorter containers have a much steeper slope. Is this a function of the inlet, the height of the container, or some other design feature?

Thus far, I am very impressed with the efficiency of dust separation. 

I bet it was tough to bend 1/4" acrylic.  I had a tough time with 1/8" acrylic.  I suppose you had to heat while trying to bend.

Finally!  Got a chance to test the project out and so far it seems to be a total success.  I ran various handfuls of dust, mostly MDF and smaller wood shavings.  Although I have not checked for leaks, the system seems to have plenty of power.  The following video was made using a 10' long, 6" plastic pipe connected to about 4' of metal pipe (total distance from the inlet).  I did not notice any visible dust being exhausted and when the system was shut down there was nothing left in the baffle.

Thanks again to Phil and those who posted their ideas on the subject.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHExpJoeu3E

retired 2,

I wanted to thank you for all the work you did on your project and the time you took to make measurements etc.  I copied some of your excellent ideas and learned from your build.  I added a bellmouth and air straightener based on your data.  My build is larger than and although I have not fired it up yet, I am hoping it will work well.

I routed a hole large enough to allow the bellmouth to drop into the Thien enclosure, then made a disk to fit that hole and another larger disk to seal the top.  I used foam tape on the larger disk to keep a tight seal on the top of the enclosure.  BTW, the 6" bellmouth has a bell diameter of 12 1/8".

You might note that the DC exhaust pipe is different than I originally set up.  I didn't like that pipe having a tight 90 bend. I figured it could cause the DC to work harder than it needs to due to back pressure.  Not sure if that is correct or not, but it was worth smoothing out the flow a bit.

Tomorrow I will fire this thing up and see if it works.

Just finished the installation of the bellmouth. I have not been able to test the complete system today since I'm allowing the final bit of sealer to cure before adding the last bit of aluminum tape to the intake. I am really hoping this works.  It has been a lot of work which included running 6" pipe all over the shop. 

The bellmouth fit perfectly the crimped end of a pipe, which also holds the air straightener. 

Excellent results. I hope my build will turn out as efficient.  I am in the final stages of putting my large Thien top hat together.  Glad you have had success with your build. 

Phil has certainly designed an outstanding system.

tvman44, I too used 5" for my exhaust setup.  I found everything I needed at HD and Lowes.  HD was the only place that had the 5 foot sections of 5".  Otherwise, both stores had 5" pieces. 

I ordered all 6" for my main line.  I have a few 5" pieces I picked up locally at HD for the DC exhaust.