J. Phil Thien's Projects

03-11-2012: I thought I?d make a log of my project. I based my design on Retired2?s. I am a novice woodworker. I probably should have made a simpler version but I really liked his design. After months of reading and planning, I started my build. Today I finally had all of the parts made. I did make a deviation from his design. I couldn?t figure out a way to make the radial dados in the rings. So I planned to omit the dados and have the upright spacers butt jointed with counter sunk screws in the rings, screwed into the uprights. Well that was a bad idea. First screw (even though I pre-drilled) split the upright. Another bad decision was I made the upright spacers out of mdf. So my plan now is to remake the uprights out of oak and see if that works. I realized that screwing into end grain is not a good idea, but I hope it works in oak.

03-11-2012: I remade the up-right supports out of oak. It is really solid now. Leason learned.

I was playing around last night with 5? dia duct. I put pieces of rectangular mdf in the end and used a mallet to form the round to rectangular. It doesn?t look bad. The only thing is, the perimeter of the rectangle is the same distance as the diameter. But the area is smaller. I don?t want to spend the money to have one made like Retired2 did. Although that is sweet. I assume retired2 made the area of the rectangle the same square inches as the area of the diameter. Would I be better off just having a round inlet, or the transition I made?

I have been using a combination blade. I am getting ready to start a project using oak plywood. Anyone have recommendations on a good blade?

I am curious to how you guys pick up dust at the table saw. Cabnet saws are enclossed with a dust port. But I have a contractor's saw.

I am new to the forum. I wish I had researched more before I purchased my Dust Collector.
I bought:
Harbor Freight (Central Machinery)
CFM: 1550
Horse Power: 2


I really like everything I have read and seen on the Thien Separator. Brilliant. Now I have info overload after all I have read (so many hours over the last week). I planned to use my DC with Separator. And Rockler's 4" Dust Right expandable hose to stretch from one machine to another. The hose stretches 4x the relaxed length. I bought the 3 foot hose and planned to go from machine to machine with it. Would I be better off building the Separator for a Shop Vac and caulk up the purchase of the DC as a learning experience?