J. Phil Thien's Projects

I see schrek's posts and they give me some improvement ideas.  Foremost is to add a bell output on top.  Super easy to make on a CNC router. Thanks!

Also I was planning on 4" ducting throughout - from the dust shoe on the spindle to the DC input manifold. Maybe a bell manifold to larger input on the DC if necessary. I haven't selected the DC yet, leaning towards a Griz 1.5 HP model with 1250 CFM (yeah, I know CFM numbers a kind of a fantasy). Of course, it is currently out of stock.  Sigh.

Hi, Phil Barrett here.  I've been a big fan of the Thien Baffle for a long time.  Built several for my shop.  One for my shop wide DC and one on a small sanding cart.  Posted about my next design.  It is for my 4'x4' CNC Router.

I have build several Thien baffle separators and really like being able to adjust the design to fit the needs. I have a big one on my shop dust collector and one on a small mobile cart I use a lot.

Anyway, I'm finishing up a 4'x4' CNC router. It will have a dedicated dust collector and I'm going to make a separator for it.  But I got thinking about how to reduce turbulence by have a straight inlet. I can cut arbitrary/complex designs on my CNC router and thought this design might be a step in that direction. This one is relatively small for a shopvac but I would size it up for the CNC DC. The top surfaces of the bottom ring and baffle would be coplanar, by the way.

A refinement of the design could be to use another strip of polycarbonate to support the outside edge of the 1/2" baltic birch top and bottom to make it look a bit more finished.  Also thinking about integrating the baffle into the bottom.  There may be a way to get rid of the supporting bolts which would serve to reduce turbulence and wind resistance (if that is the correct term).

I am interested in anyone's thoughts on this.  Stupid idea?  Needs work?  Any gotchas?

Along with the suggestion above to move the inlet to the correct position at the start of the solid part of the baffle plate, Your baffle plate is really thick as well. I would at least bevel the edges of the drop slot, if not replace it with 1/4" material.  Air is hitting those flat edges and causing turbulence that can contribute to pulling dust up out of the lower chamber.

Your inlet discharges right into the slot and this is likely disturbing the air below the baffle.  Try rotating your baffle 120 degrees so the discharge lands on the non-slot segment of the baffle. 

I don't see any foam weatherstripping where the trash can touches the separator.  Air leaking into the separator here is not good.

I want to share my experience with you and ask for advice.

I make my own version of the cyclone, I will show you some photos:





After fabrication, I conducted several comparative tests and was surprised that I did not notice any significant differences between cyclone designs: with and without a baffle. Here is a photo of the result of my tests:


In spite of everything, now I am using a vacuum cleaner with a baffled cyclone and I am very pleased with the result of the dust separation.

I share my drawings in PDF format and a step-by-step video of making:

PDF Plans



Youtube

Maybe I did something wrong with the baffle element? What could be my mistake? What can I improve?

Hi all!
I am amateur woodwoker from Russia. I have a few questions about the design of the cyclone separator. I hope I get answers here

Den!

I'm here but nothing to report, I have no idea what the status of his patent may be.

Eleven months after Kelly Bellis' response prior to this, and I happened to stumble across that DusTopper device while looking for other parts on the Home Depot site.  This matter still pisses me off!

Phil, are you still around?  Has there been any progress (in any direction) on this matter?
Do you need donations for legal fees?

--Mik

No empty body either... :o :o