Cyclone seperator for wood dust?

Butch(OH)

Well-known Member
At my new place my woodworking tools for the first time have their own dedicated home in the rehabbed chicken coupe. Formally my dust collection set up was to simply let it fly and then sweep up when done. Planning on central dust collection in the dedicated shop. I have looked at the units that set inside the shop and use bags for fine filtration but I don't want to deal with the bags and am thinking about purchasing or building a cyclone and exhausting the cyclone outside the building but never seen one operate. Question is how much dust escapes a decently set up cyclone? I only have mess in the yard to worry about.
Thanks in advance.
 
If you care read up at Bill Pentz's website but the short of it, a typically reasonably priced cyclone will keep your yard free of sawdust, its just the fine particles that will escape and blow away. Don't vent them inside without adding the finest bags as they are the worst particles for your lungs.

If you are gonna vent inside build/buy a proper cyclone like the ones Bill designed, they are tall and awkward but they keep your bags cleaner a lot longer.
 
Put the cyclone outside and the vent will be outside by default. The particles to worry about are in the 3 to 5 micron range. The ones you can see floating in the air are not the ones to worry about. You'll cough those out eventually.
Best plan is to have a vacuum system and also wear a respirator.

During nice weather open up the building and get a breeze blowing through. That's a big help.
 
I just put a dedicated system in my shop. Even though each tool has a 'vacuum' port on it not all the dust gets sucked in; ex. dust off the top of the board you are cutting will largely still be left behind. The system picks up half or better but not all. Respirator is still the best bet and the ability to unplug the dedicated hoses and use them as a regular vacuum cleaner.
 

I don't want to lose heated air so my system uses a trash can separator to get rid of the big stuff, then a plastic filter with bag below. The trash can fills fast, and the plastic filter have a manual vibrator to knock fines loose. It's supposed to be good down to 1 micron and seems to really clean the air. Mine came from Grizzly but several companies sell the same type pleated plastic filter.
 
scrounge a used furnace fan, some 24x24x12 bag filters, some 24x24x4 pleated filters and make your own air cleaner for your shop. mine is under 1/2 of the workbench. run the fan anytime the lights are on in the shop. This cleans the small particles out of the air that are the most damaging to you. change the 24x24x4 pleated when you notice significant drop in air flow.
get the fine micron bags for the dust collector, a cyclone in front of it will keep the bigger stuff out of the bag.
good luck
Ron
 
Are you gonna use a thickness planer? They are about the biggest task for a cyclone.
They will fill a 5 gal. bucket in about 5 minutes. That might determine the size you need.
The stuff that floats in the air & you can only see in the sunlight is what gets all over everything (and in your lungs). Your idea of venting outside is best for your lungs (and hearing) but will suck the heat out of your shop in addition to the small mess outside.
I've rebuilt a 1 1/2 HP Delta sucker, to include a 10 micron pleated (expensive) filter, plastic 30 gal. barrel for chips with a Thein baffle on a rollaround cart with a 6 inch hose and (soon to be) a floor sweep. Will let you know this winter how it works out. Like someone said, even the best connections don't capture everything, so a separate recirculating air filter will help.
Youtube has a lot!!
 
Yup, I just took delivery of a brand new Powermatic 15HH with Byrd helical head and have a big stack of dry 1x6 Ash to run. Also have the typical assortment. Jointer, #27 shaper, table saw, Bla bla bla. The planer and shaper are the primary reasons for wanting the cyclone outside on top of a large container. I cant imagine anyone doing serious planning into a trash can. I could easily fill a pick up truck in a day with my old straight knife planer, shaper will do same in some work. Hadn't thought about sucking the heat out of the shop, that is a consideration,,, as is not working out there when it is zero, LOL.
 

What kind of heat do you have or are going to have ?
I like the radiant, that's is the 4" tube with aluminum reflector . It's very efficient, and you can open an over head door move a vehicle out close the door and be warm in a couple of minutes.

Dusty
 
For the price of a complete cyclone separator/filter/collection unit, I/m going to get a stand-alone cyclone to go upstream from my old Grizzly bag unit. They can be found on Ebay, Amazon or from Oneida.
Mine is currently in the shed behind my shop, and I'm sure I do loose some heat when it's running. I have plans to enclose it, and add a return vent back into the shop. Will help keep noise down, and return the heated air back in.
Sure is nice saving the floor space inside by having the unit outside.

Ben
 
I built a cyclone unit from plans in Wood magazine a few years ago. To save heat I built a filter out of 3 semi truck air filters ganged together, and exhausted the unit back into the shop. The unit worked like a charm, the chips falling into a garbage can. The planer did fill the can quickly, but I had it n[mounted on wheels and it was very easy to empty. I wish I still had the unit, but didn't have room when we moved.
 

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