Paging Dust Deputy and Clearvue owners.

[JeromeM]

Yikes Jerome I could never wear flip flops while working. My feet sweat like crazy and the kids run when I take off my shoes, but I could never be comfortable and feel safe in any way at all in flip flops. I have a foot thing like a soldier in the army. I take care of my feet and could never bring myself to wear flip flops even if not in the shop.

The problem with that is after about 7am the temperature is seldom under 28C (82F) with a Humidity of at least 50% to 90% and is often over 38C (100F) and my work area can not be air conditioned

Doesn't that hurt your feet and your back after an 8 or 10 hour day in the shop?

wearing flip flops doesn't but working with no bench does

Be careful  and don't drop a corner of a sheet of mdf or ply on those feet!   ;D

That is when I change into work boots and overalls. But as you can see from the back of my overalls it is not comfortable.
http://www.meekings.net/Workbench-Plan/08020014.jpg
I have to balance safety with comfort, and of course if you are sweating so much you can't see it is not safe.

 

[nickao]

No offense Jerome everyone is different. I personally would work naked, but with shoes before I wore flip flops or sandals, no matter the conditions. It might scare the wife though. 

 

[MarkF]

Phil Thein's DIY Cyclone Dust Separator is another option.  Fine dust collection performance is close to the DD and the CV.  Made with spare parts and scrap plywood.
http://www.cgallery.com/jpthien/cy.htm

 

[nickao]

Mark I see the two stage, but where is the actual cyclone portion of the unit I do not see it at the link? Or is it actually a two stage?

Some people do mix the terms, but without an actual cyclonic chamber the effect is nowhere near as good.

I just looked at that video at the link and it is not really a cyclone, but a two stage unit, he should rename the page to the "Thein two stage separator".

 

[MarkF]

I agree there is no funnel and it definitely doesn't meet Bill Pentz's design and performance criteria but the baffle does a good job preventing the small and large bits from exiting the container.  Much, much better than the store bought plastic seperator lids.  There is cyclonic flow in the container.  I guess it doesn't have to look like a duck to quack like a duck...huh? ;D 

 

[nickao]

Yep its a neat design. The store bought ones I never had to much luck with. The video shows that his design does work.

 

[wnagle]

I have a store bought lid... It has two 4 inch ports and sits on top of large a metal trash can... I thought I'd use it for jointing and planing ahead of my penn state cyclone.  I figured the chips would fill the can and the cyclone would ge the fine dust.  The trash can,  I could just dump in a large bag... the cyclone is a bit trickier to empty.  The cyclone has a bag inside the 35 gallon can with a retainer to keep it on the wall of the can.  so it takes a bit more time to empty.  Anyways, I tried it and the can started to fill up when jointing a board and when I quit, all the dirt from the can went right into the cyclone.  It sucked it right off the bottom!  My lid looked like the one above from woodcraft except id didn't have the elbow on one port.  I may add one and see if it helps.

Does anyone make an inexpensive add on cyclone like the dust deputy that could go on a larger can, like the metal trash can?  I don't think the 10 gallon dust deputy bucket wiil do me much good for my purposes.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Phil Thein's DIY Cyclone Dust Separator is another option.  Fine dust collection performance is close to the DD and the CV.  Made with spare parts and scrap plywood.
http://www.cgallery.com/jpthien/cy.htm

Mark et al.,

I note that the author of that link J. Phil Thien includes the warning "Patent applied for."  Most people who do this are thus eventually expecting to be paid for use of their patented product or process.  I have no further information regarding the plans of Mr. Thien.  Of course, until the patent is issued, there are no enforceable patent rights and whatever is published by him can be used by others free of charge until the patent issues. 

To me, Mr. Thien's design makes much sense.  As he states, the baffle is the critical difference in his separator design compared to other's lids with angled ports and nozzles.  His design should create a cyclonic swirling effect, flinging the particles toward the walls of the container where they should lose angular velocity and fall down into the can while the cleaned airstream flows back to the center port.  One aspect I wonder if he experimented with is inclusion of a small center hole in his baffle.  But I expect that most of the swirling and cleaning action is occurring between the top of the can and the baffle, not below it.

Dave R.

 

[norwegian wood]

I have a store bought lid... It has two 4 inch ports and sits on top of large a metal trash can... I thought I'd use it for jointing and planing ahead of my penn state cyclone.  I figured the chips would fill the can and the cyclone would ge the fine dust.  The trash can,  I could just dump in a large bag... the cyclone is a bit trickier to empty.  The cyclone has a bag inside the 35 gallon can with a retainer to keep it on the wall of the can.  so it takes a bit more time to empty.  Anyways, I tried it and the can started to fill up when jointing a board and when I quit, all the dirt from the can went right into the cyclone.  It sucked it right off the bottom!  My lid looked like the one above from woodcraft except id didn't have the elbow on one port.  I may add one and see if it helps.

Does anyone make an inexpensive add on cyclone like the dust deputy that could go on a larger can, like the metal trash can?  I don't think the 10 gallon dust deputy bucket wiil do me much good for my purposes.

you can buy the DIY Dust deputy cyclone kit and bolt it onto any size drum or barrel you like. just make sure you have an aire tight seal on the drum.

 

[Notorious T.O.D.]

Wayne,

I have a Blue Tornado Cyclone and I think they are still sold separately.  They are very well made and work great.  Not sure about current prices as I got mine 15 years ago...

Here is their site...  www.bluetornadocyclones.com

Best,
Todd

 

[nickao]

Here is a brand new offering from the makers of the Dust Deputy, it is much less expensive, but for a 60.00 difference I am not sure I would purchase it over the metal version. I guess this is designed for a custom application, it is very similar to the clearvue design except it look like one molded piece.

http://store.oneida-air.com/dust-deputy-diy.aspx

http://store.oneida-air.com/dust-deputy.aspx

99.00 for the kit, 59.00 for just the cyclone portion.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

That US$99 price is hard to argue with.  I note that Oneida states it is molded from anti-static (static dissipating) plastic.  The promo photo shows a nice mounting arrangement that will roll about as the Fein Turbo II vac is moved.  Nice!  I paid 2X that for my all metal unit, but I am satisfied with it and the included 10 gal. steel drum.  I have knocked it over a couple of times.  Nothing happened except a scratch on its blue paint.

Dave R.

 

[nickao]

Yes and 59.00 is near half the clearvue price for just the cyclone portion.

I have a clearvue with a slight crack so I do know at least the plastic they use can be easily damaged. Still for 60.00 more to get a metal unit and metal drum seems like a great deal.

I wonder if Oneida is just selling off the 1.5 inch units as the 2" units are 199.00 plus shipping, the 1.5" are 169.00 including shipping. I really see no difference between the two in performance.