Thien Baffle

[bruegf]

For those that haven't stumbled across this before, you need to take a look at

http://www.cgallery.com/jpthien/cy.htm

I just bought a HF 2hp dust collector and built a separator w/ a Thien baffle in a 30 gal galvanized garbage can.  Finally finished the separator today and am amazed at how well it works.  Sucked up 2.5-3 gallons of sawdust and ended up w/ less than a cup of very fine sawdust in the bottom bag of the dust collector.

The baffle does cut cfm some, but by replacing the 5 micron filter bag with a Wynn 35A pleated filter and replacing the stock 5" flex hose from the DC blower to the DC separator ring I think I have as much cfm, if not a bit more than the stock DC had.

The Wynn filter made a huge difference as it has substantially more sq ft of filter area because of the pleats, plus it filters to .5 micron instead of 5 micron.

I'd say the thien baffle works every bit as well as my Dust deputy and is a lot cheaper.

I'll get some pics later and post.

Fred

 

[bruegf]

Here are the photos

Fred

 

[alanz]

I've built three separators with Thien baffles.  The one shown below, for a dust collector uses a galvanized trash can.  I see from your photos that you too chose to use the top of the galvanized can.  I may have been one of the first to do this, Phil thought it was just easier to cut a wood top.

The other two separators I made (one for the CT22 and one for my shopvac) use 5 gallon plastic buckets...

They all work great.  I don't have photos of the buckets right now, but I did put up a web page that shows my first separator, and a reconfiguration of a HF dust collector.

Dust collector web page

Hope this helps...  I'll see if I can dig up photos of the one attached to my CT22.

 

[bruegf]

I was very tempted to move the blower right up to the ring inlet like you did, but w/o knowing if the motor had the appropriate thrust bearing, was afraid it might cause wear in the motor.  I may still change it at some point just to make the foot print smaller.  BTW - going 5" pipe for everything made quite a difference in air flow.

If I didn't already have a dust deputy, I would make a 5 gal version for my CT22 - a lot cheaper than the DD, I've only got $40 in the garbage can version, most of which was the can itself.

I think using the lid was easier than making a plywood lid, only took a minute or so to cut the hole with tin snips.  The only down side of using the lid is that it's easy to oil can it if you forget to open a blast gate before turning on the DC.

Fred

 

[bruegf]

Update - after a number of days of use I still have less than a cup of sawdust in the dust collector bag.  Haven't had do anything at all as far as cleaning the DC filter.  I just can't believe how effective this thing is.

Fred

 

[Deansocial]

what do you do with the dust when you empty it? In the UK (in my area any way) they give a warning to my mate when he emptied his DC bags in to his commercial bin because the dust was a hazard to them

 

[bruegf]

I just dump it on the compost pile or dump it on the garden.

Fred

 

[Deansocial]

i guess thats ok for small scale stuff

 

[bruegf]

I've not tried it, but I've read that its easy to put a plastic garbage bag in the separator - you just need to use a thin sleeve (like a piece of laminate) to hold the bag tight against the separator.

Fred

 

[Winchester]

my jobsite setup. cyclone lid only

just testing

temp shop on-site for a couple months (would normally have mountains of sawdust)

garbage can

vacuum (haven't emptied it in over a week)

 

[Corwin]

Hey Winchester,

That has to be the best separator lid that I have ever seen.  From your photos, it looks like it is made of clear plastic so you can see how full it is.  The separator lid I have, and all that I've seen online and in stores are not nearly as well designed as the one you have.  I particularly like how the inlet enters at an inclined angle and the outlet is located in the center on your lid.  So, who manufactures the lid you have?  Also, that lid might just make a great starting place for making your own Thien cyclone separator lid  -- just need to add the baffle.

 

[peter halle]

Corwin,

I did not know that they were available, but based on the lid design, it might be:  Veritas cyclone lid

Peter

 

[bionicus]

Yeah that the Veritas lid. I've used one on a 50-gal. steel drum and it's great. Very little makes it into the DC, though taller bins seem to work best.

 

[Corwin]

Thanks!    [thumbs up]

 

[CABMEISTER]

I have just completed a Thien Baffle mod to my PM 1300 collector I do not have the floor space for a seperate bin .
I am pleased to report though that the baffle sure does work well .Keeps the top canister filter a bunch cleaner . [big grin]

 

[Winchester]

Yup it's the veritas one from lee valley.  works great, i love it.  [smile]

 

[John Stevens]

I have just completed a Thien Baffle mod to my PM 1300 collector I do not have the floor space for a seperate bin .

I'd be interested in hearing more--how'd you do it?

Regards,

John

 

[Winchester]

Me too. And Photos!  [big grin]

 

[CABMEISTER]

I followed the procedure from this link - http://www.cgallery.com/smf/index.php?topic=145.0

The only thing I did differently was to use threaded rod and nuts instead of dowel .

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