New Clearvue DC webpage finally up
Just thought I'd post an update. I've been watching ClearVue's site to see the new system I brought up on this thread
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=40304
CV finally has this on their site for anyone that wanted a look-see
http://www.clearvuecyclones.com/Order_Page.htm
It looks like they've decided to name this one Mini Max CV1400
Hope nobody gets this confused with a new machine from a Texas importer of Italian machinery.:)
New Clear Vue Mini CV-1400 Cyclone
Although I definitely have a biased opinion in favor of Clear Vue because they pay me a small royalty on each cyclone they make from my designs, I do want to share that this new Mini CV1400 cyclone built by Ed Morgano is pretty exciting and will probably change small shop dust collection in a very good way.
In 1999 my own shop with its “best” rated cyclone, ducting and fine filter landed me in the hospital. My new respiratory doctor took away my woodworking until I got my shop cleaned up. As an engineer I knew I would not be happy until I measured the problem, so had medical air quality tests run on my shop and home. My inspector was the senior government inspector for OSHA testing in California, thanks to my having worked as a prior director and senior engineer over another air quality program for the State of California. That inspector spent a whole day educating me.
He told me and I later verified by testing at the university where I have long taught that my cyclone put close to 100% of the airborne 30-micon and smaller dust particles into the filter. That dust is full of silica (glass) that quickly cuts and tears its way even through the finest filter. He said I needed a pressure gauge on my system to show when it was time to change filters, because the high dust load from my cyclone had quickly destroyed my filter and the dust was so fine my shop looked great. His particle counter showed over 13,000 times higher for my shop than considered medically safe with more than double the maximum allowed average dust load for a commercial shop. He explained this particle count was really bad news as my shop tested clean before turning on my cyclone then failed its test before doing any woodworking. Almost all that dust was at least three months old stuff stirred up when we turned on my cyclones because I had not done any woodworking for the three months spent recovering.
He said the only safe way to use any existing hobbyist cyclone in his opinion was to trade out to a 5 hp blower that would really move enough air to capture the fine dust as it was made and then blow that air from the cyclone directly outside. He shared that I could get off the Internet CFM requirement tables for almost every type and size stationary tool. Air engineers did considerable testing and have spent over a decade refining how much airflow we need to provide good fine dust collection at our tools. He said even having ample airflow was not enough because I also needed to upgrade my hoods, change all my ducting and change the tool ports. Normal “chip collection” hoods do not amply contain and control the fine dust so it can escape before capture. Likewise, air at typical dust collection pressures is like water and will barely compress at all. That means my smaller ports and duct acted just like a mostly closed water valve and killed my airflow. I needed to use at least all 6” ducting. The single port machines needed 6” ports and the two port machines needed 5” for the larger and 3.5” or 4” for the smaller port.
I went through a lot of work learning the math, physics and engineering to try and make my 1999 “best” cyclone generate less hp killing resistance and provide better fine dust separation. Use of the neutral vane setup worked out by my friend and fellow engineer Jim Halbert saved almost a third on horsepower but the separation was still dismal. I spent nearly a year designing, building and testing, but nothing I could do would make that traditional cyclone design more than about 40% efficient at separating off the 30-micron and smaller airborne dust particles. Although I shared out my changes on my Cyclone Modifications web pages and almost every vendor today now sells their cyclones with my suggested changes, I finally realized that to get good enough fine dust separation to avoid constantly killing filters I was going to have to start from scratch with a whole new design.
I did just that and came up with the ideal woodworking cyclone at 13.5” in diameter with a whole different type of angled inlet that used both a neutral vane and circular air ramp. Unfortunately, it needed a monster 5 hp motor and 16” diameter impeller to turn the air in this tight of a separation spiral. Back in 1999 when I did this work a 1.5 hp motor was considered huge as was a 12” diameter impeller. I finally built a compromise cyclone that was larger so could use a smaller motor. It worked incredibly well as many have learned from building one from my plans or buying one from Ed Morgano with Clear Vue, the only firm that makes my design.
So when Ed Morgano with Clear Vue Cyclones last year asked me to help with a cyclone that would fit under a low ceiling, I realized that my original design that worked best during testing would be an ideal unit for him to make and sell. I talked Ed into including in the blower modifications enough pressure so that this system can actually move the air needed for good fine dust collection through even the smaller 4” ducting and ports that we mostly find readily available. It will work far better with all 6” ducting and ports but even with 4” it does a pretty incredible job. We had to go through some more blower redesign to get all working just right without putting the motor at risk of pulling too many amps, but this unit is now in production. It works incredibly well both in terms of efficiency and total separation. Good work Ed!
Bill Pentz