Thien Top Hat with 6" inlet/outlet

[Peter Hartman]

I picked up a Grizzly G0548 from the outlet center the other day. I was strongly considering going with the HF collector, but I got the grizzly for $325. Anyways this will allow me to go with 6" ducting. I am building my top hat out of junk I have laying around. The diameter is 20 inches and the height is 12 inches. The slot is 1/8th and the top and bottom are both 1/2". The sides are 2 layers of glued up aluminum flashing. I am not sure if this is to tall or not. The inlet is a 6" metal hvac duct that I have made a rectangle to get more of the air flow in contact with the sides of the separator. Here are a few pics:











The inlet is in. It still needs to be cleaned up and sealed.





This is just an experiment. So far I have spent only time on this, so if it does not work I am not out any money. I may have the height to tall so I am not sure if this will work.

[Peter Hartman]

I made some progress on this project over the weekend. The collector is in its permanent home and I am pretty happy with where the separator ended up. This thing is incredibly loud. I will definitely have to wear ear protection any time it is on. This grizzly used solid tubing between the motor and the filter. I assumed it was square, and then would be able to mount the inlet straight down. That would allow me to mount the separator right under the motor. Unfortunately, it is a slight rectangle so the separator is going to have to set out in front. The performance of the separator seems to be adequate. I am not sure how it is doing on the fine stuff yet but it is getting most/all of the visible dust. I have also run about 75% of the 6" ducting. I still need to seal everything up but I think I am going to have enough suction for all my machines. The only run I am worried about is the table saw. I am going to end up with nearly 40ft of duct to the saw. I am not sure how that is even possible in a 14x23 shop.

[Wade Lippman]

If you significantly shortened the metal duct between the separator and the DC you could shorten/straighten the flexible hose. That must be eating up a lot of suction.

[Curt Harms]

If you significantly shortened the metal duct between the separator and the DC you could shorten/straighten the flexible hose. That must be eating up a lot of suction.

Or maybe put a solid elbow there. The less flexible ducting the better, especially looped like in the picture. Air like water is a fluid. The smoother and straighter the passages the less turbulence.

[Peter Hartman]

Thanks guys. Yeah the hose between the collector and the separator is going to have to be cleaned up. I think I am going to have to use at least some flex hose there so the top hat can be lifted to empty the container. Once I dial in the best distance for the outlet to be from the baffle I will shorten that all up and straighten it up.