Can my older Delta dust collector be hacked?

[Gene Davis]

I've an older one, an inexpensive thing, that sort of looks like the pic I snipped, below. Basically it is a blower with a 4" outlet on which is fitted the bag, and the inflow is centered on the impeller's axis.

I am wondering what it might take to use the blower part as the core of a new setup, one with an intermediate can with shop-made cyclone top, the output going into a stack with filter atop and bag below.

Or am I just being a cheap guy.

[Mike Cutler]

Gene

At the end of the day it's just a blower mounted on a convenient platform. As long as your airflow is sufficient and the orientation of the blower correct you can do what you need to do. It is a small blower though, so I would try to minimize the lengths of any hoses to the absolute min.

It's not being cheap, but at the same time you may want to add up all the costs before you start and see if you can find a stand alone system used on Craigslist. You may end up ahead of the game in the end.

[glenn bradley]

I have a 1HP Delta that I have taken through a few iterations. The separator attempts all failed as the hit on airflow made the unit fairly ineffective. It would still collect the large spoil but fine dust was everywhere. I threw more money at it than it was worth but, it still serves as a collector for my jointer with a large American Fabric Filter bag on top and a solid bag below and does a good job. The rest of the shop runs on a 2HP cyclone. I wish I could have shoe-horned a 3HP in but there was just no room.

Its a recurring battle; baggers move more air than a cyclone for a given motor/blower size but, cannot exhaust back into your breathing air without ill effect. Adding a canister filter makes the air acceptable but then the filter clogs too often. Adding a separator saves the filter but kills the airflow so you need a bigger machine . . . End result = a properly sized cyclone or a bagger in a lean-to outside the shop. YMMV.

[Randy Bonella]

You can easily do something like this:
Dust Collector 2013.jpg
I totally hacked my Jet DC 1100 and it made a world of difference

[Brian W Smith]

I had some time to kill.....had the 1 HP,bagger.....had the sheet metal and equipment to fabricate.Also had a "perceived" need,which was mainly how fast/cheap can we build a tall,slender cyclone(not including the impeller,which we've built a few).It was/is used in a specific location for a vertical panel saw.It also is intended to be easily transported for onsite work.The whole thing mounts on a cheap(had it too)hand truck.Even had the collection barrel.

Basically,all the parts were available......just a few things were missing.Even fabricated a very nice inclined plane,auger looking internal ramp.It works fine.Wasn't that big of deal.It serves the purpose.It does need to be painted......looks very bad,as no two pcs on it are the same colour.Green blower,black hand truck,red cyclone body,bare(in the white)cone,and a really nasty yellow collection barrel.........I can't stand looking at it.

Only real "lesson" or "rule" learned.....the more pcs in a system/the more attention,has to be paid on sealing them.Best of luck.