Results 1 to 11 of 11

Thread: Bin der, done that? Dust onto dust.

  1. #1

    Bin der, done that? Dust onto dust.

    I understand that the bin for a dust cyclone, conventionally set up, has to be air tight, or sealed. The dust in the cyclone goes round and round, round and round, and the heavier stuff drops into the bin, the air and tiny stuff goes out to the filter or out of doors.

    I am currently renting a home and while I have a 2-car garage in which to set up shop, nothing can be permanent. I have a home brew Pentz ratio cyclone with a decidedly top heavy 5hp motor. I have noticed these tripod stands that Oneida sells that would not require me to tack this beast to the wall of the garage. But I had another idea.

    What if the the cyclone with its +100 pound motor was fixed to a heavy plywood box with support posts on up to the motor/blower and could sit in the corner of the garage with no need to fix it to the wall. Well, only nominally use the wall as tipping support. I am thinking that if it was sealed it could have a bin inside it that had a foam collar that was snug to the inside top of the box but could be rolled in and out for emptying. Also, if the box was sealed, would there be the same tug on a plastic liner of the bin that fits inside the box as opposed to one that was directly coupled to the bottom of the cyclone?

    I am not a visual person who can do thought experiments. I have to hold things and physically see how they go together. Projects are always works in progress that develop from mistake to mistake, rather opportunity to opportunity. But this structural box idea, sturdy enough to support a 5hp cyclone is not something I want to experiment with when this has already potentially caused several of you to regurgitate carbonated beverages back through you nose laughing at my inexperience.

    What is the effect of a sealed box fitted with a removable bin inside of it? And, does this change the tug on a plastic liner? I am thinking that there is still a wind storm going on inside the bin but have not been able to think this through. There are no examples of this I could find doing a google search. I have the motor on a heavy steel mount but I really don't want my landlord to get worked up about what it would take to mount this to his nice sheet-rocked garage. He is already going to have to be sold on the surface mounted electrical sub-panel I need to install and get his blessings on. Ouch!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    San Francisco, CA
    Posts
    10,304
    My cyclone setup is similar in several ways to what I think you're describing. Like you, I didn't want to bolt the cyclone to the wall because of the landlord. I made a plywood partial box. It has a back (against the wall), and two sides. The cyclone proper is bolted to the box. The filter is outside the box, just next to it. Near the top, the box is tied to the wall to prevent tip-overs. The tie is a homebrew anti-vibration mount to keep vibration from the motor out of the frame of the building. My dust bin sits below the cyclone. It is homebrew, made of half-inch plywood. It has an acrylic window in the side so I can see when to dump it. This whole scheme works very well. It has been in operation for eight years now, and I've found no need to modify it.


    Early on, I tried a garbage-bag liner inside the dust bin. It didn't work at all. It floated up into the cyclone. The joints in the bin are all sealed, and the lid of the bin is sealed too. I suspect that air is actually percolating through the plywood. At any rate, I gave up on putting the bag inside the bin. Now I pull the bin out, and put the bag over the bin like I was putting a pillow case on a pillow. Then I turn the bin+bag upside down, and slide the bin out of the bag, leaving the dust in the bag.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    San Francisco, CA
    Posts
    10,304
    Here's a pic of the lower part of my cyclone setup. You can see the dust bin, the cyclone cone, the partial box supporting the cyclone, and at the right the bag surrounding the filter.

    DCbinwindow.jpg

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Camas, WA 98607
    Posts
    168
    ""What is the effect of a sealed box fitted with a removable bin inside of it? And, does this change the tug on a plastic liner?""

    I also have a home-brew Pentz inspired cyclone. And it sits on a sealed box, fitted with a removable bin inside it.

    But I do not use a plastic bag liner; I cut a plastic/rubber garbage can to size to fit my sealed box. There is a small amount of very fine dust in the sealed box that doesn't make it into the garbage can. I only scoop up the fine dust every 3rd or 4th time I empty the can.

    Lornie

  5. #5
    This is great stuff, thank you. What are you guys doing about the weight of the motor and blower. I fear it would crush the sheet metal cyclone. Do you have the motor attached to the wall for support. I don't see this top heavy thing balancing on the head of the tin man at >100lbs, 5hp, 220v of hunka, hunka, love.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    San Francisco, CA
    Posts
    10,304
    Quote Originally Posted by Bruce Seidner View Post
    This is great stuff, thank you. What are you guys doing about the weight of the motor and blower. I fear it would crush the sheet metal cyclone. Do you have the motor attached to the wall for support. I don't see this top heavy thing balancing on the head of the tin man at >100lbs, 5hp, 220v of hunka, hunka, love.

    No, like I said above, the cyclone fastens to the plywood box, which stands on the floor. There is a connection to the wall, but only to prevent tip-overs. The wall carries no weight.

  7. #7
    Maybe we are talking about different size motors. My Baldor 5hp weighs in at over a hundred pounds, the blower is likely another fifteen pounds. I maybe over-engineering but I think this puppy needs structural support from the ground/box up. It will look like a little gazebo and maybe some gazebo filigree would spruce up the place.

    Are you guys running motors this heavy?

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    San Francisco, CA
    Posts
    10,304
    Quote Originally Posted by Bruce Seidner View Post
    Maybe we are talking about different size motors. My Baldor 5hp weighs in at over a hundred pounds, the blower is likely another fifteen pounds. I maybe over-engineering but I think this puppy needs structural support from the ground/box up. It will look like a little gazebo and maybe some gazebo filigree would spruce up the place.

    Are you guys running motors this heavy?
    Think of this cyclone support as a big U-channel made from 3/4" plywood. It is perhaps 24" across the bottom of the U, and the other two sides are maybe 20". You mount the cyclone to it, and all the weight goes straight down the plywood to the floor. How's it going to break? Each side keeps the neighboring side from bending or collapsing. You can support a lot of weight with this structure.

  9. #9
    Jamie, my bad. I did not realize that there was a support surrounding the bin. I thought the cyclone/blower/motor were just somehow balancing on the bin. There is no shot of the top but I now understand what I am looking at in your fine and generous picture. Like I said. I am not a visualizer. Thank you. I get it now.

    Bruce

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    San Francisco, CA
    Posts
    10,304
    That pic doesn't tell the whole story very well at all. It was just a shot I had on the computer, and could post easily. I'll take a better pic tomorrow.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Jamie Buxton View Post
    That pic doesn't tell the whole story very well at all. It was just a shot I had on the computer, and could post easily. I'll take a better pic tomorrow.
    You have already outdone yourself. I see clearly how you have created a more than sturdy carcass that needs only nominal tacking to the wall. There is no need to locate studs and the wall is protected and isolated from the whole affair. Some cheap sheet goods, 2 sheets tops, and it is a done deal. That is clever and less expensive than angle iron brackets and creating an imprint that would take some fixing when I leave this rental house. You are a gentleman and a scholar. Thanx.

    Bruce

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •