dust barrel baffle?

[Terry Therneau]

I purchased a used DC system 18 months ago and finally have it installed in my shop. Older Oneida cyclone with a 5 HP Dayton motor/fan, 15 HP ABB vfd that I found used, 8" main but with most of the tree made of 6" metal pipe. It runs 2 open stations with no problem, and might be even better when I seal a few leaks. My shop has 8'6 ceilings with gambrel roof and an upstairs; the fan, motor, and filters are in walled off and insulated section of the upstairs, under the slant roof (does help with the noise). Remote control switches (24V) run the collector from various locations. I ran 100 amp service out to the shop when I erected the building 15 years ago (long before it was a shop); one of my better ideas.

My questions:
The barrel that came with the system is a milky plastic; you can see the chip level from outside pretty easily with a light behind it. When running, the inside of the barrel is a tornado. When stopped the shaving/dust are against the ouside with a slope of 30-40 degrees. Would it be a good idea to put a vertical baffle inside the barrel?

To reduce noise further I could build a closet around the in-shop cyclone (it's in a corner) but it would be easier to wrap the cone with something. Is this a worthwhile idea? If so, with what?

Yes, I need to get a photo tour put together.

Terry T.


(mini-gloat: 650 for the cyclone and a whole bunch of pipe, 30 for the VFD, $80 worth of wire and another hundred or so for blast gates. Every time I see the radial arm saw's dust disappear I smile.)

[Jim Andrew]

When I had a leak in my cyclone system, I had a tall cone shaped pile in the cyclone. Since I sealed everything, it fills completely to the outside, with a small indention in the center when it is nearly full. When I read about the cone shaped pile I assumed you have a leak.

[Terry Therneau]

When I had a leak in my cyclone system, I had a tall cone shaped pile in the cyclone. Since I sealed everything, it fills completely to the outside, with a small indention in the center when it is nearly full. When I read about the cone shaped pile I assumed you have a leak.

Just to clarify, the sawdust in my bin is low in the center and high on the edges.
The air intake comes in on the left and the blower exits in the same handedness, so the "swirl" goes top to bottom.
My leak is around the table saw inlet, far from the cyclone.

Terry T.

[John Donhowe]

I'm by no means an expert on dust collection (or much else!), but it seems to me that putting a vertical baffle inside your barrel would actually be counterproductive. I think it would create a lot of turbulence in the barrel, which would tend to lift airborne dust back up into the main airstream, and might even stir up dust that's already settled in the barrel.

That helical flow pattern in the barrel is pretty standard- at least I see the same pattern in my clear collection bags. If vertical baffles were indeed useful, I'd think manufacturers would have included them long ago.