30 microns to 5: First step, and need to do a separator

[Gene Davis]

Was using a 15 year old 1/2 hp Delta bag collector, which was putting a nice veneer of 30 micron dust on every horizontal surface of my shop, plus some verticals as well.

Went and got a new HF 2 hp DC with the 5 micron bag atop. Used the one-day sale 25 percent off coupon.

Thinking of doing a non-Thein separator can, something that might use the 4" kit from Rockler, the one with the flanged elbow for inlet and the straight flanged for out atop some kind of can.

It's a start, so where is a good source for a 20 to 30 gallon plastic can that is translucent, with a nice top coming with it that can seal as it should?

[Jim Dwight]

You can get drums of various sizes from McMaster Carr.

The trash can separator don't get great reviews. Thien separators do better and are not difficult to make. I like Oneida cyclones. The Super Dust Deputy would work on your HF and would save you a lot of cleaning.

[Scott Brandstetter]

Gene, would love to get updates on what you end up getting. I'm kicking myself for not going out today and picking one up with the 25% coupon. Although, I'm sure in another week or two there will be another coupon.

Back to the DC, I'm on the fence of a super dust deputy or building a Thein. Need to do more research I guess.

[Mike Heidrick]

Car washes throw away 30 gal drums all the time. Make a top and use weather stripping to seal it.

[Gene Davis]

Here is a link to a video in which The Sargeant describes his setup with the HF DC. He builds a stand arrangement so his can separator with its inside Thien baffle sits together with the DC on its castered base.

I saw another YouTube vid in which a couple guys show a similar separator also using a $25 galvanized steel trash can, but they sort of simplified the build by using the can's steel top as part of the baffle.

Am leaning toward this setup of The Sargeant's, but for now without the $200 Wynn filter.

Has anyone ideas for a less expensive filter upgrade?

[James Gunning]

Gene,

I started with a 1HP dust collector with felt bags. That was good at catching the large chips and applying a coat of fine dust to everything else. Plus, the bags were a pain to clean and empty when they loaded up. Then I tried a canister filter and clear bags. Much less fine dust settling on everything, but the canister filter would get clogged with chips and dust and was a real pain to clean. Then I tried a trash can separator (not a Thien baffle) with the DC unit. That caught some of the large stuff and allowed me to run a bit longer without the filter clogging up, but it still clogged. It also noticeably reduced the airflow from an already small blower. After a lot of research I built this: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...able-SDD-build It catches virtually everything. A small amount of fine dust is left at the bottom of the filter. Easy to empty.

If you aren't prepared to go to a cyclone of some kind, build a Thien separator hooked up to your DC. It's inexpensive to build and works very well. Phil Thien posts here and his website shows how it works and how to build one. Anything less will probably leave you disappointed and looking for something better down the road. Other than the cyclone, the biggest improvements in my system were the Wynn filter and going to 6" pipe and fittings on my machines. I don't know of any cheaper filters that work well. Mine is a 9L300NANO. 300 square feet of filter area, MERV 15 filtration rating, $165.