Putting Bag in DC cyclone drum....

[Rod Sheridan]

I made a cage from steel banding left over from items that had been shipped on pallets.

It has a band welded in a circular shape at the bottom, 4 uprights, and another band at the top. I made it about 1/2 an inch smaller in diameter and height than the fibre drum.

Now I put in a bag, drop the cage in, and use the cyclone. When the bag's full, pull out the cage, remove the bag.

Regards, Rod.

[Steve Roxberg]

Formica should work but if you don't have any available you could try this. My hardware store sells a thin plastic insert for holding trash bags open when you are putting leaves in them. One could easily be modified (cut shorter) to work in a cyclone.

I don't own a cyclone yet,this fall, but that is what I plan to do if it works.

I also use these inserts in the garage. I got tired of the trash cans taking up space, having to be brought back up to the house, blowing away, and smelling bad. I now use two of these inserts to keep bags open like cans in the garage and then just carry bags to the curb. Nothing to carry back, blow away, or get stinky, it's an idea that is working for me.

[John Bush]

I made a cylinder using fence wire (welded with 4" squares) that holds the bag quite well and is easily removed when full. Same principle as the laminate cylinder, just depends what you have on hand. How about using cardboard and just tossing it with the bag if you don't compost. I was scolded by the garbage guy because of loose sawdust in the shop waste cans, so that prompted me to bag it. JCB

[John Pohja]

As far as the relatively high cost of Oneida's Bag Gripper, Grizzly is coming out with a similar system and its almost a $100 cheaper too; about $70 for the smaller size and $90 for the larger size(per an email I rec'd from Grizzly). John

[Bob Michaels]

I added the Oneida Gripper to my 3 HP Oneida system when it first came out and it works really great. As far as inserting formica or so something in the empty bag, I would think that anything you have to extract from that bag of dust is just going to create a nice big plume of the same dust you just collected. Kinda self defeating. Anyway, I vote for just buying the Gripper and enjoying the benefits thereof.

[Frank Snyder]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I'm tempted to try them.

Bob - To your point, I could see making the dust airborne while extracting either the cage or sleeve, which does seem to negate the benefits of the bag. As it is now, the cage or sleeve idea would still be an improvement to my present process, as unloading the 55-gallon drum into a bag is a real mess.

John - I'd be interested to see how Grizzly does this.

Thanks again for the ideas.

[Dan Forman]

Sam Blasco from Mini-Max uses a technique similar to the formica one, he takes a plastic trash can and removes the bottom, cuts a slit down the side so it opens up completely, then uses that as an insert inside the bag to hold the bag to the sides of the barrel. He uses a piece of wood as a wedge, with grooves in the sides to receive the cut edges of the platic can, to force it out and conform to the diameter of the DC receptacle. When the bag is full, pull out the inner form and dispose of the bag. No welding needed with this one. I'll try and locate a picture of this. My only concern about using formica would be the possiblility of tearing the bag with a sharp edge.

About the Easy Bagger, that would be the same concept, but it appears that it would be of smaller diameter than the cardboard 35 to 55 gallon drums most commonly used with DC's. Still, could be handled just like Sam does, cut it and use a wedge to make up the difference.

Dan

[Eric Wong]

I made a cylinder using fence wire (welded with 4" squares) that holds the bag quite well and is easily removed when full. Same principle as the laminate cylinder, just depends what you have on hand.

I did the same as John. I had some spare fence wire laying around so I made it from that. Works OK.

[Dan Forman]

Well, I tried the formica solution, but it was a dismal failure. I have a formica supplier a few blocks away who gave me a great deal, the experiment only cost me $5.00 for a 10 foot by 30 inch piece, so I have lots of scrap left over for other things.

Here is the problem. The stuff is too stiff, when rolled it forms a teardrop rather than a cylinder. The point of the teardrop tears the bag on insertion, and when it forms itself to the barrel, it's very difficult to get it out past the little part of the upper rim where it narrows. If the bag was full, one could never get the formica out, it was hard enough with the bag being empty, and it tore the bag even more. I think the material would have to be softer and have less memory than formica. With Sam's trash can solution, the form is already more or less cylindrical, so much easier to deal with.

Do those of you who use the Easy Bagger, do you have the 35 or 55 gal drum? Is it significantly smaller in diameter than the drum?

Dan

[Steve Roxberg]

Dan,

The bagging option that I mentioned sounds like the answer. The corners have been rounded, it's very flexible, and it has two handles cut in the top to help when pulling it out. They cost $8 but I don't remember the brand name, would you like me to look next time I'm at the store?

They are sold at my local Ace Hardware store.

[Howard Acheson]

Get a piece of cheap formica, cut it to the hieght of the drum, roll it up and put it in the barrel (put the bag in first) and let it expand around the inside of the drum. When it's time to empty the barrel, pull the formica out first and then the bag.

Brian

Yup, been doing that for years except I have a large sheet of 1/8" plexiglass that I used. Be sure to soften and smooth the edges and corners.

I used some duct tape on the edges.

[Cecil Arnold]

Dan, save your $$ on the easy bagger. When I tried it I found that unless you could clip it open it would allow the sides of the bag to be pulled in, reducing the capicity of the bag to about half.

[Eric Wong]

You can buy the wire fencing pretty cheap, or maybe one of your neighbors has a yard or so laying around. Give it a try.

Also, you should use heavy trash bags, forget the thin ones. Way too frustrating. Buy the thick "contractor" bags, or at least heavy duty ones.

One more thing, check Bill Pentz's website. He had a trick where he epoxied refridgerator clips to the bottom of the can, and clipped the bag in. When full, you can just pull the bag out of the clips without tearing (supposedly).

[Dan Forman]

I looked around for the Easy Bagger, but they must be out of season, for none was to be found. So I got a plastic garbage can, with a jig saw cut out the bottom, cut off the top, and slit it down the middle. When sitting in the barrel, the cut ends were not parallel, so I trimmed them a bit to make them so. Last step was to make the spreader, a piece of 3/4" ply, with grooves on each long edge to receive the cut sides of the plastic can. The edges and corners of the spreader were rounded and sanded to protect against tearing the bag.





Note the handle cut into the spreader to make it easier to remove from the full barrel, and the holes cut near the top of the plastic can (only one set is visible) for the same purpose. I think this is going to work just fine, total cost was $15 for the 45 gallon garbage can. The plastic garbage can is much easier to handle than the formica was, not nearly as much spring to it. Again, I got the idea from Sam Blasco, so can't claim any credit for that.

Dan

[Jim O'Dell]

Pictures, Dan, we need pictures!! Glad it worked. I still need to do something, but haven't gotten to the point of emptying my barrel for the first time yet....so it's not high on the list. Jim.