Thien Separators

[ehpoole]

If I might make an alternative suggestion...

You will likely do much better to add polycarbonate (Lexan) windows to the trashcan itself than trying to make your Thien seperator out of clear plexyglass (acrylic).

For my Cyclone DC I use a 33-gal Brute trashcan for the dust bin and have two pairs of windows located at about 2/3rds fill and nearly full. Both windows are made from clear ~1/16" Lexan (polycarbonate) which is much more easily flexed (especially with heat) than acrylic and easily conforms to the curves of the trashcan sides. To seal the edges I used clear silicon sealant (and to pretty the edges up, some aluminum HVAC tape) and 1/8" rivets to permanently secure the Lexan windows to the traschan.

Edit: Use 1/8" backup washers with your rivets so they don't tear though the plastic or thin steel of the trashcan. Suitable backup washers can be purchased wherever you purchase your rivets.

Some Examples:

And has already been mentioned earlier in this thread... It is a good idea to reinforce the trash can with some 1/8"x3/4" aluminum extrusion formed into a hoop and riveted together to prevent the can from crushing under conditions of high vacuum (like all blast gates closed or a plugged hose end). To calculate the dimensions to create the hoop measure the diameter about 3/4" above where you want to place the hoop (you may need up to 3 hoops depending on the construction of your trashcan) and multiply the diameter by 3.14159 (pi) then add about 3" to account for the overlap where you will be rivetting the hoop together. If need be you can rivet several shorter pieces of extrusion together to get the necessary length (I used two 3ft pieces for my hoop). Gently bend the extrusion into a circle, then press fit it into the can slightly below where you measured to place the hoop in compression, then drill 1/8" holes and rivet in place with several evenly spaced 1/8" rivets.

In my photo you can see my hoop installed just a couple inches above the sawdust. Because my trashcan only had one spot weak enough to crush with my 2HP JDS Cyclone I only needed a single hoop (the flared out section near the top of the can essentially reinforces the can as if there were a second hoop located up top, so I did not need one here).

Any how, you would be suprised how easily a good DC or vacuum (esp. shop vac) can crush a perfectly good steel or plastic trashcan, so reinforcing it is well worth the added effort.

Note: the aluminum 'band' up top and vertically down the sides is aluminum HVAC tape with intersections rivetted together for electrical conductivity and one rivet passes through a crimped eyelet to a wire that I then attach to the dust collector chasis ground with an alligator clip (see first photo) to ground the static buildup in the dust bin. With all the swirling dust in the bin you would be surprised how much static can build up if you don't provide a good discharge path.

Hope you find this helpful.

 

[CarvedTones]

Why not put one of those fish eye peep holes in? This one is currently $4 at Amazon. It would probably need a backing plate for thickness, but that could just be a short plastic bushing and a washer. You might be able to just cut the barrel shorter to fit, since you don't care if it focuses; you just want light or dark.

As mentioned earlier, the visibility is something I really like about the Dust Deputy. Not knocking Thiens; I built one and they work well. But if the DIY DD is still on sale, I would think over that option before building a Thien.

 

[JackLeg]

mine is like rob and marks, works a treat and is attached to a 40 gallon brute trash can. soon it will be a 55 gallon plastic barrel!:icon_thum I still have a couple barrels left if you get this way you can have one.:gar-Bi

Thanks, Fred. I have a barrel and that's what I'm hoping to use.:icon_thum I have the Rockler lid on it, but still WAY too much going into the bag.:wconfused:

 

[JackLeg]

Ordered parts from Rockler today. Free shipping! :wsmile:

 

[KenOfCary]

A window is probably a more practical idea.

The problem with the dust deputy or newer Vortex from Rockler is that they are for 2-1/2" fittings. I want something to use with my 4" DC.

Anyone have any experience with this kit or comments on the construction.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=25225&rrt=1

The plans are at this link. It would be simple to put a window in the square collector. Just not sure how the squareness would affect the vortex action.

http://www.rockler.com/tech/RTD10000792AA.pdf

Like the easy empty drawers though. But you'd have to get them very tight to seal properly and not lose suction there.

- Ken.

 

[CarvedTones]

Ken,

The "fish eye" ones practically are windows. OK, not really, but I think you would be able to tell at a glance if it was fully covered or not. Well, maybe...

I have seen some 4" cyclone attachments on eBay that were similar to the DD but a little larger and made of sheet metal, so they do have the visibility issue. I think someone suggested that you could bend the plexi to avoid the squareness issue.

But when you put dust in a can instead of the air, it's all good!

 

[KenOfCary]

I think the fish eye would suffer from 2 problems. There is no source of light on the inside of the barrel to illuminate that side when your eyeball is covering the eye-piece. And I want to be able to glance at it from across the room and tell if it needs to be emptied.

Just exploring lots of alternatives at this point. Have a few other projects to finish first.

Cheers - Ken.

 

[ehpoole]

I have seen some 4" cyclone attachments on eBay that were similar to the DD but a little larger and made of sheet metal, so they do have the visibility issue. I think someone suggested that you could bend the plexi to avoid the squareness issue

Actually, bending plexiglass requires very careful use of heat as acrylic does not bend readily (it wants to shatter, thats why you don't find acrylic safety glasses).

However, my setup uses Lexan, which is polycarbonate, which does not shatter when flexed (hence your polycarbonate safety glasses). It will bend suitably for a trashcan without heat, but with heat you can easily shape it to any curve you wish. I chose to heat mine so that I could more readily conform it to the shape of my trashcan. I used a torch simply because that was what I had used to smooth the cut edges (heating the cut edges of any cut plastic will smooth the edges). I could just as easily have used a heatgun or hair dryer for the same purpose -- or skipped them entirely and just forced it to confom cold (but then I may have needed clamps to hold it flush to the trashcan while I rivetted).

With ~1/16" Lexan (readily available at Lowes) you don't need to limit yourself to inefficient square boxes to add windows. Anyhow, the nice thing about having windows on the side of your dust bin is that you can easily see from a distance whether or not the bin is close to full. I chose windows at two different levels so that I could tell from a distance whether I had plenty of room -- as in check occassionally -- or whether I was nearing full -- as in check frequently.

I hope this clears up some confusion.