From the very beginning of working in the workshop I encountered the problem of removing dust after work. The only available way to clean up the floor was to sweep it. But because of this, an incredible amount of dust rose into the air, which settled in a noticeable layer on furniture, on machines, on tools, in hair and in the lungs. The concrete floor in the workshop made the problem worse. Some solutions have been to spray water before sweeping and use a respirator. However, these are only half measures. Water freezes in winter unheated room and you have to carry it with you, in addition, the water-dust mixture on the floor is difficult to collect and it also does not contribute to the hygiene of the workplace. The respirator, firstly, does not block 100% of the dust, some of it is still inhaled, and secondly, it does not protect against dust settling on the environment. And not all nooks and crannies can be reached with a broom to pick out small debris and sawdust.
In such a situation, the most effective solution it would be to vacuum the room.
However, using a household vacuum cleaner will not work. Firstly, it will have to be cleaned every 10-15 minutes of operation (especially if you work on milling table). Secondly, as the dust container fills up, the suction efficiency decreases. Thirdly, the amount of dust greatly exceeding the calculated values will greatly affect the service life of the vacuum cleaner. Something more specialized is needed here.
There are many ready-made solutions for dust removal in the workshop, however, their cost, especially in light of the 2014 Crisis, does not make them too affordable. Found it on thematic forums interesting solution- use cyclone filter in combination with a regular household vacuum cleaner. All of the listed problems with household vacuum cleaners can be solved by removing dirt and dust from the air to the standard vacuum cleaner dust collector. Some people assemble cyclone filters from traffic cones, others - from sewer pipes, others - from plywood and everything that your imagination allows. But I decided to buy a ready-made filter with fasteners.
The principle of operation is simple - the air flow swirls in a cone-shaped filter housing and dust is removed from the air under the influence of centrifugal force. In this case, the dust falls through the lower hole into the container under the filter, and the purified air exits through the upper hole into the vacuum cleaner.
One of common problems in the operation of cyclones there is a so-called “carousel”. This is a situation where dirt and sawdust do not fall into the dust collection container, but endlessly swirl inside the filter. This situation arises from too high speed air flow created by the vacuum cleaner turbine. You need to reduce the speed a little and the “carousel” will disappear. In principle, it does not interfere - the next portion of garbage pushes most of the “carousel” into the container and takes its place. And in the second model, plastic cyclones of this carousel practically do not exist. To eliminate air leaks, I coated the junction of the filter with the lid with hot glue.
I decided to get a larger dust collection container so that I would have to take out the trash less often. I bought a 127 liter barrel, apparently made in Samara - just the right size! I'm going to carry the barrel to the trash can like a grandmother carrying a string bag - on a different cart, so as not to strain herself.
Next is the choice of layout. Some install the dust collection unit permanently and lead channels to the machines. Others simply place a vacuum cleaner and a barrel next to each other and drag them into Right place. I wanted to make a mobile unit on wheels to move everything around the workshop in one unit.
I have a rather small workshop and the issue of saving space is very relevant. Therefore, I decided to choose a layout in which the barrel, filter and vacuum cleaner are located one above the other, occupying a minimum area. It was decided to make the body of the installation from metal. Frame from profile pipe determines the dimensions of the future installation.
When installed vertically, there is a risk of tipping over. To reduce this probability, you need to make the base as heavy as possible. For this purpose, a 50x50x5 corner was chosen as the material for the base, which took almost 3.5 meters.
The noticeable weight of the cart is compensated by the presence of swivel wheels. There were thoughts, if the structure was not stable enough, to pour lead shot or sand into the cavity of the frame. But this was not required.
In order to achieve verticality of the rods, I had to use ingenuity. The recently purchased vice came in handy. Thanks to such simple equipment, it was possible to achieve precise setting of the angles.
It is convenient to move the cart while holding the vertical bars, so I reinforced their attachment points. In addition, this is an additional, albeit not large, weighting of the base. In general, I like reliable things with a margin of safety.
The barrel will be fixed in the installation frame using clamps.
At the top of the rods there is a platform for the vacuum cleaner. Next, holes will be drilled in the corners at the bottom and the wooden planks will be secured using self-tapping screws.
Here, in fact, is the entire frame. It seems to be nothing complicated, but for some reason it took four evenings to assemble it. On the one hand, I didn’t seem to be in a hurry, I worked at my own pace, trying to complete each stage efficiently. But on the other hand, low productivity is associated with the lack of heating in the workshop. Safety glasses and a welding mask quickly fog up, impairing visibility, and bulky outerwear hinders movement. But the task is completed. Besides, there are only a couple of weeks left until spring.
I really didn't want to leave the frame like this. I wanted to paint it. But on all the cans of paint that I found in the store it is written that they can be used at a temperature not lower than +5, and on some even not lower than +15. The thermometer in the workshop shows -3. How to be?
I read thematic forums. People write that you can safely paint even in cold weather, as long as the paint is not on water based and there was no condensation on the parts. And if the paint has a hardener, don’t worry about it at all.
I found in the caches an old, slightly thickened can of Hammerite, which I used to paint a horizontal bar at the dacha back in the summer - . The paint is quite expensive, so I decided to test it in extreme conditions. Instead of the expensive original solvent, Hammerite added a little regular degreaser to make it a little thinner, stirred it to the desired consistency and began painting.
In the summer this paint dried in one hour. It’s difficult to say how long it was drying in the winter, but when I returned to the workshop in the evening next day the paint has dried. True, without the promised hammer effect. It's probably the degreaser that's to blame, not negative temperature. Otherwise, no other problems were found. The coating looks and feels reliable. Perhaps it’s not for nothing that this paint costs almost 2,500 rubles in the store.
The cyclone body is made of good plastic and has fairly thick walls. But the attachment of the filter to the barrel lid is quite flimsy - four self-tapping screws screwed into plastic. In this case, significant lateral loads may occur on the hose, which is attached directly to the filter. Therefore, the attachment of the filter to the barrel needs to be strengthened. People have different approaches to solving this problem. Basically they collect additional frame hardness for the filter. The designs are very varied, but the idea is something like this:
I approached this a little differently. I welded a holder for pipes of a suitable diameter onto one of the rods.
In this holder I clamp the hose, which bears all the twisting and jerking. Thus, the filter housing is protected from any loads. Now you can pull the unit directly behind you by the hose without fear of damaging anything.
I decided to secure the barrel with tightening straps. When I was choosing locks at a hardware store, I made an interesting observation. A five-meter tie-down belt with a foreign-made ratchet lock cost me 180 rubles, and the bare frog-type lock lying next to it cost me 180 rubles. Russian production would have cost me 250 rubles. This is where the triumph of domestic engineering and high technology lies.
Experience has shown that this method of fastening has an important advantage. The fact is that on forums dedicated to these filters they write that barrels like mine, when connecting a powerful vacuum cleaner, can be crushed due to the vacuum that occurs when the inlet hose is clogged. Therefore, during testing, I deliberately blocked the hole in the hose and, under the influence of vacuum, the barrel shrank. But thanks to the very tight grip of the clamps, not the entire barrel was compressed, but only in one place below the hoop a dent appeared. And when I turned off the vacuum cleaner, the dent straightened itself out with a click.
At the top of the installation there is a platform for a vacuum cleaner
As household vacuum cleaner purchased a bagless almost two-kilowatt monster. I was already thinking that this would be useful for me at home.
While buying a vacuum cleaner from an ad, I encountered some inexplicable human stupidity and greed. People sell used items without a guarantee, with a worn-out part of the resource, defects in appearance at prices lower than store prices by some 15-20 percent. And okay, these would be some popular items, but used vacuum cleaners! Judging by the period of posting of advertisements, this trade sometimes lasts for years. And as soon as you start haggling and name an adequate price, you come across rudeness and misunderstanding.
As a result, after a couple of days I finally found it for myself great option for 800 rubles. Famous brand, 1900 Watt, built-in cyclone filter (the second one in my system) and another fine filter.
To secure it, I couldn’t think of anything more elegant than pressing it with a tightening strap. In principle, it holds securely.
I had to get a little tricky with connecting the hoses. As a result, we have such a setup. And it works!
Usually when you read reviews from the first use of such things, people are choked with delight. I experienced something similar when I first turned it on. It's no joke - vacuuming in the workshop! Where everyone wears street shoes, where metal shavings and sawdust fly everywhere!
I have never seen this concrete floor, which is impossible to sweep due to the dust stuck in the pores, so clean. Persistent attempts to sweep it up only lead to an increase in the density of dust in the air. And such purity was given to me in a couple of easy movements! I didn't even have to wear a respirator!
We managed to collect what was left after the previous cleaning with a broom into the barrel. When the device is operating, thanks to the transparency of the filter, you can observe streams of dust swirling inside. There was also dust in the dust collector of the vacuum cleaner, but there was a small amount of it and these were particularly light and volatile fractions.
I'm very pleased with the result. There will be no more dust storms in the workshop. You could say I'm moving into a new era.
Advantages of my design:
1. Occupies a minimum area, determined only by the diameter of the barrel.
2. The unit can be carried and pulled by the hose without fear of tearing out the filter.
3. The barrel is protected from crushing when the inlet pipe is clogged.
After some time of using the installation, I still encountered the problem of a lack of rigidity of the barrel.
Purchased more powerful vacuum cleaner. Household, but it sucks like a beast - it sucks up stones, nuts, screws, tears off plaster and tears bricks out of masonry))
This vacuum cleaner collapsed a blue barrel even without clogging the inlet hose! Tightly wrapping the barrel with clamps did not help. I didn't have my camera with me, it's a shame. But it looks something like this:
On thematic forums they warn about this possibility, but still I did not expect this. With great difficulty, he straightened the barrel and sent it, fairly dented, to the dacha to store water. She is not capable of more.
There were two ways out of this situation:
1. Buy instead plastic barrel metal. But I need to find a barrel of a very specific size so that it fits exactly into my installation - diameter 480, height 800. A superficial search on the Internet did not yield any results.
2. Assemble the box yourself the right size from 15 mm plywood. This is more real.
The box was assembled using self-tapping screws. The joints were sealed using double-sided foam tape.
The cart had to be altered a little - the rear clamp had to be modified to fit a square tank.
The new tank, in addition to strength and increased volume due to right angles, has another important advantage - a wide neck. This allows you to install a garbage bag in the tank. It greatly simplifies unloading and makes it much cleaner (I tied the bag right in the tank and took it out and threw it away without dust). Old barrel didn't allow this.
The lid was sealed with foam insulation for windows
The lid is held in place by four frog locks. They create the necessary tension to seal the cover on the foam gasket. A little higher I wrote about pricing policy on these frog castles. But I had to fork out more.
It worked out well. Cute, functional, reliable. How I love.
Wood has always been considered environmentally friendly and safe material. Fine wood dust generated during processing wooden blank, is not as harmless as it might seem. Inhaling it does not at all contribute to saturating the body with useful microelements. Accumulating in the lungs and upper respiratory tract (and wood dust is not processed by the body), it slowly but effectively destroys respiratory system. Large chips constantly accumulate near machines and working tools. It is better to remove it immediately, without waiting for insurmountable blockages to appear in the carpentry space.
In order to maintain the required level of cleanliness in your home carpentry, you can buy an expensive exhaust system consisting of a powerful fan, a cyclone, chip catchers, a chip container and auxiliary elements. But the users of our portal are not those who are used to buying something that they can do with their own hands. Using their experience, anyone can build an exhaust system with the power to meet the needs of a small home workshop.
Vacuum cleaner for collecting sawdust
Chip extraction using a conventional household vacuum cleaner is the most a budget option of all existing solutions. And if you manage to use your old cleaning assistant, who, out of pity, has not yet been thrown into the trash, it means that your inherent frugality has once again served you well.
ADKXXI User FORUMHOUSE
My vacuum cleaner is more than fifty years old (brand: “Uralets”). It copes well with the role of a chip sucker. He is only as heavy as my sins, but he can not only suck, but also blow. Sometimes I take advantage of this opportunity.
By itself, a household vacuum cleaner, installed in a place of honor in the workshop as a chip extractor, will be useless. And the main reason for this is that the volume of the bag (container) for collecting dust is too small. That is why there must be an additional unit between the vacuum cleaner and the machine exhaust system, consisting of a cyclone and a volumetric tank for collecting sawdust.
Osya User FORUMHOUSE
The most easy installation –vacuum cleaner and cyclone. Moreover, the vacuum cleaner can be used at home. Instead of a cyclone (cylindrical cone), a separating cap can be used.
DIY sawdust vacuum cleaner
The design of the chip suction device we are considering is extremely simple.
The device consists of two main modules: a cyclone (item 1) and a container for chips (item 2). The principle of its operation is as follows: using a vacuum cleaner, a vacuum is created in the cyclone chamber. Due to the difference in pressure inside and outside the device, sawdust, along with air and dust, enters the internal cavity of the cyclone. Here, under the influence of inertia and gravity forces, mechanical suspensions are separated from the air flow and fall into the lower container.
Let's look at the design of the device in more detail.
Cyclone
The cyclone can be made in the form of a lid that is installed on top of the storage tank, or you can simply combine these two modules. First, let's consider the second option - a cyclone made in the body of a container for chips.
First of all, we should purchase a tank with a suitable volume.
ForceUser FORUMHOUSE user,
Moscow.
Capacity – 65 l. I took it on the principle that I needed volume and convenience when carrying a filled container. This barrel has handles, which is very convenient for cleaning it.
Here is the list additional elements and materials that we will need to assemble the device:
- Screws, washers and nuts - for fastening the inlet pipe;
- Line segment sewer pipe with cuffs;
- Transition coupling (from the sewer pipe to the suction pipe of the vacuum cleaner);
- Gun with assembly glue.
Do-it-yourself vacuum cleaner from a barrel: assembly sequence
First of all, a hole is made in the side of the tank for the inlet pipe, which will be located tangentially to the body. The picture shows a view from outside reservoir.
It is advisable to install the pipe in the upper part of the plastic barrel. This will allow you to achieve the maximum degree of cleaning.
From the inside, the inlet pipe looks like this.
The gaps between the pipe and the walls of the tank should be filled with mounting sealant.
On next stage we make a hole in the lid, insert the adapter coupling there and carefully seal all the cracks around the pipe. Ultimately, the design of the chip ejector will look like this.
The vacuum cleaner is connected to the upper outlet of the device, and the pipe that removes chips from the machine is threaded into the side pipe.
As you can see, the presented design is not equipped with additional filters, which does not greatly affect the quality of air purification.
den_61 User FORUMHOUSE
I made a chip pump based on the theme. The basis is a 400 W "Rocket" vacuum cleaner and a 100 liter barrel. After assembly of the unit, tests were successfully carried out. Everything works as it should: sawdust is in the barrel, the vacuum cleaner bag is empty. So far, the dust collector is connected only to the router.
Be that as it may, the cyclone still cannot retain a certain percentage of wood dust. And in order to maximize the degree of cleaning, some users of our portal are thinking about the need to install an additional fine filter. Yes, a filter is needed, but not every filter element will be appropriate.
Osya User FORUMHOUSE
I think that installing a fine filter after the cyclone is not entirely correct. Or rather, you need to install it, but you will be tired of cleaning it (you will have to very often). There the filter fabric will just roll around (like a bag in a vacuum cleaner). In my Corvette, the top bag catches the bulk of the fine dust. I see this when I remove the bottom bag to remove sawdust.
A fabric filter can be created by attaching a frame to the top cover of the cyclone and covering it with dense material (can be tarpaulin).
The main task of the cyclone is to remove sawdust and dust from working area(from a machine, etc.). Therefore, the quality of cleaning the air flow from fine suspended matter plays a secondary role in our case. And, taking into account that a standard dust collector installed in a vacuum cleaner will certainly retain the remaining debris (not filtered by the cyclone), we will achieve the required degree of cleaning.
Cyclone cover
As we have already said, the cyclone can be made in the form of a lid that will be placed on the storage tank. Working example similar device shown in the photo.
PointLogs User FORUMHOUSE
The design should be clear from the photographs. The plastic was soldered with a regular soldering iron using fine steel mesh. The cyclone is quite effective: when filling a 40-liter barrel, no more than a glass of garbage has accumulated in the vacuum cleaner bag.
Despite the fact that this cyclone is part of a homemade construction vacuum cleaner, it can be successfully integrated into the design of a carpentry chip ejector.
Sawdust pipeline
It is better to purchase hoses connected to the chip ejector from a vacuum cleaner. A plastic pipeline with smooth inner walls can be laid along the wall. It will connect the machine to the suction pipe of the cyclone.
A certain danger is posed by static electricity, which is formed during the movement of sawdust through a plastic pipe: sawdust sticking to the walls of the pipeline, ignition of wood dust, etc. If you want to neutralize this phenomenon, it is better to do this during the construction of the sawdust pipeline.
Not all owners of home workshops pay attention to the phenomenon of static electricity inside the sawdust pipe. But if you design the chip suction in accordance with fire safety rules, then a corrugated material with a built-in metal conductor should be used as a sawdust duct. Connecting such a system to a grounding loop will help avoid problems during operation.
alex_k11 User FORUMHOUSE
Plastic pipes must be grounded. Hoses should be taken with a wire, otherwise static will accumulate very strongly.
But what solution to combat static electricity in plastic pipes is offered by one of FORUMHOUSE users: entwine plastic pipe foil and connect it to the ground loop.
Exhaust devices
The design of devices that remove chips directly from the working parts carpentry equipment, depends on the characteristics of the machines themselves. Therefore, products made of plastic, plywood and other suitable materials can be used as exhaust elements.
To solve this problem, the tank body can be equipped with metal frame, or insert several inside metal hoops suitable diameter (as suggested by the user alex_k11). The design will be more bulky, but absolutely reliable.
Chip ejector for several machines
A system based on a household vacuum cleaner has low productivity. Therefore, it can only serve one machine at a time. In other words, if there are several machines, the suction pipe will have to be connected to them alternately. It is also possible to install the chip ejector centrally. But to ensure that the suction power does not drop, idle machines should be disconnected from common system using gates (dampers).
A home vacuum cleaner is so commonplace in the household that no one thinks about the principle of its operation. Since the invention of this cleaning assistant, it has been used only possible way separating dust from clean air– filter.
Over the years, the filter element has been improved, from a banal bag made of thick tarpaulin, it has turned into high-tech membranes that retain the smallest particles of debris. However, it was not possible to get rid of the main drawback.
Filter creators are constantly looking for a compromise between cell density and throughput for air. In addition, the dirtier the membrane, the worse the air flow through it.
30 years ago, physicist James Dyson made a breakthrough in dust collection technology.
He invented a compact dust separator that works on the principle of centrifugal force. I must say that this idea was not new. Industrial sawmills have been using centrifugal cyclone-type scorch and chip storage for quite a long time.
But no one thought to use it physical phenomenon at home. In 1986, he registered a patent for the first cyclonic vacuum cleaner, called G-Force.
In general, there are three ways to separate dust from clean air:
- Filter membrane. The most widespread and cheap way remove dust. Used in most modern vacuum cleaners;
- Water filter. Air with debris passes through a container of water (like in a hookah), all particles remain in a liquid medium, and a perfectly clean air flow comes out. Such devices have gained popularity, but their use has not become widespread due to high cost.
- Centrifugal dry cleaning filter of the “cyclone” type. It is a compromise in cost and quality of cleaning compared to a membrane and water filter. Let's look at this model in more detail.
Operating principle of a cyclone
The illustration shows the processes occurring in the chamber of a cyclone-type filter.
Contaminated air enters the filter housing (2) through the pipe (1) cylindrical. The pipe is located tangentially to the walls of the housing, due to which the air flow (3) twists into a spiral along the walls of the cylinder.
Under the influence of centrifugal force, dust particles (4) are pressed against the inner walls of the housing, and under the influence of gravity they settle into the dust collector (5). Air with the smallest particles of debris (which are not affected by centrifugal force) enters the chamber (6) with a conventional membrane filter. After final cleaning they exit into the receiving fan (7).
The membrane filter is minimally contaminated and only needs to be cleaned occasionally after cleaning. All dirt is simply poured out of the reservoir, and the vacuum cleaner is ready for use again.
Vacuum cleaners with such a filter are cheaper than water ones, but still more expensive compared to membrane ones. Therefore many craftsmen make a “cyclone” type filter with your own hands and connect it to the inlet of a regular vacuum cleaner.
greetings to all brain engineers! An important point during the implementation of your brainoid is to maintain cleanliness in the workplace and in the workshop as a whole. This is exactly what it is intended for craft This guide is a simple dust collector with a screen.
This works homemade like this: the incoming contaminated air flow spins along the inner wall, due to which heavy particles of dust and debris are separated and fall into the trash can located below. When using a fan, as in my case, with this under the tree no need for any separate system collecting dust (which requires additional space and power to accommodate, and of course, costs).
When used together with a commercial vacuum cleaner, this simple brain trick significantly increases the service life of the vacuum cleaner filters, and reduces the need to periodically empty the dust receptacle, which is usually small and difficult to shake out.
NOTE: All dimensions below are based on trash can, used by me. For another container they will be correspondingly different, and for high-quality functioning brain dust collector they will have to be counted.
Keep your lungs healthy. If you're into woodworking, you know that a wood shop, no matter its size, needs a dust collector. Make a cyclone for a vacuum cleaner with your own hands.
Many say that the heart of the workshop is hand saw, others say it's a table, band-saw, planer etc.
Whatever the heart is, it is certain that the lungs of the workshop are the dust collector.
Most pieces of wood you work with are heavy enough to fall to the floor. But wood dust and sawdust float in the air you breathe. These small particles easily enter your lungs and pose a serious health threat.
There are many ways to protect yourself. Dust masks (they're not cheap, but they work well), inexpensive paper respirators (not very safe, but better than nothing). You can install air filter on the ceiling (dust needs to pass through the level of your face first before getting into it, so this is good for cleaning up after work), and finally there are dust collectors, which can be complex or simple (if you can afford them, they very good to a certain extent).
No matter how good your dust collection system is, there is still dust floating in the air that has escaped the system, especially if you are sanding or cutting anything. You need something that is easy to use, portable, and powerful enough to remove dust from your tools. This is where a vacuum cleaner comes in handy.
The problem with store-bought vacuum cleaners is that if you connect them directly to the tool, the filters will clog within 10 minutes. They are also not easy to clean, even if you increase the waste collection capacity.
An alternative to this is to have an intermediate system between your tool and the vacuum cleaner, namely a cyclone.
The cyclonic dust bucket collects 99% of the dust that accumulates at the bottom, leaving the vacuum cleaner almost dust-free and clean.
My homemade filter for a vacuum cleaner it is very inexpensive and effective. The construction vacuum cleaner cost me less than 2000 rubles and was easy to build over the weekend.
Step 1: Material List and Drawings
List of materials:
- 1 vacuum cleaner (1600W+)
- 1 plastic bucket 20 liters
- 1 metal (tin) bucket 20 liters
- 1 plastic funnel
- 1 PVC pipe about 30 cm long
- 2 pipe couplings
- 1 x 90 degree water fitting
- 4 nuts, bolts and washers
- 8 screws
- fast acting epoxy glue
- some kind of primer
- 2 pieces of plywood 0X30X18 mm
Blueprints:
Above is the drawing that guided me when designing the cyclone attachment for the vacuum cleaner.
Step 2: Cyclone System
The cyclone system consists of two stages.
The first stage is a plastic bucket with a top lid, fittings and a funnel. The second stage is a metal bucket that is attached under the plastic one and collects dust and waste.
The two stages are connected to each other using standard clamps that come with the buckets.
Step 3: First Stage - Top Cover
Before purchasing any fittings, be sure to check the end of your vacuum cleaner's flexible hose and buy the correct diameter (not all vacuum cleaners have the same diameter hoses and ends).
Take the lid of the top plastic bucket and make a hole in the center the same diameter as your pipe (this is where the long pipe will sit) and one hole in the side of the lid (this is where the elbow fitting will sit).
Insert the coupling into the first hole and seal it - there will be a long pipe here (use PVC glue or epoxy). Make sure the pipe is perpendicular to the cover.
You can cut a long pipe if necessary, and after the first test, if there is dust in the vacuum cleaner, you will need to drive it deeper, up to the wooden ring.
Insert the coupling into the side hole and glue. Once the glue has dried, insert a 90-degree elbow fitting into the glue so that the fitting is parallel to the sides of the plastic bucket. This will give a cyclonic circular action on the incoming dust. Make sure there are no leaks. If you feel holes, fill them. epoxy glue or silicone.
Additional modification:
If plastic cover too soft like mine, you can add two circles of chipboard with a diameter of about 22 cm and a thickness of 6 mm for support. Wooden circles are located under the cover, and I tightened them with 4 bolts.
This gives me added strength and an advantage if I want to add two more 90 degree elbow fittings and insert longer PVC pipes to minimize the use of flexible hoses and improve air flow and pressure drop.
Step 4: First Stage - Funnel
Show 4 more images
To insert the funnel, you will need to cut a wooden disk/ring from one of the pieces of wood. The wooden ring should fit into the plastic bucket (the inner disk that remains after cutting the ring is used later).
The outer diameter of the disk should be such that the disk fits tightly into the bucket approximately halfway, and inner diameter should be wide enough for the funnel to sit in the ring. I cut the ring using an inverted jigsaw on my workbench and then finished it to perfect circle using grinder. Insert the ring into the bucket to test.
Do not do the following things until the second stage is completed!
After the second step, I will place the wooden ring inside the plastic bucket (about halfway up or a little deeper) so that the end of the funnel will protrude from the hole of the bucket. I screwed the wooden ring on the outside with 8 self-tapping screws.
In my version, I trimmed the funnel a little so that its end hole would not be too narrow (this makes it easier for dust to go down) about 4 cm in diameter, and then glued a pipe to secure the element.
Now it gets more complicated. I glued the edge of the funnel to the edge of the wooden ring and then added
primer to tilt towards the center of the funnel for better downward movement of dust. Since I couldn't find a good primer, I used a polyester primer that would stick to both wood and plastic. Other than the ugly color (black) and diluted dirt (use gloves), it works fine.
Note. If I do this again, I will use less hardener than the intended value so that I have more time to shape and smooth the surface, even if it takes longer to dry.
This polyester filler gave me a surface that I covered with a softer, white layer. Using a damp cloth, I was able to smooth the surface so that the dust flowed into the funnel.
One more idea. I am informed that finding a large enough crater is not easy. There is a solution here. You can go to any auto accessory store and buy an outdoor/road cone and then cut it to size for your bucket. This will work too.
Step 5: Second Stage - Bottom Bucket and Top Metal Lid
The plastic bucket should fit tightly over the metal one. Here's how we'll do it. We will need 2 pieces of circular plywood or chipboard to support and connect the plastic bucket to the metal bucket lid.
We cut two disks about 4/5 the diameter of the bottom of the plastic bucket (we already have one piece left over from cutting out the funnel ring, so we only need to cut one).
Precision is not very important here, so you can use a jigsaw or saber saw. I used a jigsaw.
We will place the first circle at the bottom of a plastic bucket, and the second under the lid of a metal one.
Since the two disks have the same hole in the center, we need to make the same holes in the bottom of the plastic bucket and in the lid of the metal one so that the funnel passes through them.
Press the first disc to the bottom of the plastic bucket, and the second on top of the metal bucket lid and tighten them with 4 bolts, nuts and washers. Now we can connect the two buckets together.
Step 6: Final Assembly and Test Run
Now I can place the plastic bucket on top of the metal one and secure the buckets with a clamp. Paste flexible hose vacuum cleaner into the central connecting pipe, and the second hose (I found it in an old vacuum cleaner) into the side pipe, turn on the vacuum cleaner and let the cyclone work. All dust falls into a metal bucket, leaving the vacuum cleaner clean.
Be sure to wear a mask when cleaning the bottom bucket. You don't need to breathe this dust.
Step 7: Addition
Moving a cyclone and vacuum cleaner around the workshop is not an easy task, so I think a trolley on casters might be practical and useful.
The design of the cart is very simple and can only be built using plywood. There are no dimensions here because you will have to adjust the dimensions to suit your dust collector.
Let me just say that the base is made of two sheets of plywood, the top of which has a hole in which the bucket sits.
You can also add Velcro to secure the vacuum cleaner and make two wooden handles on a plastic bucket so that it does not fall when emptying the lower bucket.