Another Thien

[Gofor]

Thank you for the oil drum, James (jhreed)

At the Goldsboro lunch, one subject was dust collection, and James offered a 120lb capacity oil drum to anyone wanting it. I took him up on the offer, and got around to making one based on J. Phil Thien's design. This is made to fit my Ridgid vac and hoses, which are a 2 1/4" diameter. I used 2" plastic fittings, and shimmed the inlet/outlet with HVAC aluminum tape to tighten the fit.



What did surprise me was that the cyclonic action extends all the way to the bottom of the can as you can see here:

The next project will tell whether it separates the fine stuff better than just the in-line collector I had before made from an old shop vac.

As always, comments/criticisms welcomed.

Go

 

[JimmyC]

Nice job Mark ! I love seeing these things being made, all sizes from 2 1/4' -6' can be used with a little tweaking. It's amazing that more people that are looking for DC performance don't make them, because the increase in DC efficiency is incredible.

Good luck with it,

 

[mxracer]

Nice work Mark!

I think you'll find it does a good job on the fines as well unless you are really overloading it, like when sweeping up and hammering big piles into it, or when it's full. BTW when it's full it will start to make the motor on the shop vac run hard and sound like the hose is plugged. If you start to hear that stop quick or your shop vac will be full in a hurry.

 

[jhreed]

I have another one of these drums, if anyone wants it. It had grease in it and would need to be cleaned.
James

 

[dlrion]

I have all the parts for another Thein that are on piece of MDF that fit a 5 Gal bucket, that Matt gave me before he lost his mind.

Would this fit James' drum? If so who wants it?

Dan

 

[Gofor]

The diameter of the drum is about 14" . A 5 gal bucket is about 12", so it may be a bit too small, Dan.

Go

 

[jhreed]

Mark, I assume you are saying the bucket it too small, therefore, is the Thein too large? In my limited experience, if something has already been cut too small, you cannot cut it again and make it larger(believe me I tried). But if the Thein is too large then maybe you can cut approx. !" off the circumference and be close. Really no need to reduce the top, only the baffle.
James

 

[Gofor]

James:

I think the one Dan has from Matt is too small to fit the blue cans.

The blue cans are 14" diameter, so the top I made is about 16" diameter and the baffle is about 13 1/2". A typical 5 gal bucket is only 12" outside diameter, so the baffle would be about 11 1/2" or so.

It wouldn't take me too long to cut another top and baffle, but right now I am out of material. I also have a 2 3/8" and a 2 1/2" hole saw that will cut the holes needed for 2" PVC fittings. I don't think the blue cans are large enough for 4" PVC (about 4 3/8" diameter I think) because the fittings would be touching each other on the top.

Go

 

[JackLeg]

Has anyone ever adapted/modified one of the standard "separator tops" from Rockler, Woodcraft, etc to accept a Thein? :eusa_thin If so, I'd like to hear more about how you did it. I need to improve my setup. Still getting lots of fines into the DC bag. :wsmile:

 

[Canuck]

Has anyone ever adapted/modified one of the standard "separator tops" from Rockler, Woodcraft, etc to accept a Thein? :eusa_thin If so, I'd like to hear more about how you did it. I need to improve my setup. Still getting lots of fines into the DC bag. :wsmile:

Jack,

Mine is an adaptation of the standard commercial separator lids. Just hung the baffle from the inside of the lid with three pieces of 1 1/4" wooden dowel and added the 90 degree fitting to route the exhaust to the side of the can.

Here are a couple of pics. (If you need more dimensions (for a standard trash can), I can do that. Just PM me.....I don't want to high jack this thread.)

Wayne

 

[jhreed]

Well I guess I explained how stupid I am. Was thinking in reverse.

As to the store bought lid with the inlet and exhaust, I have one and want to try the baffle close enough to the lid so the 45 deg exhaust is below the baffle and the suction is above the baffle. What do yall think?
James

 

[Gofor]

Don't anyone worry about high jacking the thread. Good discussion.

James, I thought about trying the same thing, but with the small diameter can and the baffle depth, I would have lost too much volume to make it worthwhile compared to the 6 gal dump collector I was using before (I estimate the can you gave me as having about 10 gal below the baffle as compared to the 6 gal I had before).

On a 32 gal, it may be a good option, but I am ignorant as far as the cyclonic effects go. May work better with the 4" and not as good with the 2". Just do not know.

Go