Anyone know of a small workshop sized cyclone in the UK?

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johnelliott

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The consensus on american woodworking forums is that cyclone dust collection systems are far superior to any other type, and industrial use would seem to bear that out. In the States I would have no problem buying a cyclove of suitable size but in this country I have yet to locate anything smaller than the large devices used in factories.

I know I could make my own using plans available from various sources, but I would sooner do woodworky sorts of things and buy a ready made unit, especially as they involve a fair bit of metalwork.

It would seem that there might be a gap in the UK market, could be worth someone having a go at making something commercially (it worked for James Dyson)

John
 
Thanks for the link, James, but I couldn't find anything about cyclones on their site, not sure because their search engine isn't working properly.
They used to advertise in Woodworker magazine years ago, from what I remember their prices are pretty chunky, typical British company, charge as much as they like and wonder why they can't sell to woodworkers.

John
 
How about emailing them?

They probably can at least point you in the right direction.

Plus John, you're probably not going to find one cheap. If it was in all the catalogues it would be cheap, but over here it seems that its probably a specialised item. So your going to have to pay, its probably worth it though.
 
I'm not looking for cheap, reasonable will do nicely. If it comes to it then I probably will import one but it seems a bit daft to bring a unit all the way from the States when there is still some manufacturing capacity left in this country

John
 
Johnelliott,

It's only daft to import one if you can buy one over here.

If over here theres the capacity to make them but they don't ,then whats the problem in importing one?

I'm struggling to see how you're going to import this thing from the US and keep the price resonable. In fact I'm starting to struggle with alot of what you're posting on this Forum!!!!!

Regards
 
Hi John,

I to would be interested in fitting a cyclone to my Charnwood extractor, it would certainly be much better than the air bag on top of it, as it always gets clogged up.
As well as W/W gear a have a lot of metal working stuff as well, so making one would be no problem. If you know of where I can get the info on making one, would be great, perhaps I might even be persuaded in making some for who ever wants one, at a small cost. Just a thought anyway.
 
matstro":4fulwg7p said:
Johnelliott,

It's only daft to import one if you can buy one over here.

If over here theres the capacity to make them but they don't ,then whats the problem in importing one?

I'm struggling to see how you're going to import this thing from the US and keep the price resonable. In fact I'm starting to struggle with alot of what you're posting on this Forum!!!!!

Regards

What is it with you, why are you being so unpleasant? If you have nothing useful to say perhaps you had better say nothing.

John
 
woodtek":366k3awd said:
Hi John,

If you know of where I can get the info on making one, would be great, perhaps I might even be persuaded in making some for who ever wants one, at a small cost. Just a thought anyway.

Thanks for a really useful post, and I may well take you up on that as it seems there are not any makers of smaller cyclones in this country at present.

There is lots of info here (my thanks to Ijam for the link)
http://cnets.net/~eclectic/woodworking/ ... Index.html

John
 
Sawdust Producer":1wusptd0 said:
My question is Why cant it be made out of plywood box and a rubber gasket for the top seal between box and lid

I believe that the actual cyclone part of the system needs to be conical to work properly, the idea being that the air enters at an angle and spins at very high speed, the particles being spun out and drop down the cone into the collection bow below. The box could probably be any shape, I say probably though I'm not sure, it could be that not being round would upset the airflow higher up. Anyway the cyclone itself has got to be round and tapered and therefore lends itself to metal construction

John
 
Thanks John, I noticed on the link you gave for that paticular model that it comes flat packed . Good for mail order but a bit of soldering skill req.
I would have prefered pop rivets and chaulking
 
Are you referring to a pre-filter cyclone? Standard single or multi-bag CHIP extractors use the cyclone principle to extract dust and chips from the airflow.

What is generally referred to as a cyclone in the UK had an unfilterd exhaust vent at the top and these are now barred by the environmental people on the grounds that they tend to spew quantities of sub 10-micron dust into the environment.

If you do need a pre-filter cyclone, any sheet metal fabricator worth their salt should be able to build one. My local "tin basher" has quoted me circa £600 (plus VAT) for a pre-filter cyclone unit to fit the 5.5HP 2-bag chip extractor we use on some of our kit. He does quite a bit of dust extraction hoods and trunking for the shoe industry so he knows what he is doing - and in buying from him I am supporting a local BRITISH business. How does that compare to importing an Oneida?

If you want to remove very fine dust, however, pre-filter cyclones simply don't work. This is because they use the principle of slowing down the air flow through the system to drop particles out of the airflow. The lighter the particle, the lower the airspeed needed to hold it in the airstream, hence the finer (and more health-injurious particles) will normally be left in the airstream to be collected by the filter "sock" - and how many people have a 2 micron sock on their extractor?
 
Hi John,

I will let you know of my finding, I have looked at all the lings on this site about cyclones and last night downloaded plans from the one you mentioned. It looks OK, but a bit more info would have been a help on his site and he is not sure if it will work yet from what I read. But I will keep you posted.

It makes you sick, in the U.S they can get all sorts of stuff that we can't from small cyclones for small workshop use, to flat pack steel ducting, you name it they can get it. What do we get here, sod all and what is available is either red hot £ or rubbish, so we end up making do. With all the fuss about health and safety, you would think that the HSE would encourage manufactures to make samml dust extraction systems for use here in the UK. Then we could have all the lastest stuff and at a sencible price.

I will have a go perhaps at downloading the plans Dave mentioned as well and let you know, if it can be done and a clue to cost.
 
Hi John,

I have downlaoded the same plans as DaveL and they look pretty straight forward and from what I have read wioth what came with the plans, it should work quite well. The only problem could be 2 things. 1. The size of the inlet on the smallest cyclone is 6" dia and the outlet 4" dia, here there seems to be an error in the drawings, as one place is says the inlet is 4", but the drawings say 6", they also say 6" for the outlet as well. So I would think 6" it is on both, perhaps Dave you have seen this as well, so I would welcome you input on this point.

Now if 6" dia is used on the inlet, this may cause a problem for us over here, as this size is not as far as I know that freely available, unlike the Yanks, who seem to be able to get what they like. So this means that either a 6" dia system will have to be installed and then dropping dwon to 4" for each machine. Or, it will have to be reduced to 4" where it joins the 6" inlet pipe, in which case it might as well be a 4" inlet pipe, instead of the 6". Thie will probably be OK for the smaller extractors up to 1000 cub metre hour machines, but not possibly for the larger machines of say 2000 cmh as mine is.

How are you getting on with yours Dave, are you putting the extractor fan on top or running a pipe to the top of the cyclone. I am going to have a go at making the largest version, because of the size of my extractor 2000cmh, but I don't fancy putting the motor with the fan on top, as it is very heavy, so will run a pipe to it.
John if your interested, I can't see any problem in making one for you, the size of the cyclone needed will depend on the size of your extractor.
 
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