Mini Cyclone Build

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Bright-Spark

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6 Sep 2012
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High Peak
No WIPs I’m afraid

I was inspired to make this mini cyclone after reading tonytopman’s post which can be found here
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums...on-drum-t53499.html?hilit=dyson dyson cyclone

Firstly all parts purchased off flea-bay: Dyson drum, acrylic pipe and sheet, waste bin.

I tackled the side inlet first as this would be the trickiest to get right. Measured the drum and pipe and then created templates here http://harderwoods.com/pipetemplate.php so that the inlet pipe would be 90 degrees to the drum.


Inlet at 90 degrees to drum

I cut the end of the pipe first using a Dremel and cleaned up the cut with a file. To angle the inlet I spray mounted some Aluminium Oxide paper on the side of the drum and then carefully sanded the end of the pipe to the required shape and angle, titling a few degrees at a time. The angle is completely arbitrary and just what looked about right.


Inlet angle

I then marked round the end of the pipe, cut inside the line (more like melted) using a Dremel to create the aperture and cleaned up with a file. Because of the large surface area created by the angled shape on the end of the pipe it could be glued straight on to the side of the drum.


Solvent Cement I used

After curing I used a long round file - poked down the inlet - to smooth the cut angle in the side of the drum to the same angle as the sides of the inlet pipe.

Next I created the bottom flange from an acrylic sheet. It has a rebate on the inside edge of the flange which the drum sits in to create a stronger joint. The acrylic sheet was cut using a standard 2 flute straight router bit. It would have been better to layout and drill the flange holes at this point but I didn’t and had a few nervous moments with a cordless, drilling the holes at the very end.

I then used the off cut to thicken the top of the drum; the glue up isn’t very pretty. Then double sided taped a template to the top of the drum and cut a hole and rebate for the outlet pipe. The top pipe was then glued in place.


Thickened top and outlet pipe

The bottom bin is a 25l brewing bucket reinforced with a couple of plywood rings which stop it completely collapsing when the inset becomes constricted.


Bucket with reinforcing rings

The inlet and outlet pipes are sized so a 32mm vacuum hose pushes very tight over the pipe so there is no need for tape or clips.

Performance on fine dust and small chips from circular saw, router table, and sanding is pretty amazing. I usually half fill the bucket. There is a teeny tiny amount of dust, if any, in the vacuum.

The build didn’t work out super cheap as I had to buy all the parts and solvent cement however, the main purpose of the build was to have ago at cutting and gluing acrylic for a big 125mm diameter cyclone build one day!


Completed Cyclone
 
Ok why can't I see my pictures?

I have more than 3 post.
Image hosted on google docs and made public
I have used the image tags

What have I missed?
 
Thanks Blister

I didn't have the direct link URL in between the image tags.

A bit of googling to find out how to get them and all sorted.
 
Well I can see the piccies just fine. This is a really interesting build - many thanks for taking the time to do the write-up and take the photos which are always worth 1000 words. Looks like a very clever way to build a mini cyclone. Approx what were the costs involved please?
 
Thanks Roger :)

Shopping list and approximate current costs

Fleabay

  • A3 297x420 5mm clear acrylic plastic sheet £7.85
    34mm x 3mm x 500mm clear acrylic pipe £8.33
    DCO1 Bin and Insert £9.99ish
    25L Storage bucket with lid £11.20

Small wonder Music Company

  • Weld-On 16 Cement 1.5oz tube £10.00

    Estimated Total £47.37

Plywood or chipboard for rings and flange, M6 nuts and bolts I had.

There is probably a more cost effective gluing option. I am not 100% sure but, after lots of Internet browsing I have assumed the Dyson drum is polycarbonate. The Weld-On 16 was the only stuff I could find that would bond both polycarbonate and acrylic, it is also reasonably thick so will fill any small gaps if the fit isn’t 100%. Someone with more plastics knowledge might be able to suggest an alternative.

Finally a picture of the chip board ring on the back of the lid which supports the bottom flange.


Internal Lid Support Ring
 
How well do cyclones cope with hand plane shavings? Do they dump them in the first collection drum, or are they too light and 'floaty' so they continue to the final collection bag via the fan blades?
My extractor doesn't like them at all as they just wrap around the fan blades and throw it off balance.
 
Andy

Quick demo

Dusted off (literality) a hand plane and made some shavings by further flattening off my temporary bench top; which is a very old beech worktop. The plane is very much a work in progress, but the blade is honed ‘Scary Sharp’.

Pile of curly shaving



For this demo I ran the Numatic NVQ370 without a bag. Started by making sure both the cyclone and vacuum buckets were empty.

Emptied and ready to go



Plumbed everything up


Then vacuumed up the shavings. Some of shavings would only just go down the 32mm hose but managed to get everything cleaned up.

The results!



Not 100% but pretty good.

I think that if you where running a larger cyclone with a LPHV chip extractor, which would run at lower velocity, you should expect good separation of plane shavings.

I must admit, that one of the pleasures on the rare occasions I do break out the hand plane is that cleaning up with a dust pan and brush is so easy.
 

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