Thread: Cyclone questions: 100mm holes? glue? bucket attachment?

Router and a circle jig or use template and follower.
You can get a hole saw of 102mm to fit the drill press. Constuction adheasive will stick to pvc and wood, not sure about the polycarbonate/polythylene.

Zen,

The gizmo's called a flycutter, and they are nasty bitey things, specially in their cheapest form.

FHP make one that you can buy for about $30.00 but be warned FHP is an acronym for F*&^ Hopeless Product.

Carbatec have a really good one for about $120.00 with two cutters, I can vouch for it's effectiveness, and well worth the money if you think you may have need in the future. (I love it for cutting access holes in boat bulkheads among other things.)

Lee Valley have one which looks rather sturdy and good value at about $35.00 ; they call it a wheel and circle cutter.

Or you can use your router, either on an arbour to create a perfect circle, or do that to create a template then use a bearing bit.

With any of the above, you will be able to get a perfect push-fit. If ever I get around to finally assembling my system, I'll smear a bit of clear silicone on before fitting, and leave a small bead on the outside face. Liquid nails would probably do the trick, specially if you get the fit tight.

Cheers,

P

I've got a fly cutter which I've had for about 6 years. Don't know what brand it is but it would have been a cheapy. It's one of those things which is very handy to have because they are infinitely adjustable. You have to drill a pilot hole first. If you're brave enough, you can use them in a hand drill. I bought it to cut the holes for downlights in my ceiling.

Alternatively, you can buy holesaws that big - plumbers use them when installing sewer pipe. I've seen them in cheapy sets at the markets.

For cutting small openings to 18" dia I wouldn't want to live without my Jasper Jigs 200 & 400

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=365-255
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=365-250


there is a source in AU but can not remomber who?

Originally Posted by zenwood

Also: what glue/bog is good for joining PVC pipe to MDF or ply? Does it also work on polyethylene and polycarbonate (I'm basing the cyclone on plastic buckets and bins, with a polycarb cone). I'm hoping liquid nails, but not sure how this would go on waxy plastic (polyethylene).

Silicon sealant works well

Originally Posted by zenwood

Also: what glue/bog is good for joining PVC pipe to MDF or ply? Does it also work on polyethylene and polycarbonate (I'm basing the cyclone on plastic buckets and bins, with a polycarb cone). I'm hoping liquid nails, but not sure how this would go on waxy plastic (polyethylene).

There're female end-cap fittings, which'll take pipe from either end like a joiner, but one end's threaded on the outside to take a cap. Mainly used for inspections or as termini for planned extensions. I used two of these, two end caps and two female couplers to hook up my ducts to a 44gal drum I use as a seperator. I can't see why it wouldn't work with ply or MDF and all these parts are "off the shelf" from plumbing sections.

Firstly, the only part of the end-caps you want is the threaded bit, as a big nut. Cut off the end section and thread the result onto the end-cap fittings. Make sure you can turn 'em comfortably.

Glue a piece of PVC pipe (about 8"long) into one end of each coupler. Run your ductwork into position and terminate with the couplers. Mark & cut holes using the outside dia of the PVC pipe, accuracy isn't vital provided that when the pipe is inserted in the hole the thickness of the coupler covers it.

Put the pipe in position into the holes and mark it so just enough protrudes on the inside to glue the end-cap fitting on. Trim the pipes and when refitting 'em run a bead of silastic around the hole (on the outside) for the coupler to bed into. Remove the "home-made nuts" from the end-cap fittings and glue 'em onto the end of the pipe with the threaded end closest to the hole. Make sure that the assembly is as tight a fit as you can get it when gluing! It really is a good idea to dry-fit everything first, but PVC fittings sometimes don't wanna come off even if they're not glued.

After the glue has gone off, fit the home-made nuts and tighten to ensure a snug fit.

The end-cap fitting can be cut to length inside the seperator and, as a bonus, you can simply slip a 90o bend or a short length of pipe (depending on whether 'tis intake or outtake line ) inside to finish everything off.

Thanks to all for the helpful replies.

Skew: any chance of a photo? This sounds like great stuff, but I got lost at females taking pipe from either end like a joiner. I was mulling over just using a slip-fit piece of flexible into a but-join adaptor piece, but am a bit concerned about air-tightness.

I tried every glue in the shed today and b(%di nothing sticks to polyethylene plastic! PVA, epoxy, urethane, liquid nails -- just popped straight off.

Ended up joining the tangential intake and central uptake with duct tape. Hope it stays put. Might have to invest in some silicone sealant, a la Andraax's advice.

Zen, I'd use a fly cutter in a drill press, or a router & circle cutter, in that order.

Used an elcheapo fly cutter (<$10) this morning to cut out 100mm wheels in 25mm MDF (back wheels/tyres for a dragster making with the young bloke )

Had to cut 1/2 way from one side then finished from reverse. Trick in MDF I found is having bevels opposed on cutters so combined they cut out a kerf about 2.5mm wide. Hope this makes sense.

Found this works better than having both cutters running in the same cut, bevels rubbing stopped it cutting properly and created too much heat.

Otherwise, do a search on here for router circle cutting jig or similar for ideas, one was linked to a while back by CHJ (?) that looked the goods.


Good luck..............cheers...............Sean

go silicone seal to hold em together, for farmers its their lifeblood they cant be wrong. Tonto

Originally Posted by zenwood

Skew: any chance of a photo? This sounds like great stuff, but I got lost at females taking pipe from either end like a joiner. I was mulling over just using a slip-fit piece of flexible into a but-join adaptor piece, but am a bit concerned about air-tightness.

One picture = 1,000 words.

I know. But the cameras been "in transit" for the last fortnight and looks like being longer.

Joiner = coupler. Nomenclature's a problem when you're working in several trades.

Silicone sealer worked really well for me Zen.

You just need a piece of flat that you screw onto the bottom of your router and belt a nail or a screw into the far end into the center of where your hole is meant to be.

When I did it I think I had a real cheap hand saw and bodged up the gap with lots of silicone or no more gaps or something.

Studley