Results 1 to 10 of 10
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Location
    Canberra
    Age
    67
    Posts
    162

    Default el cheapo cyclone setup

    $22 Chinese cyclone, sourced off ebay, mounted on 6mm Ply with 6 * 12mm screws. Plywood is clipped to wheeled $8 plastic box with 25mm PVC conduit cheapo_clips. chepest vac in Bunnies is mounted sans wheels on the ply. standard Hose is connected to cyclone air_out port by blue tape wraps around fitting until it was snug. 50mm dust pipe from my old ShopVac was married to the cyclone with a custom made bit of PVC heated with a heat gun, molded to fit, then plunged in water to set it in its new shape.

    All in all I am quite pleased coz it easy to see when the box it getting full and I can move it round to the band saws or my jobsite saw quite easily
    Attached Images Attached Images

  2. # ADS
    Google Adsense Advertisement
    Join Date
    Always
    Location
    Advertising world
    Age
    2010
    Posts
    Many





     
  3. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    blue mountains
    Posts
    4,882

    Default

    Nice and simple. Good idea using the box as you have a ready made place for the vac to sit.
    Regards
    John

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    66

    Default

    Looks good! You could chuck a few casters on the base too.

    The worst bit about having some kind of cyclone is that the vacuum takes up twice the space and of you want to move it around it can get very annoying with hoses all over the place.

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Location
    Canberra
    Age
    67
    Posts
    162

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Deverell View Post
    Looks good! You could chuck a few casters on the base too.

    The worst bit about having some kind of cyclone is that the vacuum takes up twice the space and of you want to move it around it can get very annoying with hoses all over the place.
    The el_cheapo $8 box from bunnings already comes with plastic wheels on the bottom. The plastic wheels roll along quite well and because they are cheap plastic, they are easy to side_pull/skid to a new direction.

    I have since discovered that 6 clips work better than 4 to seal the lid to the box lip... but the difference is marginal, the seal was already quite good enough.

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Location
    Canberra
    Age
    67
    Posts
    162

    Default

    Variations so far are:
    Added some self adhesive weather/draft strip ($3) to the upper edge of the box to provide a better seal to the plywood lid/mounting panel. It provided a marginal but noticeable increase in suction.
    Added 2 Occy straps (repurposed from other duties) to hold the Vac Unit tight its spot on the top of the box lid. Very effective at stopping it moving round & dissembling when I move the whole unit round between jobs.
    Upgraded the connection from the Vacuum_Unit to the Cyclone air_out port to 1 meter of 50mm high volume off Ebay ($17). Used expanded PVC and masking tape padding to fit the connectors and 50mm hose clamps to provide a leak proof seal($4). Since adding this connector I cannot detect any difference between the direct connection to the Vac and the input at the far end of the cyclone hose
    Attached Images Attached Images

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Bundaberg
    Age
    54
    Posts
    3,402

    Default

    Very impressive, I too bought one of those little cyclones years ago to use with my wet & dry shop vac and kept wondering how to mount the whole kaboodle. Your design has given me some good ideas; thank you!
    Nothing succeeds like a budgie without a beak.

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Caboolture QLD AU
    Posts
    781

    Default

    I have two of these, one has been used in the workshop for over a year and due to the large bin has only got emptied a few weeks ago.

    1: It's important to mount the vacuum cleaner outside the shed as you are breathing invisible dust, the cyclone does not remove that, otherwise make sure you have good cross flow through the workshop.

    2: A tall bin is important as this helps a stop a lot of fine dust being drawn back into the cyclone.

    3: I have the head unit outside the workshop in a weather proof housing and 3 wall mounted hose connections, Just connect the long quality hose to one of the fittings and I can cover the whole workshop.

    4: I'm about to move the cyclone and bin out as well and the result will be no lost workshop space.

    I never realised how much I would use it when it's made so convenient to use, the vacuum cleaner head is still almost spotless after over a year of use. It's one of the most used items in the workshop.

    All the floor crap and workshop dirt that the expensive DC filters would normally have to deal with is now taken care of by this mini cyclone.

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Bentleigh East
    Age
    50
    Posts
    423

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by MandJ View Post
    3: I have the head unit outside the workshop in a weather proof housing and 3 wall mounted hose connections, Just connect the long quality hose to one of the fittings and I can cover the whole workshop.
    Ηey MandJ, when you get a chance can you show a couple of pictures of this setup? it sounds very interesting.
    I assume you mean 3 wall mounted hose connections at different places in your shop, sort of like ducted vacuuming, but don't you lose suction by running such a long hose grid from your unit outside?

    Cheers
    SP

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Caboolture QLD AU
    Posts
    781

    Default

    If you have a look at this page Lathe Upgrade you can see the cyclone and bin with hose next to the lathe, also one of the wall fittings is shown.

    I can't do much at the moment due to a very serious accident (it's in that thread). However the hard pipe and fittings are 50mm from Bunnings, 50mm fittings are low cost.

    Loss from a HPLV system is not as high as loss in a real HVLP dust collector with respect to hose length and fittings. The vacuum cleaner is mounted on the other side of the wall so the 3m length of 50mm PVC hard line does not induce any noticeable loss. The quality grey flex (from Carbatec) is 3m long and as our small workshop is 6m x 3m, that length allows me to reach every part of the workshop with only 3 outlets. The original ShopVac hose fitting was slightly smaller that 50mm and was a good match to the 50mm PVC fittings using a heat gun and some of the original black flex hose.

    This is not used as a dust collection system, although it's sometimes used as a supplemental system to the 3HP DC. It's mainly used to clean up all the crap and also used on some small tools in conjunction with my down-draft table, also for cleaning up any metal shavings from the drill press.

    A second great feature of having it mounted outside (apart from no exhaust dust and not having it's exhaust air stirring up dust or rubbish on the floor) is the lovely quietness when using it, there is a power switch on the wall at the moment but when I can I'm converting that to a small remote control on/off system. It's one of the reasons that the workshop is spotless. When it's made so simple and quick to use it makes clean up a few seconds job, I would actually be lost without it now. Before the mini cyclone I hardly used the vacuum cleaner because the filter clogged quickly and I was always emptying it. The filter is still in it and it's also like new after over a year of use.

  11. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Location
    Canberra
    Age
    67
    Posts
    162

    Default added auto start to the dust collector

    Latest addition to my el_cheapo dust collector is auto start/stop functionality via EcoSolutions (1x master 4xslave auto-stop power board) $38 from Bunnings. Works great. Have not come across any tools with low enough current to fail to trigger it. It has about 3-4 seconds "run on" after the tool is switched off
    Attached Images Attached Images

Similar Threads

  1. Cyclone setup
    By jj777746 in forum DUST EXTRACTION
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 5th August 2018, 05:28 PM
  2. Replies: 5
    Last Post: 12th February 2016, 09:39 AM
  3. Modification to default DC & Cyclone setup. Viable?
    By Tobster in forum DUST EXTRACTION
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 31st March 2015, 10:09 PM
  4. El Cheapo Home made Cyclone
    By stevepay in forum DUST EXTRACTION
    Replies: 15
    Last Post: 7th November 2014, 01:04 AM
  5. my clearvue cyclone setup.
    By JDarvall in forum DUST EXTRACTION
    Replies: 28
    Last Post: 18th January 2009, 07:05 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •