Thread: Ye Olde Paint Bucket Dust Separator

I've been getting a bit fed up with the rate I'm filling my reassuringly expensive Fe$tool vac bags, now that the woodworking bug has bitten. So I thought I'd have a crack at making a cyclone-type dust separator.

I had designs on a traffic cone, the likes of which populate a nearby street, protecting some Slow Men Working, but i had a squiz at Fe$tool's new CT Cyclone pre-separator, and decided the old paint bucket design might have something in it after all.

Cynics among you will no doubt see the superb craftsmanship and fine detailing, and decide that this must be a shop-bought system, but I assure you it's entirely DIY...

The collector bucket was rescued from a roadside trash pile; the cyclone bucket was donated by the bro-in-law, who is a gyprocker (like a punk rocker but more dusty); plywood was from scraps lying around the shop, and I had to spend a few $ at Bunnings for the PVC pipe and elbow. The orange hose connectors are 3D-printed.

Took me a little while as it gave me an excuse to play around with circle jigs for the bandsaw and router - both firsts for me.

paint bucket dust collector.jpgthe business end.jpgdust collector side.jpgdust collector bottom.jpg

I'm really pleased with the result - first time I fired she up and blocked the inlet, it collapsed the collector bucket:

catch bucket.jpg

It's a fairly robust bucket. The 2x12mm plywood sandwich between the buckets and the 3D-printed hose fittings are all simply press-fitted - there's no glue involved, so I'm very happy with how well they're sealing, and how much suction I'm getting.
To test it out, I took the bag out of the vac, photographed the inside of the vac, and then sucked the bag out through the collector. After two buckets collected, the vac had a fine layer of dust in it (2nd vac pic below). I've no problem with this - I'd rather the fine stuff ends up in the Festool vac and filter. I'm just happy to have most of the big stuff end up in the bucket, where it's cheap and easy to tip out into the bin or the compost, depending on what wood I'm working with.

festool bag.jpgdust collected.jpgfestool clean.jpgfestool dusty.jpg

It's a little bit top heavy, so I'll need to sort that out - probably a systainer-type mount for the vac - but for now, hanging a dirty great parallel clamp of the back balances it perfectly ...

dust collector balanced.jpg

All in all, less than $10 spent, plenty of fun had, and a pretty decent result!

dust collector in action.jpg