WIP Cyclone

[Al B]

After being on my to do list for several years,:eek: I Finally pulled my finger out and started work on building a Bill Pentz Designed Cyclone. Hopefully this thread will help inspire other members on this forum that have been wanting to build a cyclone.
I printed out the plans from Bills Site and then set about working out how I was going to build it. :confused: After working out my dimensions for each piece of the cyclone I found that I was going to need more than one 1220mm X 2440mm (8’ x 4’) sheet to build the cyclone.
I purchased two 1220mm X 2440mm (8’ x 4’) 24 gauge gal sheets more than enough for the cyclone but I will use up the left over gal making other bits and pieces for the pipework intallation,
I decided that I would make a pattern of the cone on paper first and then lay it onto the gal sheet as this will make it easy to minimize the waste of material. Once it was all marked out I cut out the cone with my tin snips, (24gauge gal is easy to cut with tin snips)

[Al B]

After cutting the cone I marked out the inlet and outlet pieces also the collar for the bottom of the cone. Then onto the second 1220mm X 2440mm (8’ x 4’) sheet for the upper cylinder and air ramp, I then marked out for the rectangle to round transition that goes onto the inlet. With the off cut material I cut out a 90 deg Lobster bend and a 45 deg branch which I will require when installing the pipe work from the cyclone.

[Al B]

Next I cut out two wooden rings so that I can mount the blower motor to. I needed to make some metal flange rings (Minor change to Bills Cyclone plans) so that I can join the cone and upper cylinder together. I had a 1220mm X 2440mm (8’ x 4’) sheet of 16 gauge mild steel doing nothing except rusting which would do the job. I dragged it out and onto stands, As this sheet is heavy I decided to cut it into a smaller more manageable size, After marking it out I grabbed my $5 budget beater jigsaw that I picked up a garage sale years ago and put in a metal cutting blade so that I could cut through the sheet. After I cut out the metal rings I drilled the holes for the bolts and removed all the rust before painting.

[Al B]

Next was the rolling and folding of the pieces, which helps if you know someone that has a sheetmetal shop. A few spot welds to hold the pieces together. Next job was installing the Cyclone inlet, as you can see I made some cuts approx 10mm apart on the top and bottom laps before bending on the line with some pliers, after bending the Front, Top and bottom laps I slid in the cyclone inlet where I dabbed some solder to hold it in place.

[Al B]

Next job was to solder all the way around the cyclone inlet, I also did a bit of a dry fit with the lower cone. I still have to install the Air ramp, that Should be some fun!!:eek:

[Al B]

While I am building the cyclone I wanted to make a test piece of a 45 deg branch to see how well the patterns that I drew up on paper fitted together before making any more. I still need to crimp the ends so that it can slid inside the pipework but I am happy with how it fit together.

[Al B]

I also made a test piece of a 90 deg Lobster bend this also fit together ok, I guess I just got lucky. I also plan to replace the 4” dust ports with 6” dustports on the Tablesaw, jointer, and thicknesser,

[Wood Butcher]

WOW. that is really impressive work Al!!

Can't wait to see how it goes when its all hooked up.

[zenwood]

Very impressed with the accuracy of your cutouts and how well they fit together. You've got some skills that I'd like to have.

Mine relied on eyework and lots of sealer.

[Bob38S]

Looks really great - keep us up to speed please.
Bob

[bitingmidge]

Al,

How did you make the curvy flangy-stop things on the lobster bend, or are my eyes just playing tricks?

cheers,

P

[BarryBurgess]

I also made a test piece of a 90 deg Lobster bend this also fit together ok, I guess I just got lucky. I also plan to replace the 4” dust ports with 6” dustports on the Tablesaw, jointer, and thicknesser,

I went to an Air conditioning /heating supplier and was able to get a 90 pressed bend for less than AU$30 so it was not worth making

[Al B]

Today I fitted the Air ramp, I Thought this was going to be tricky to get right but was surprised at how well it fit. Another minor change I made to the Air ramp to what was on the plan is I added 6mm flange's on both the inner and outer sides to make it easier to solder to the inner and outer cylinders.
I started by attaching the Air ramp to inlet pipe with a couple of pop rivets then once I was happy with the position of the air ramp I tacked it with solder to the main upper cylinder, I rechecked again to make sure that nothing had moved, once I was happy I completely soldered the outer side of the Air ramp to main upper cylinder. I then slide in the centre outlet cylinder into position and tacked the inner side of the Air ramp to this. I again rechecked to make sure that alignment was Ok before completely soldering the inner side of Air ramp after this was done I ran a bead of silicone on the opposite sides of the air ramp. I then screwed in the ply ring at the top of the main upper cylinder and bolted the cyclone cone to the main upper cylinder.
Next Job will be to make a frame to mount the Cyclone up.

[Al B]

Thanks Guys for your kind words,

How did you make the curvy flangy-stop things on the lobster bend, or are my eyes just playing tricks?

Midge, your eyes are OK. The metal has been swaged on one side, what this basicaly does is stretch the metal slightly so that one end slides into the other. I've taken a close up so you can see the join a little better.

[bitingmidge]

Phew! Thanks for the eye diagnosis!

So do you need a sheet metal shop to swage like that, or is there a simple tool that can be borrowed?

Cheers,

P