# Separator.......



## FishFactory (Nov 8, 2013)

I am going to upgrade my planer from a 12" delta to a 15" grizzly. My worry with going to a heavy duty planer is clogging my 4" ductwork to my DC. I was thinking about adding a can with a thien separator before it goes into the ductwork. Is that a viable option if I wind up with issues? Not sure if I am crazy about adding something else to the floor space.


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## Brentley (Dec 2, 2012)

FishFactory said:


> I am going to upgrade my planer from a 12" delta to a 15" grizzly. My worry with going to a heavy duty planer is clogging my 4" ductwork to my DC. I was thinking about adding a can with a thien separator before it goes into the ductwork. Is that a viable option if I wind up with issues? Not sure if I am crazy about adding something else to the floor space.


depending on your DC it might not add any floor space. Look here for more ideas about separators than you can fathom. http://www.jpthien.com/cy.htm


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## FishFactory (Nov 8, 2013)

I meant add the thein right at the tool. My DC is outside my shop in an addition to keep dust and noise down, also giving me more space. My thought was a few feet of hose from the planer into the separator then into the ductwork from there.


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## jdonhowe (Jul 25, 2014)

Any separator will cause some degree of drop in DC performance, but worth it, IMO. That said, I can't see why it wold make any difference where in the system you insert the separator- near the DC, or near the tool. 

Don't make the portsof the separator any smaller than 4", though. Go for it :thumbsup:


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## ORBlackFZ1 (Dec 25, 2013)

*Get a Helical cutterhead if you can afford it!*



FishFactory said:


> I am going to upgrade my planer from a 12" delta to a 15" grizzly. My worry with going to a heavy duty planer is clogging my 4" ductwork to my DC. I was thinking about adding a can with a thien separator before it goes into the ductwork. Is that a viable option if I wind up with issues? Not sure if I am crazy about adding something else to the floor space.


I am a big fan of Thien pre-separators. They work great! I am on my third iteration with the "Top Hat" version. It is run with a Jet DC-1100 using 6" input/output ports. The biggest problem that I had with the pre-separator was "saw dust" curls getting hung up inside the pre-separator. 

The knives on my 12" Jet JJ-12 jointer and my 20" Grizzly G5850z surface planer produced "saw dust" curls when running knives. When jointing and planing wide boards they would clog the pre-separator. I lived with the problem for about three (3) months. Then one day I took one of my figured maple boards over to a friend's house for planing. I had already run the figured maple board through my jointer and planer. He ran the board through his planer with a Helix cutterhead. I was really impressed with the results! 

I was convinced that I needed to change my jointer and planer. So, I purchased and installed a new Byrd Shelix 12" for my jointer. Then, I sold my G5850z and found a used Grizzly G0454z (with spiral head). 

Here are the benefits that I found using the Helix cutterheads:

1. The finish is far superior to what I could do with new & sharp straight knives on my Jointer or Planer! I only have to use 220 grit sandpaper prior to finishing.

2. The Helix cutterhead operation was about 5db quieter than my knives.

3. The saw dust consists of little 1/2" (approximately) squares. So the pre-separator doesn't clog!

I am very happy with my switch to the Helix cutterheads. They are definitely more expensive than knives, but if you can fit them into your budget......

Eric


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