# Cyclone DC plans



## Bob Willing (Jul 4, 2008)

has anyone built this cyclone? http://eberhardt.bz/GME_Wood_Land/GME_Woodworking_Stuff/3_Projects/7_Cyclone_Dust_Collector.pdf


Here is the math for calculating your own funnel as compared to a lamp shade http://mathcentral.uregina.ca/QQ/database/QQ.09.11/h/fleur1.html


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## Fred Hargis (Apr 28, 2012)

I have, and it's amazing simple and cheap to build. Mine had some changes to the first design, and then Wood published a few upgrades that, if you build it, be sure to include. When that was published, I already had a DC, but mine was a 2.5 HP PSI unit. Since I had a much larger blower than they spec'd, I upsized the inner vertical tube to 7" (from 6", I think) and the outlet to 6". Later they published a way to fit a neutral vane on it (you really want that) so I retro fitted one to mine. I also left my DC sitting on the floor pretty mush in stock configuration, and ran a 6" duct from the DC's inlet up to the cylone's outlet. I ran this setup for 5 years or so before I "upgraded" to a commercial version (a long sad story in itself). Because I was moving so much air, I wound up upsizing my ductwork to 6" from the 4" I had. If you read Bill Pentz's ste, he'll tell you that the Wood magazine cyclone had some odd dimensions, and they weren't optimal for best separation. I beleive that, but can tell you it worked every bit as well as the Oneida I now have. Seems like I remember a small error in the plans as published, something about the MDF rings for the lower part of the body having a small error. Regardless, it' a good unit...cheap and easy. BTW, I think Wood includes those upgraded items in their plans, but it might pay to ask them before spending the money.


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## thegrgyle (Jan 11, 2011)

I have not built this, but it really looks like a very easy one to build. If I ever expand my shop, I will probably end up making this. I really like the "Cleaning" pressure gauge that is incorporated to tell you when the filter needs to be cleaned. I might incorporate that in my current system.



Thanks for posting this, and thank you Fred for giving up some insight to it, and the improvements. :thumbsup:


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## Fred Hargis (Apr 28, 2012)

I don't remember the cleaning gauge part, must have been one of the add-ons. Was that the plastic tube manometer? Anyway, there is an easier and cooler way to do that, and it's also fairly inexpensive. I put a magnehelic on my DC to take the guess out of when to clean....it also told me when needed to replace the filter. The guage was about $25-$30 or so off e-bay, and installation was little more than taping a pipe fitting into the DC, and building a stand for the gauge. On mine, I found a 0-4" gauge had too much needle bounce, so I went to a 0-10" guage. I clean the filter when the reading exceeds 2", and it usually fell back to 1.5" or so. When it got to where I couldn't get the reading below 2" after cleaning, I replaced the filter. As a reference, Oneida suggests cleaning when the reading exceeds 3", and never let it go over 5". Here's a pic, the tube that connects the gauge can barely be seen directly under the gauge on the side of the plenum, loopingunder it up to the back of the gauge.


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## Bob Willing (Jul 4, 2008)

Thanks Fred

I just made a top hat design and notices I decreased the air flow in the process, and was wondering if I could increase the air flow with this design. I have the Delta 50-760 (1200 CFM 1.5 hp) on the fan side the intake is 5" and my duck work is 4", since this is at the top end of their intended design of the plans. They suggest a reducer in this design submitted by someone else 4" to 6". I was thinking 5" to 6", this is on page 22. On the inlet of the drum I was thinking 5" reduced to 4" to match my current system. I was also thinking about increasing the cone and cylinder 1" larger diameter. Did you notice an increase in vacuum when you made yours? What were your final dimensions to yours, before your went with the commercial unit. I am wondering if I should go with their mid design size.


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## Fred Hargis (Apr 28, 2012)

Well, let's see...going from memory, I built this back in the late 90's, right after that article was published. Some things I remember: mine was exactly the original size, though I used 24 gauge sheet metal (all I could find), and when I upsized the inner vertical tube, I did use a reducer to help keep the flow a little more smooth (remember my outlet was 6", and I as I think about I may have made that inner vertical 8", instead of the 7" I mentioned earlier. As for increase in air flow, remember that any of these devices (separator, cyclone, and things like that) will do *nothing* to increase air flow, all they do is introduce drag that slows flow down. That's what most commercial cyclones will have upsized motors and larger impellers, to overcome the increased drag. The other thing to remember is that the dimensions of the body, cone length, and such things are very important to the separation function. Too far out of whack and they seperate less, letting the excess go to the filter. That's why the Pentz design is exactly the way it is. So here's what I know: the original design is actually at least as good as my Oneida (which isn't that good, but still achieves about 98.5%). I have no idea what will happen with the dimension changes. But the original worked well with my 2.5 PSI DC250 unit, so if I was doing it again, I'd probably stay with it the way I built it at first. As for the 4" inlet, 4" ducting is on;y going to move about 400 CFM of air no matter what's pulling on it...that's why I upgraded mine to 6". So I wouldn't decrease the inlet size. In fact my current one has a 7" inlet, and I ran about 6" of 7" ductwork before I reduced to the 6" size of the rest of the system (per Oneida recommendations).

"They suggest a reducer in this design submitted by someone else 4" to 6". I was thinking 5" to 6", this is on page 22."

I mentioned earlier I think I used 8", reduced to 6" (if this is part "J" to which you refer), and if you mean you wis to make the outlet 5" to fit your DC, that's great but the real purpose of the reducer was to eliminate the abrupt transition between the 2 sizes, and make for a smooth flow...that's a good idea all the time.

Bob, I hope I hit everything, and understood what you were asking...if not I'll keep trying. Funny thing, I seem to remember the original plan had a 1 HP blower, these show a 1.5 HP one. I'll have to dig out the original issue and look at it. That was first published in 1997, and I think I built it in early 1999...so it's been a while.


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

It looks interesting but I don't understand where the wood flour goes. 

In my shop, with a separator, I empty the chips every week or two and the flour every 6 months or so.


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## TMA Woodworks (Apr 23, 2010)

Bob Willing said:


> has anyone built this cyclone? http://eberhardt.bz/GME_Wood_Land/GME_Woodworking_Stuff/3_Projects/7_Cyclone_Dust_Collector.pdf
> 
> 
> Here is the math for calculating your own funnel as compared to a lamp shade http://mathcentral.uregina.ca/QQ/database/QQ.09.11/h/fleur1.html


 Hey Bob Go here http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/.

This is where I got my plans for my cyclone. There is s picture of it in my photos. He has step by step instructions, You-tube videos, a spread sheet that you plug in the values you want and it give you a complete cut sheet for all the parts. He suggests a larger blower but I used one from HF and it works great.I duct my to the outside and there is little if any dust coming out. It turned out to be about a 2 weekend project with another to install it. The plan calls for 6" ducting but I used 4" pvc.

Bob


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## Bob Willing (Jul 4, 2008)

TMA Woodworks said:


> Hey Bob Go here http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/.
> 
> This is where I got my plans for my cyclone. There is s picture of it in my photos. He has step by step instructions, You-tube videos, a spread sheet that you plug in the values you want and it give you a complete cut sheet for all the parts. He suggests a larger blower but I used one from HF and it works great.I duct my to the outside and there is little if any dust coming out. It turned out to be about a 2 weekend project with another to install it. The plan calls for 6" ducting but I used 4" pvc.
> 
> Bob


Can not find your cyclone in your photos


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## TMA Woodworks (Apr 23, 2010)

Go to "show all of the albums" and click on the folder labeled "some of my projects". It in that folder

Bob


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## Fred Hargis (Apr 28, 2012)

The Pentz design is clearly better than the original Wood plan, though it may be a little more difficult to build. His (Pentz) sells kits of precut metal for that design to make life a little easier, as well as completed assemblies.


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## Bob Willing (Jul 4, 2008)

Fred Hargis said:


> The Pentz design is clearly better than the original Wood plan, though it may be a little more difficult to build. His (Pentz) sells kits of precut metal for that design to make life a little easier, as well as completed assemblies.


After reading some of the article/novel I get the impression you better have a 3hp blower and at least 6" ductwork, plus a good 8 foot head room. I have 8 foot 6 room but where I have my DC and overhead heater I would have not space. Also I am not ready to put in 220V for a 3 hp blower plus change my ductwork system to 6". I looked at the dimensions for his overall system and decided it was not for me. I like the size of the Wood land better. TMA thanks for the info anyway.


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## Fred Hargis (Apr 28, 2012)

Your impression is correct. Because Pentz designed his for maximum separation, it also introduces more drag on the overall system, hence needing a bigger motor/impeller. The wood magazine design is still useful, and should you decide to build it will serve you well.


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## thegrgyle (Jan 11, 2011)

Fred, 

I think that tube that I was talking about did measure the water closet amount. Thanks for the input on the magnehelic gauge. I didn't know that those were that accessible, or as reasonably priced as you said. I did find a couple on ebay that were 0-6", and then ones that were 0-15". I'm leaning towards the 6" ones, just because I think the 15" ones would not be as easily readable. What do you think?


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## Ledhead (Aug 3, 2009)

You might want to check this one out. I have no affiliation to Oneida other than I love the SDD that I have. 

http://www.oneida-air.com/inventoryD.asp?item_no=AXD002030

I've been running mine for about 2 years I'd say and this thing separates very well. I'm using a harbor frieght dust collector blower on top of the cyclone, then run the exhaust into the HF collection bag and I bet that I don't have even a tablespoon of dust in that bag. 

I'm all for building things myself, but for only $200 plus shipping, I don't think you can go wrong. 

I posted a thread some time ago showing how I set it all up if you're interested.


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## Bob Willing (Jul 4, 2008)

Thanks

_I have looked at both of the Onida as well as the two available on ebay which run $149.00 and $200.00 I am still debating to build or not to build._


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## Fred Hargis (Apr 28, 2012)

thegrgyle said:


> Fred,
> 
> I think that tube that I was talking about did measure the water closet amount. Thanks for the input on the magnehelic gauge. I didn't know that those were that accessible, or as reasonably priced as you said. I did find a couple on ebay that were 0-6", and then ones that were 0-15". I'm leaning towards the 6" ones, just because I think the 15" ones would not be as easily readable. What do you think?


Well, I agree the 15" one would be a little tough to see how much increase in pressure you'll see over time...remember the growth is less than 1-2", or whatever you choose. The 6" won't have as much needle bounce as my 4" did, and if you can train your eyes to "see" the mid point of the bounce should work....besides they may be something else in my system (vibration or something) that made the needle bounce as much as it did. Given the choices, I think I'd go with a 6" and live with whatever the behavior is.


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## TMA Woodworks (Apr 23, 2010)

Bob Willing said:


> After reading some of the article/novel I get the impression you better have a 3hp blower and at least 6" ductwork, plus a good 8 foot head room. I have 8 foot 6 room but where I have my DC and overhead heater I would have not space. Also I am not ready to put in 220V for a 3 hp blower plus change my ductwork system to 6". I looked at the dimensions for his overall system and decided it was not for me. I like the size of the Wood land better. TMA thanks for the info anyway.


I agree no one will ever be able to say that Pentz did not explain himself. I too struggled with the thought of too small of motor but my system uses a 2hp motor, 115 volt harbor freight dust collector mounted behind the cyclone, 4" duct and longest runs of about 25". I have never looked into the engineering of the thing to see exactly what it moved. But all I can tell you that on my system it does move the dust chips from point a to point b. I hook it up on all of my sanders and it almost completely removes the dust from the air. Is it as efficient or a powerful as a commercial unit, no but I'm a one man shop and this was a clear plan that does a great job at taking out the dust. So even though they suggest to use a larger motor/impeller it can be done with a smaller unit.


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## DStrachan (May 31, 2013)

I built one of these for use in a garage workshop from the original wood magazine issue plans.
It worked fairly well but my piping sizing and routing of said pipe was not optimal. Too many elbows and wrong size pipe etc; if you could do it wrong I did.(LOL) i hope to resurrect it and move it to my garage and tie it into my double bag setup.


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## billrlogan (Feb 15, 2014)

I think I need one of those


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