# Dust separator with small footprint.



## adot45 (Jul 8, 2013)

This is the Woodcraft trash can separator powered by the Harbor Freight (gasp) 13 gallon unit. It is dedicated to my table saw, nothing else.










It is about as basic as I could make it. Remove the 2x's from underneath and slide the can out and dump it. Set it back in place and replace the 2x's to raise it up. I'll add the rest of the braces before I move it to my other building where my TS lives. The idea was to not take up a lot of floor space.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*That's pretty clever!*

My only concern is the filtration ability of the H-F cloth bag, which is not known for their efficiency. You can get a better bag which will capture down to 1 micron or 2.5 .
here:
http://www.americanfabricfilter.com/pdf/02-Custom-Filters/How-&-Why-Optimized-Filter-Bags-Work.pdf

or here:
http://woodturning.pennstateind.com/1-micron-bags

Let us know how it works. 

Is that a 1 HP harbor Freight blower unit or the 2 HP?


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## adot45 (Jul 8, 2013)

Thanks for the links....I've heard the same tales about the HF bags. There is also an argument for letting the bag fill with fines a few times by running it without a separator. That's supposed to increase it's filtration efficiency ......I don't really know. Actually, what I am considering is once I get this unit moved over to where it will be permanent, I plan to vent right through the wall to the outside. Or mount the bag outside if that was an issue but venting outside is the objective. This is the 1 hp unit and it moves quite a bit of air. If for some reason I don't vent outside I will replace the bag and thanks again for the links. Dave


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## tvman44 (Dec 8, 2011)

Could always remove the bag and pipe the exhaust outside, that is what I do.


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## Chataigner (May 30, 2013)

tvman44 said:


> Could always remove the bag and pipe the exhaust outside, that is what I do.


That depends on where you live - in cold weather country you dont want to be moving a lot of heated air out of the shop in mid winter !

I do agree about the bag though, poor filtration releases the finest and therefore most dangerous particles into the shop, possibly worse than letting them fall to the floor under the TS. A better filter would be good.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*a little physics here*

Air in = air out in an ideal world. The real world has losses due to friction, and restriction. The reason a pleated filter is more efficient is it has more surface area to allow the air out. Other wise with restrictions, the air starts to compress, think turbo charger, and bags restrict the air more than a pleated cannister type filter. Now take a "clogged" bag, sure, it won't allow the finer dust through, in fact it won't allow very much air through either. No restriction, no bag, no filter, is most efficient.
Now there may be another law of physics involved, I donno I'm a art school graduate, but blowers need a bit of restriction to operate efficiency as far as I know. Check this site out under CFM ... motors may burn up.... 
http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/dc_basics.cfm#ResistanceCalculation


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## Toller (Dec 30, 2007)

woodnthings said:


> My only concern is the filtration ability of the H-F cloth bag, which is not known for their efficiency.


I agree, but saw dust is reasonably coarse; it would be horrible to put on a drum sander, but not too bad on a saw.


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