Building a Wood Cyclone
I was thinking about building a bigger wood cyclone but really the one I have works great so why build a bigger one, then it hit me I really never showed all the pictures of this build so here's a how2 of my build a year or so later. 4/13/15
Before this I built a Thien baffle style outfit.
It was a self contained two bucket system that worked just about as good as my wood cyclone.
Here is a picture of the two systems working together but saw no need for the two bucket job once I had the cyclone all figured out, I put the vac in the box to quiet it down and it works great.
I then built a safety cone cyclone but didn't spend too much time on it because the cones are just to soft to get the job done.
I really think I was just having fun playing with the different ideas.
Then I started getting interested in the wood cyclones and there are 3 or 4 really good looking ones out there but Ronald Walters videos are what sold me on making one.
Ronald's videos give you all the main details so not going to go back over them[really don't remember] but will show my pictures and ideas on building one and what i did differently.
Ronald Walters great how to's start here.
There are a couple other videos you could check out, there's one in Spanish that I can't under stand what's being said but his step by step is worth watching.
My project post is here.
http://lumberjocks.com/projects/145074
I must say this is a very interesting and fun build way over in left field from my usual projects up to that point.
First some picture of it all up and running to get the idea.
Now on to the build pictures.
First I cut the pine strips down to 1/2".
[ find some old furniture or old shelving for this build these slats are thin and need to be straight, dry wood]
I really wanted the cyclone longer but cut the strips on the miter saw to fit my Crosscut Sled.
Now we need to set the table saw to the right angle of [4 degrees] and slice the wood down to 1/2" at one end and 1/4"
at the other.
The Crosscut sled works really well for this.
PS If I did this again I might try using the router with a roundover bit, when you start searching about diy cyclones I'm sure you'll see this being used[especially if building a bigger one].
Then off to the band saw to make the top and bottom.
I had some lengths of all thread around so made my clamping jig adjustable to get just the right fit.
Many of the how2's say use painter's blue tape but i would have got in big trouble if I would have went that way.
I just happened to have some of that aluminium duct tape that is super sticky and strong.
Get some you'll be glad you did.
Whatever you do don't use a fast drying glue you need time to glue up all those slats on both sides, the more glue the better.
I don't have any pictures of the gluing up but you'll see it done on the videos.
I got it in my head I needed one extra slat so when it all came together I have some space but that's not a problem that some extra glue won't fix.
Notice that I bolted the all thread to a board and then screwed it to the table so it wouldn't be moving around while clamping it all up.
I used some big rubber bands to hold it together whiled it dried.
The duct tape really held it together just added some more to be safe.
Here's what you get when your done.
Now sanding the outside and some on the inside.
I really didn't do much sanding on the inside, once you wipe up all the glue while it's drying there's not much need to sand at least in my case.
Now we need to make and put in a inlet pipe.
One thing I wish I would have done was point my inlet down just a little to force the air down as it spins.
When mine sucks up something heavy I can hear it keep spinning and not going down right away.
It doesn't seem to hurt the way the cyclone works but just know that there's some swerling going on.
After I epoxied it up I sanded it all smooth.
Then gluing on the base the top was glued on when the sides were clamped.
I hope this is helpful to some wanting to make their own cyclone, the funny thing is they're so cheap to buy it really doesn't pay to make one but it's the build that counts here not the $$$$$.
I was thinking about building a bigger wood cyclone but really the one I have works great so why build a bigger one, then it hit me I really never showed all the pictures of this build so here's a how2 of my build a year or so later. 4/13/15
Before this I built a Thien baffle style outfit.
It was a self contained two bucket system that worked just about as good as my wood cyclone.
Here is a picture of the two systems working together but saw no need for the two bucket job once I had the cyclone all figured out, I put the vac in the box to quiet it down and it works great.
I then built a safety cone cyclone but didn't spend too much time on it because the cones are just to soft to get the job done.
I really think I was just having fun playing with the different ideas.
Then I started getting interested in the wood cyclones and there are 3 or 4 really good looking ones out there but Ronald Walters videos are what sold me on making one.
Ronald's videos give you all the main details so not going to go back over them[really don't remember] but will show my pictures and ideas on building one and what i did differently.
Ronald Walters great how to's start here.
There are a couple other videos you could check out, there's one in Spanish that I can't under stand what's being said but his step by step is worth watching.
My project post is here.
http://lumberjocks.com/projects/145074
I must say this is a very interesting and fun build way over in left field from my usual projects up to that point.
First some picture of it all up and running to get the idea.
Now on to the build pictures.
First I cut the pine strips down to 1/2".
[ find some old furniture or old shelving for this build these slats are thin and need to be straight, dry wood]
I really wanted the cyclone longer but cut the strips on the miter saw to fit my Crosscut Sled.
Now we need to set the table saw to the right angle of [4 degrees] and slice the wood down to 1/2" at one end and 1/4"
at the other.
The Crosscut sled works really well for this.
PS If I did this again I might try using the router with a roundover bit, when you start searching about diy cyclones I'm sure you'll see this being used[especially if building a bigger one].
Then off to the band saw to make the top and bottom.
I had some lengths of all thread around so made my clamping jig adjustable to get just the right fit.
Many of the how2's say use painter's blue tape but i would have got in big trouble if I would have went that way.
I just happened to have some of that aluminium duct tape that is super sticky and strong.
Get some you'll be glad you did.
Whatever you do don't use a fast drying glue you need time to glue up all those slats on both sides, the more glue the better.
I don't have any pictures of the gluing up but you'll see it done on the videos.
I got it in my head I needed one extra slat so when it all came together I have some space but that's not a problem that some extra glue won't fix.
Notice that I bolted the all thread to a board and then screwed it to the table so it wouldn't be moving around while clamping it all up.
I used some big rubber bands to hold it together whiled it dried.
The duct tape really held it together just added some more to be safe.
Here's what you get when your done.
Now sanding the outside and some on the inside.
I really didn't do much sanding on the inside, once you wipe up all the glue while it's drying there's not much need to sand at least in my case.
Now we need to make and put in a inlet pipe.
One thing I wish I would have done was point my inlet down just a little to force the air down as it spins.
When mine sucks up something heavy I can hear it keep spinning and not going down right away.
It doesn't seem to hurt the way the cyclone works but just know that there's some swerling going on.
After I epoxied it up I sanded it all smooth.
Then gluing on the base the top was glued on when the sides were clamped.
I hope this is helpful to some wanting to make their own cyclone, the funny thing is they're so cheap to buy it really doesn't pay to make one but it's the build that counts here not the $$$$$.