# dust collector / separater



## jeffl (May 3, 2009)

I decided to build a dust separator for my shop vac . It works pretty good but alot of dust made it through to the filter. I bought a 2.5" hose and some plumbing parts at Lowes. It's only a 5 gallon bucket. I routed a groove for the gasket and the lid is sucked tight during operation. It picks up small pieces of wood without clogging up which is what I was after. Any thoughts on the dust getting through? Just too shallow?


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## degoose (Mar 20, 2009)

You probably need a baffle to stop the vacuum from sucking in the dust in the bottom of the bin…


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## jimboy (Mar 1, 2011)

A larger collection bucket and a 2 or 3 micron filter, you wont stop all the dust getting through


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## mafe (Dec 10, 2009)

I think you need a cyclone to seperate the fine particles also.
The suction will bring the small once no matter what size the bucket is my feeling.
Best thoughts,
Mads


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## ajosephg (Aug 25, 2008)

A Thien separator works great. You can make your own for a few bucks. Mine stops everything except sanding dust.

Here is a link to the designer's site. There is a wealth of info here including details of how to make one.

http://www.cgallery.com/smf/index.php


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## ajosephg (Aug 25, 2008)

Jeff: Here's what a separator looks like. http://lumberjocks.com/projects/54269


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## pauljp (Jan 10, 2011)

You have the dust going into the bucket right (input), it goes in along the edge to start spinning around the inside and gravity will pull it down. Ensure the open end of the 90 degree elbow is pointing to the side of the bucket to create the tornado.
The problem that I see with yours is the vacuum attachment part (output) should be in the center of the lid where there is little debris, don't use a 90 degree elbow here.
Picture the tornado effect inside your bucket… the vac (output) should be in the eye of the tornado where there is little debris.
The baffle is only needed to keep the debris calm once it is below the baffle, which would probably be a good idea when using smaller buckets. Without it, once debris is sufficiently high enough in the bucket the vac will start sucking it up.
So, you have the input correct on the side with the 90 degree elbow, the output to the vac should be in the center of the lid using a straight short pipe, no bend.
My center pipe is only ~3" long.
Try it and let us know.


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## jeffl (May 3, 2009)

Thanks Guy I doubled the bucket and it works the same so I think I'll redo this with the vacuum in the center like you said. I just bought a magazine on my way to Lowes that had this setup in a
advertisement. Jeff


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## D_Allen (Oct 11, 2010)

Here is mine on a 5 gal bucket, or rather 2 of them end-to-end.
A word of note here: If you use this setup, you will have to make a support ring for the center of the bucket because they will flatten when you restrict the suction.


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