# 6" Thein Dust Seperator works great



## FatherHooligan

Very interesting. Thanks for the links.


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## EEngineer

I like this and its not bad, but…

I think the problem is you don't have enough volume in the area where the dust falls out of the airstream into the collection bucket. As you said, the dust should not keep circulating, it should be able to fall into the collection bucket.

One way to help would be to extend the outtake down below the plate. Then the dust would be forced below the plate and fall out of the airstream. Just a thought. If you did just this, then more dust would build up above the second plate…

I have to think on this more…


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## rawdawgs50

EEnginer-

Thanks for the comments, if you mean outtake as in the top outlet, extending it down past the bottom plate of the seperator would actually kill the tornadic action inside the seperator. It would then just pull all the dust into the dust collector because the force of suction is way to strong. I know this because my first attempt of building one of these was something like that, before I learned of the Thein design….and it was a huge failure.

This actually creates a small Tornado inside and causes centrifugal force to push the debris against the wall's edge. The debris does all seem to drop after 'X' amount of rations, I am just unsure if I could have made it more efficient meaning less revolutions. That is what I am experimenting on now.

Either way, it is working, very well even with small dust. Heavier dust (planer/jointer) will absolutely be no problem.

At this point I do a good amount of wood working and emptying bags was not something I enjoyed to much. I am hoping that I will have to empty the bag at least 1/20 of the times less frequently. If thats the case, then this is on par with a dedicated Cyclone efficiency for 1/5 of the price.


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## Ken90712

Great job and video, Thx for the post!


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## dbhost

I've seen your writeup on Phil's site. VERY interesting build. I really like my 5" side inlet, but I had never considered building a hat style separator. That is a great way to maximize the available volume in the dust bin.

EEngineer. The plate as you call it, or baffle as it is called by the guy that came up with the design, is supposed to be below the center tube. Phil has done a good bit of experimenting, including as you suggest. Google Thien Cyclone, and take a look at the forum there. There is a LOT of good information there.


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## rawdawgs50

db-

There are more updates coming. I just have not had time to get them written. This thing really works well and has not contributed to much loss in static pressure, at least none that I have noticed. I already have a design for one from Lexan that will be much faster to build but at a slightly higher price. If there is enough interest in this build I will write a detail on that as well.


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## FirehouseWoodworking

Thank you for posting this as well as the step-by-step on the link. I really, REALLY like this and will probably try one of my own. As you've already noted, I have plenty of scrap laying around and this would be very inexpensive.

But I do have one question. With the size of the opening through which the dust falls down into the can "so small" in width, are you having any issues with larger pieces of wood being sucked into the vac itself? I raise the question because of another post this past weekend in the forums from a LJ who unfortunately sustained impeller damage when his vac ingested a chunk of cutoff.

The narrowness of the slot you've cut would suggest that chunks are going to be forced further upstream into the vac itself, rather than cycloning out and down into the can.

Just wondering. Thanks again. Cheers!


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## PurpLev

nice design on your build. I really should get to making one… keeping saying, never doing. thanks for yet another reminder!


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## EEngineer

Yah, I visited the Thien site and went through some of the material there. Fascinating…

I need another hobby like a hole in my head, but I think that this technique will be interesting to play with. I have been designing a workstation for my tablesaw for some time now and I want to incorporate a dust separator into it. It will have to be something like this rather than the taller cone-type designs I see here on LJ's.

Nice job! Please be sure to post any improvements you make as time goes on.


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## rawdawgs50

Firehouse-

The largest chunks of wood I suck up come from my Lathe, and none are really big just long shavings. All my heavy equipment I run decimates wood. I use zero clearance inserts where appropriate.

The only place I can think of where a chunk of wood would be is on the floor, and in my shop a broom and dustpan is what I use if its on the ground.

But to answer your question, the separator actually works better with larger particles of wood.

Charlie-

I will opt to not put in the posts and I will let you all know if it sags over time, but I don't think it will. There is more than enough meat on the neck of the MDF.


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## blackcherry

Great work on one of my favorite shop accessory , your video and how to build one should cause a surge on the site. I've had mine now for a year and absolutely love it. Enjoy your clean shop…BC


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## live4ever

Thanks for the writeup and information! Making one of these is definitely on my to-do list, if I can ever get around to making my DC setup permanent…


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## tomd

I built one of the seperators just as shown on the Thein web site, and it has worked great. At first I thought it would catch the large pieces that came through, however I have found that I have actually been getting alot of the fine dust also, I am very pleased with the way it has worked.


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## Jimi_C

If I were building it this way (and I just might, a Thein has been on my todo list for a while), I would have bent the plywood around the other way, so that the kerf cuts were all on the outside edge. I think that would ensure you have a better surface on the inside for less turbulence overall and would make for an easier build.

Very nice write up though, I'll definitely look to it for some inspiration when I finally get around to making one.


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## rawdawgs50

Jimi-

If you bend the plywood the other way, you will have nothing to bend. It will snap like a twig. Test it on a scrap piece to see what I am talking about. Plywood veener does not work well when compressed, but it is resilient when stretched like the way I did it.

Also of note, the joints where the laminate edges meet are negligible in causing any reduced amount of tornadic action. It could have been much worse, even overlapping (as long as the overlap was in the direction of flow) and it would still work fine.


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## Jimi_C

Ahh ok, good to know. Does the same go for MDF?


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## rawdawgs50

Jimi-

If you are referring to MDF bending, it will not at all. It is comprised of resin/wood/paper pressed with many tons to form a dense sheet. Trying to bend it results in it tearing.


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## HorizontalMike

I built one of these when I first bought the HF DC unit and have run it connected to it ever since. These Thein separators work very well once you get the distances and angles correct. My unit is a rather rustic looking trashcan topper (in use in the background of this image) for a 30gal trash can but works well. I just pull the can to empty and replace the lid. I beveled some ply to help make a good seal and do not have to worry about air leakage.

IMO, all of these units work well regardless of how "fancy" one wants to get in their build. Everyone should have at least one of these in their shop. My "other" DC unit uses the Grizzly/Shopfox plastic cyclonic topper on the same type can and is hooked up to a 5gal. shop-vac. Both types work comparable but the Thein seems to allow you to "forget" to empty the can for a bit longer as the separator continues working clear up to "full" with chips completely filling the lower chamber of the can before any get into the larger DC bag.


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## bugsiegel

Charlie,
Do you think that a kind of track attached to the outside wall spiraling downwards would help force the dust down faster?


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## sandhill

Nice project. As for myself I do not see the point of putting in a can. I just put a 30 gal leaf bag over my dust collector bag and flip it over, pull the string and out to the trash.
I know it must drive the trash guys nuts to put out 2 bags in one week at times, imagine if I did not bag it? Dust would be everywhere..


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## rawdawgs50

Dustdragon-

There is already a free design widely available here at Thien's website:
http://www.cgallery.com/jpthien/cy.htm

This design works perfectly and does not cost $15. I think you know you are shilling your product here on this forum …hence your first paragraph.

While I wish you all the best, this thread is not the place to advertise your business. This thread was created to give a *FREE* step by step write up with pictures and video tutorial on how to build a larger scale dust cyclone modeled off of the smaller version (link supplied above).

So please, take it elsewhere. I would prefer not to have my thread tainted with a for profit sales pitch.


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## mbs

I made one of these after reading about this review. I followed the directions that were documented well in the link. It works very well. It was made mostly out of scrap material too. Thanks for sharing.


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## LexWoodWorks

Rawdawgs…I've been meaning to say thanks as well for the really good video you put up on your Top-Hat separator. During my build I referred to it many times for some "how-to". Cheers to you for spreading the good work of Mr. J.P. Thien.


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