# My Dust Separator



## JudgeMike (Feb 27, 2012)

Last fall I bought a Steel City Dust Collector. It was used in a trade show by a company rep and sold thru the company at a discounted price. It had a few things wrong with it which the company covered under their warranty extremely fast and to my great satisfaction. One of the problems was that it had a hole in the blower case made from picking up a bolt or some other piece of shop scrap. (Mike "from Detroit") explained what probably happened to cause the damage. He also suggested that I get a dust separator in line before the dust collector so as this would not happen again. As I was/am new to routers I decided to make one myself. After searching the internet for advise I found that the "Thien Separator" was used by many people with success. I personally used the step by step tutorial found on woodworkingtalk.com by "beelzerob" titled "Building a Thien Cyclone garbage can separator". It can be found at this web address.

Building a Thien Cyclone garbage can separator - Woodworking Talk - Woodworkers Forum 

I am not going to explain how I did it for two reasons. #1. It was last fall and I forgot all the details. Meant to post it and then got busy with life’s work and forgot." #2 "beelzerob" gave excellent directions with pictures in his tutorial.

I will post several pics of what I did. I did not follow directions exactly and went off course some but it is basically just what "beelerrob" posted. It works very, very well. I not only suck wood chips with it, but also vac the shop floor and don't really care what goes thru it. The separator does its job. So far nothing but super fine dust makes it to the dust collector plastic bag which is much harder to change than emptying the separator can. I am very happy “Mike from Detroit “ suggested I use a separator. I am very happy that I joined this forum also. I have learned a wealth of information here. Thanks to everyone!

Hope this is of some use to someone.

Mike

PS--If anyone would like the photos all placed in a PDF file just ask.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Thanks, Mike; you've motivated me!


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## greenacres2 (Dec 23, 2011)

Here's a link to the Thein separator i built last fall that i posted on the BT3Central site. Recent Project - BT3Central Forums I've since mounted the HF unit on the wall and and roll my Thein Separator to near the tool (Post #24 in this thread Your 2013 shop outlook - Page 3 - BT3Central Forums)

earl


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Mike.

You seem to be using a smaller portable dust collection unit.










I am looking at getting one of these now that I have a jointer as well as a table saw and planner.

How do you find it , power wise? Can it handle the planer?


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## JudgeMike (Feb 27, 2012)

jw2170 said:


> Mike.
> 
> You seem to be using a smaller portable dust collection unit.
> 
> ...


James,

A planer is on my "yet to get list", so I have no knowledge of that YET. It works well for my table saw, band saw, router table and radial arm saw. But know that I am a one man shop so usually only one tool at a time running. I recently bought a 12' length of hose for general cleanup. Mr. Nozzle M-100-DB Wet/Dry Vac Tool Kit It is connected to the ceiling run of 4" sewer pipe type suction line. It does not have the amount of suction that I had hoped for, but it does the job.

Mike


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## JudgeMike (Feb 27, 2012)

DaninVan said:


> Thanks, Mike; you've motivated me!


Happy to hear you are now a motivated man.  Thanks for the reply!


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## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

Interesting Idea Mike so thanks for posting it and for posting the link, I have to do something like this so you have saved me a lot of time, you have also done a very clear presentation of your construction, clear and complete, the PDF would be nice, best regards NGM


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## JudgeMike (Feb 27, 2012)

greenacres2 said:


> Here's a link to the Thein separator i built last fall that i posted on the BT3Central site. Recent Project - BT3Central Forums I've since mounted the HF unit on the wall and and roll my Thein Separator to near the tool (Post #24 in this thread Your 2013 shop outlook - Page 3 - BT3Central Forums)
> 
> earl


Earl,

Nice job on your separator. I had to laugh a bit about your extra routed circle. I didn't mention it, but mine has an extra circle from mis-measuring also. I did end up with a nice friction fit though.

Mike


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## JudgeMike (Feb 27, 2012)

neville9999 said:


> Interesting Idea Mike so thanks for posting it and for posting the link, I have to do something like this so you have saved me a lot of time, you have also done a very clear presentation of your construction, clear and complete, the PDF would be nice, best regards NGM


Neville,

Attached is a PDF file of the photos.

Mike


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## thrinfo (Jan 21, 2012)

I got the Delta AP 400, a small unit that I move where I need it, and it's only a 600 cfm, and for now, it's doing the job, my bench saw or my planer or my jointer.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

thrinfo said:


> I got the Delta AP 400, a small unit that I move where I need it, and it's only a 600 cfm, and for now, it's doing the job, my bench saw or my planer or my jointer.



I am looking at two units. 680cfm and 1200cfm. Both around the same cost which is less than a new wet & dry vac.

I might leave it until we come back from US and buy with left over holiday money...


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## JudgeMike (Feb 27, 2012)

jw2170 said:


> I am looking at two units. 680cfm and 1200cfm. Both around the same cost which is less than a new wet & dry vac.
> 
> I might leave it until we come back from US and buy with left over holiday money...


James,

Just for comparison purposes, I have the Steel City Model 65200 1.5HP Dust Collector. It is 1200 cfm. Using the full 4" line it would pretty much suck start a B-52 bomber. It does however lose some suction when reducing the size down. Think I read another post here that said that is normal or common. Overall, I am happy with it. Sells on Amazon now for $505.51. I paid about half that as it was a demo model. 

Mike


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## greenacres2 (Dec 23, 2011)

JudgeMike said:


> Earl,
> 
> Nice job on your separator. I had to laugh a bit about your extra routed circle. I didn't mention it, but mine has an extra circle from mis-measuring also. I did end up with a nice friction fit though.
> 
> Mike


Oh, i measured correctly for the diameter...but i divided wrong to get the radius!! Every time i lift the lid i laugh!!

On the friction fit--the DC sucks the lid down nice and tight. However, a few times i've either fogotten to switch on the DC or hit the off button on my remote. The chip ejector on my Dewalt 735 planer is so effective that it sends the chips through 15-20' of hose, lifts the separator lid and the chips still blow another 15' to the back wall. Thankfully they did not go through the wall!! 

earl


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

JudgeMike said:


> James,
> 
> Just for comparison purposes, I have the Steel City Model 65200 1.5HP Dust Collector. It is 1200 cfm. Using the full 4" line it would pretty much suck start a B-52 bomber. It does however lose some suction when reducing the size down. Think I read another post here that said that is normal or common. Overall, I am happy with it. Sells on Amazon now for $505.51. I paid about half that as it was a demo model.
> 
> Mike


This is the model I am looking at:

W394 | DC-3 Dust Collector | machineryhouse.com.au

For once, it seems I have a good deal (2hp 1200cfm and only $A297.00)

Attached is a photo of my current system. A very old Hitachi home vac hooked up to a Triton dust bucket. It its OK for router table use but will not handle the planer or the new table saw and jointer.


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## JudgeMike (Feb 27, 2012)

jw2170 said:


> This is the model I am looking at:
> 
> W394 | DC-3 Dust Collector | machineryhouse.com.au
> 
> ...


Looks good James. 2 HP should do you well. Seems as many different brands are very similar. Could be same manufactures with different brand names and colors. I do suspect you might want to beef up the two upright legs with more support though. Mine has four legs and it is a bit wobbly. Now just hope your holiday in the US does not eat up all your Dust Collector cash. :yes4:


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## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

JudgeMike said:


> Neville,
> 
> Attached is a PDF file of the photos.
> 
> Mike


I love a system that works this well, I ask and you deliver

thanks for that.

cheers NGM


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## carlp. (Nov 3, 2012)

*dust extractor*

Hi James I have the same dust extractor but made by martlet and it works very well no problems on saw or planer/ thicknesser regards carl


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

carl.p said:


> Hi James I have the same dust extractor but made by martlet and it works very well no problems on saw or planer/ thicknesser regards carl



Hi Carl. I understand that the unit is a SE Asian clone and may be sold under many brands, I have no problem with that. I also remember reading that about 600cfm should handle a planer, table saw or jointer, so 1200 cfm should be ok.


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## dsbock (Apr 24, 2010)

Very interesting design concept. I've been thinking of upgrading the dust collection system in my home workshop. This will save me so much time in trial and error design work.

Thanks for sharing.

David


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## tvman44 (Jun 25, 2013)

Love those Thien style separators, sure work great.  I have built 2 of them.


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