# Diy cyclone!



## gasmansteve (11 Jun 2009)

Hi folks
Thought I`d just show a quick pic of the cyclone I`ve just made and seems to work well if anyones thought of making one.

Its based on a traffic cone (Yes it was obtained legally - £1 from local skip hire firm  )






2x 40mm tank connectors, 3x 40mm elbows and a bit of 40mm pipe and a mdf frame to support the cone. Sorry about the camera shake, must use a tripod.





Cost? about 20quid and 13 of that was the bin.
What would I do different next time? Use a stronger bin as this one can implode if the vac tube gets blocked.I`ve hoovered up quite a bit of mdf and not a bit has gone into the actual vac. I can put more pics and dimensions on if anyones interested.

Steve


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## rileytoolworks (11 Jun 2009)

Heath Robinson, eat your heart out!
Ingenious.
Could you post more details?
Thanks and well done.
Adam.


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## Boatfixer (11 Jun 2009)

Fantastic - I am trying to find a cheap answer to the problem of my vac filter clogging whilst using it as an extractor for my orbital sander - I get fed up with spending more time trying to clean the filter of fine dust than sanding. Does a cyclone help with very fine dust such as paint sanding? Even if it only catches some of it maybe it would help avoid the mess of filter cleaning five times a day.....


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## kityuser (11 Jun 2009)

I`ve found with my home-made jobbie (all sprayed now, sorry no up-2-date pics) that only the finest of finest MDF just gets through the cyclone to my wet`n`dry.

To be honest I`m really quite surprised, I was expecting far more to get through.
I`ve used it for about 6 weeks now without even opening the vac, opened it up a few nights ago and I`ve got about an egg cup full of "talc" dust. :wink: 

Steve


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## Gower (11 Jun 2009)

Great effort Steve. Tell me, does it reduce suction to any great extent?
Cheers,
Jim


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## kityuser (11 Jun 2009)

I`ll have to post an updated picture, its all sanded/sprayed and tidied up.

I can't detect any loss in suction infact I think I`ve gained, where the filter doesn't clog in the wet'n'dry anymore.

Steve


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## gasmansteve (22 Jun 2009)

Hi Steve
Excellent idea to make a wooden container to collect the stuff, never thought of that as the bin I use is not strong enough really for the vacuum created by the vac. I suppose 5 bits of chipboard and a removable lid and you`ve cracked it?.
Steve
Ps sorry for delay replying, been away


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## yo_chuci (23 Jun 2009)

these look great. is there a rule of thumb on how long the suction pipe should be so it doesn't collect the dust the minute its got into the cone?
or is there an online guide that people have copied.


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## 9fingers (23 Jun 2009)

yo_chuci":25p15sd7 said:


> these look great. is there a rule of thumb on how long the suction pipe should be so it doesn't collect the dust the minute its got into the cone?
> or is there an online guide that people have copied.



In a 'classic' cyclone (google for "Bill Pentz") there is an air ramp inside the upper part of the spiral. This is a one turn spiral with pitch equal to the diameter of the inlet pipe. The suction pipe normally protrudes a little beyond this but not much more.
By the time the dust has done one circuit of the air ramp it is normally moving fast enough to avoid getting sucked up the suction pipe and continues down the cyclone cone.

These traffic cone mini cyclones seem to be very effective and yet don't conform to the chapter and verse from Pentz and others. 
They have the tangential entry point but no air ramp.
My Burgess cyclone although bigger than the traffic cone ones also does not conform to Pentz but works very well indeed with the ready made Ikea cone, tangential entry and the air ramp.
More info here https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/view ... hp?t=10825

Bob


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## kityuser (24 Jun 2009)

no air ramp inside my mini one, but I believe that extending the inlet inside the top of the cyclone has the same sort of effect as an air ramp. Cutting the inlet flush with the cyclone wall causes undue turbulance and reduces effeciency.

My large one which is still WIP will have a air ramp.....

Steve


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