Cyclone

[Rusty Nesmith]

I have seen a few people on YouTube say it is not worth getting a cyclone to add to your dust collection. In my opinion it is well worth it. It was so much easier to get my 3 inch rubber palm sander when it got sucked in the back of the lathe a couple of times. My 55 gallon barrel is half full and the bag on the dust collector bag has less than a cup of dust in it. Very happy I went this route.

 

[Chris Lawrence]

Considering the amount of fine dust my cyclone separates out before the blower I don't see how removing it would be beneficial. Maybe they are running underpowered systems or not setup correctly.

 

[Jerry Bennett]

Rusty, your cyclone is designed correctly. I can see that they made a considerable effort to handle the airflow correctly. Those who say a cyclone is not worth it, has not experienced one that is correctly made and installed. I designed mine to take into consideration aerodynamics. Almost nothing makes it to the filter.

 

[Neil S]

...the bag on the dust collector bag has less than a cup of dust in it. Very happy I went this route.

I also only have had a half cup of dust that ended up below my filters after 15 years and countless (in the hundreds) garbage bags full of shavings and dust separated by the cyclone.

I also run a fine dust particle counter whenever I'm in the workshop and I know without the slightest doubt from its readings that my cyclone setup is highly efficient and no fine dust is escaping it.

Those that post on YouTube are a mixed bunch and anything seen there should be viewed with caution. My first question whenever there are claims on YouTube on DE performace is can you show me your particle counter readings to support your claims/assertions.

Note: My cyclone has a full size 3:1 cone ratio and 6" ducting (per Bill Pentz' specs).

 

[Dennis J Gooding]

I have seen a few people on YouTube say it is not worth getting a cyclone to add to your dust collection. In my opinion it is well worth it. It was so much easier to get my 3 inch rubber palm sander when it got sucked in the back of the lathe a couple of times. My 55 gallon barrel is half full and the bag on the dust collector bag has less than a cup of dust in it. Very happy I went this route.
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I have a shop-made cyclone separator followed by a shop -made cartridge filter. The latter uses a replaceable cartridge meant for a large diesel engine.
Virtually no dust reaches the filter.

 

[Adrian Wilson]

I have a small cyclone in my system, and would never go back.

 

[Randy Anderson]

I don't have a filter on my system, it vents outside my shop after the trash can cyclone collector. I only get sawdust blowing outside when I let the trash can get too full. Which does happen from time to time. When I hear chips hitting the impeller blades on the motor I know the can is full.

 

[robo hippy]

Only way to go. My first DC was on a rolling cart, and had just the impellor blade and a cloth bag that filtered down to 0.5 microns, so when it first inflated, there would be a puff of dust. Went to a centralized Oneida system. I bent the blades on the small DC several times from things getting sucked up accidentally. The filters almost never need to be cleaned out, though I used to use the drum sander a lot.

robo hippy

 

[Steve Chaplin]

I have a Clearvue and can't say enough about how much cleaner my shop air is. I measure air quality using a Dylos pro monitor: http://www.dylosproducts.com/ornodcproair.html

When I sand on the lathe using a dust pickup going to the cyclone my shop air quality improves drastically. I figure if the quality gets better with lathe sanding, the DC is doing a great job.

From doing tests of air quality using different machines in the shop I can tell you any kind of sanding produces the most small particles that are hazardous.

 

[Darryn Achall]

I don't have a filter on my system, it vents outside my shop after the trash can cyclone collector. I only get sawdust blowing outside when I let the trash can get too full. Which does happen from time to time. When I hear chips hitting the impeller blades on the motor I know the can is full.

I don't have a filter either. My lathe has a collection box with 4" outlet. This goes to the cyclone. Pulling on the cyclone is a 4" greenhouse exhaust fan that vents directly outdoors. Never noticed any wood shavings or dust in the flowers below the outlet.

 

[Neil S]

I have a Clearvue and can't say enough about how much cleaner my shop air is. I measure air quality using a Dylos pro monitor: http://www.dylosproducts.com/ornodcproair.html

When I sand on the lathe using a dust pickup going to the cyclone my shop air quality improves drastically. I figure if the quality gets better with lathe sanding, the DC is doing a great job.

From doing tests of air quality using different machines in the shop I can tell you any kind of sanding produces the most small particles that are hazardous.

A particle counter of any make is IMO an essential piece of woodturning workshop equipment. They don't need to be the expensive industrial hygienist models for our purposes to to tell us how much of the fine hazardous dust we are breathing and how efficient our DC system are working. An economy model PM2.5 particle counter is sufficient for our purposes.

Sanding on the lathe produces the most hazardous fine dust of any woodworking activity as it is the most difficult to capture at source. It's the <2.5μm/cubic metre particles that they say are the bad guys for your respiratory system.

This is what I'm reading in my workshop before I begin working and turn on the cyclone...

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And, this is what the reading is typically while sanding with the cyclone running...

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BTW, because I run the DC whenever I'm working in the shop it is often has cleaner air in there than outside...

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