Not a project on the x carve but one for the x carve.
After managing to “find” a cone from a company across the road from my office i set about cutting it up. I had to buy the bucket which isn’t as stiff as i’d like. When i switch on the vacuum it can collapse the bucket. My plan is to cut some hoops out and glue them in to the bucket to try and stop it collapsing. All in all a total spend of £9.00 (aprox $15) i’m pleased.
Looks like a winner. I made a thein baffle with two 5 gallon buckets. I too had the issue with the bottom bucket trying to collapse when using a shop vac. I simply cut some 1 inch wide by 1/2 inch thick strips of wood long enough to go from top to bottom of the lower bucket and screwed them to the sides of the bucket from the inside. No more collapsing and it is nearly 100% efficient at capturing all the debris in the lower bucket.
I mill mostly aluminum when I make the Triquetra Touch Plates. When my lower bucket was 2/3 full of aluminum chips, my shop vac had less than a baby spoon full in it. Same holds true when I am carving with wood. I expect you should get the same performance with the cone separator. I would have gone that route if I could have found a suitable cone but am very happy with the thein baffle.
This is a great bucket with easy clamp top and gasket that I use. This doesn’t collapse! They have different sizes too. Check them out.
Got it from Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000LDEP0C/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
My homer collapsed as well, but if you look at theirs they have a second bucket over. So that’s what I did, haven’t had a problem since.
any chance we can see some photos of your 5gallon thein baffle?
Sure thing, I’ll take some pics and upload today.
How often do you have to empty the 5 gallon buckets? I am going to soon be building a sound-proof dust collector system (as soon as I determine the resonant frequencies) and trying to determine what size container to use. The one shown below is the one I was settling on so far, but will go smaller if your results with 5 gallon is good.
It depends how much material you remove. I empty mine when I feel like it. I think it will be more often with the dewalt and 1/4" bits. Last time I dumped I had 1/4 of my 5 gallon bucket and 1 teaspoon in the vac.
This will obviously depend on what you are carving and how much of it. With that said, I have milling my Triquetra Touch Plates for several months now and emptied the bucket twice. Once just because I checked it and figured since I have it open, might as well empty it and the second time because it was about3 inches from the baffle.
When carving wood projects it will obviously fill much quicker, however, even with a fair amount of carving it fills slower than you might think. The air movement in there actually compress the wood dust and fibers so that they are actually packed in fairly well.
Should you go with the 16 gallon drum you linked to, it would be quite some time before you had to empty it even with heavy use. You could still use the top 5 gallon bucket for the thein baffle. Mine works amazingly well. I am uploading some pics here shortly.
Ask and ye shall receive: Just PLEASE don’t judge me on the appearance of my bucket dust collector. I needed something in a hurry and after I finished it I realized it was a Frankenstein. However it works so amazingly well I didn’t bother to rebuild it to make it pretty. Hell, it just sits outside the shop and nobody has ever seen it but me… and now the world!
Pictured below is my dust collections plumbing. I ran PVC pipe through the wall to my dust collector to abate the noise of the shop vac. The white strap holding the hose is just a strip of elastic. I loop the hose through the elastic to take the weight of the hose off the router/X axis.
Here below is the inside of my shop vac. Virtually no sign of debris. I only use a pleated filter on the motor - no bags at all.
Below is the plumbing that exits the inside of my shop and goes to the dust collector buckets.
Below is another view of my machine and overhead dust collector plumbing. Sorry the pics are not better ordered.
Below is a view of the thien baffle made from 3/4 mdf.
Below is some of the fine aluminum shaving that come from milling my Aluminum Triquetra Touch Place.
Below shows the bucket lid with a large hold cut out to allow the bucket with the baffle to slide into place.The boards on the sides keep the bucket from collapsing due to the suction of the shop vac.
Below is how the top bucket with the baffle slides into place inside the cutout out lid of the bottom bucket. The blocks of wood keep the top bucket from sliding too far down in to the bottom bucket.
Below is the system assembled and ready to go
Below shows the buckets disconnected from the plumbing that comes from inside the shop. They are just friction fit together. No clamps or screws needed.
Below is the top bucket removed and laying on it’s side to show the baffle and air inlet.
Below shows everything connected and ready. all the plumbing that disconnects is just pressed together and held in place on it’s own. Everything else is either glued or screwed. The boards on the top of the bucket stiffen the lid and keep if from collapsing under vacuum load.
I’m running the same vac.
THANK YOU Charlie.
I am glad to see you using the PVC Pipe in your system. Is that 1 1/4 inch pipe you’re using?
I’m using 2 inch pipe
Thanks @CharleyThomas! Those pictures were wonderful. Do you ever have issues with dust buildup inside the upper portion of the baffle?
I have been using this setup for about 8 months and never done anything but empty the bottom bucket.
I’ve upgraded my bucket, looks more like a Swedish sauna than a bucket now but hey ho.
Now the bucket doesn’t collapse … the cone does. So external bracing for the cone is the next addition. I then need to get some PVC pipe and make some blast gates, pipe round my (very small) shop to my other tools.
After all that i suppose i should actually start to make stuff again.
[quote=“CharleyThomas, post:11, topic:26457”]I loop the hose through the elastic to take the weight of the hose off the router/X axis.
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How well does the elastic work? I was going to use a spring for this purpose, but elastic might just be easier to set up.
I use a bungee cord from the ceiling to hold the hose.
Wow, that’s an excellent idea Erik. Thanks!
I was going to use a bungee cord but didn’t have one handy. My wife gave me the elastic and asked if it might work. Much to my surprise it works very well. I have one end permanently attached and a simple spring clap holding the other to make the loop. I just move the shop vac hose through it until it connects to the dust shoe with little to no weight on the shoe.
