More cyclone stuff.

[Jeff in vancouver]

As bill is working on a new plan for "Wood" I wonder if he is interest in having 10 or 11 lay people build his plan and give him some feedback?

I have found his site incredibly helpful, and would be happy to do this if it would be of use for him.

[Allan Johanson - South Su]

Good idea, Jeff.

Maybe I'll stick with my 20" cyclone then. If I can dig up some measuring instruments I could perform some tests on it to compare with the "standard" 18" version.

Bill, if you're out there, what do you think?

Allan

[Scott in Bradford]

A new and improved plan...I'd be into that...

I think we'd all have to have a solemn oath of secrecy/non-distribution...but he just might...

[Randy in Langley]

How about Bill just fly up here for the Wood show and give a seminar on building your own Cyclone?

Even better, get all the stuff ready including motor, material fan, sheet metal and have a "Shop class" at the show. Or Bill could bring some kits to the show and sell them as the supplies necessary for his class. As long as Bill took major credit cards I could easily convince LOML that I am taking a course and it costs $300.00.

Tongue in Cheek.

[Bill Pentz]

Laughing.. Rumor has it that the first 10 prototypes are cut and mostly claimed.. bunch of those silly Canadian neighbors!

Oh after the last two months could I use that vacation to come teach a class..

but what is this picture?

bill



http://www.canadianwoodworking.com/chat/pics/pic83469.jpg

[Randy in Langley]

Bill are you using plexiglass instead of sheet metal? Now there's something that will amuse the kids for hours. Watch shavings and dust fly around the inside of a cyclone. Now all you need is 18" cast acrylic tubing for the body of the cyclone. That would be a great educational tool to be able to see exactly what is going on inside the cyclone.

I bet that's what you're planning!

[Bill Pentz]

Yes, its clear but it is polycarbonate sheet as plexiglass would be too dangerous. You can't see anything swirling around as all way too fast, but when stopped can inspect my impeller and know when is time to clean..

There is a video on the net of a cyclone made with the same and pictures of the dust path.

[Ed/Leaside]

Bill, won't the chips and dust particles scuff the polycarbonate to the point where you can't see anything, or is this just for testing purposes? Ed

[Jim Barry, Gander NL]

I was gonna say that using plexi would be a safety issue from the get-go. I'll assume too that eventually the wood chips would produce enough fine scratches on the inside to make the material opaque. Scratch resistant material like lexan would work although its mighty expensive. I've never seen it in thickness like what you are using, not to say its not available though.

[Randy in Burnaby]

My concern with polycarbonate or plexiglass would be the static build up. You would have chips and dust swirling around inside creating static electricity and a swirling fan blade possibly made of steel that is close enough to the electrically charged polycarbonate sheet for a charge to arc across the gap and potentially ignite the dust captured inside.

[Steve in Kemptville]

We're missing something here I think... Remember this is on the CLEAN side of the separator so there will be NO chips unless you overflow the collection bin. Dust is also limited and the air velocities are so fast that it will not build up to any degree. I have Lexan window on my filter enclosure where the velocities are much lower and it stay fairly clean.

The bigger plus IMO would be to design a window into the lid of the collection barrel!!! I overflow the darn thing amost every time as the short 6" clear drop tube doesn't give you enough warning before it's too late. Even if you do see it backing up it's usually as you have just stareted planing a long board and by the time it's past the planer head the filter housing is 1/4 full!

This will be a future project of mine to be sure!

The Ply blower housing would make a great trade show demo though Bill ...(smile)

[Allan Johanson - South Su]

I was thinking of making some kind of level indicator inside the barrel. Then when it hit a certain height, a light would turn on or something like that.

Not sure how it would work though....a level detector for fluid is much easier.

I'll think of something.

Allan

[EaglescU*S*A...]

A while back Ken Ventress post a link to a light beam shut off switch to work in the separator.

[Ken Ventress, Penticton,]

I have forgotten where I picked that one up! If I come across it again, I'll share it with everyone.
Cheers, Ken

[Randy in Langley]

Check out ITM Instruments. They're located in Montreal. They have optical Level Switches, Bulk Dry Material Level Switches and Liquid Level switches among about a million other things.



ITM Instruments (http://www.itm-ins.com/Products/producte.htm)
http://www.itm-ins.com/Products/0102/ENG/0433.pdf

[Ken Ventress, Penticton,]

It took some searching as I do a lot of surfing of different WW sites but I found this little gem for those of you who are rather proficient with electronics. It's a sensor to tell you when your DC bin is full or nearly so and prevent the chips plugging up the filter. Might just be worth while looking into this. It includes a material list and instructions or you can order one already put together.

Cheers, Ken
(Thanks Eagle for spurring me on!)



DC container monitor (http://www.mgsweb.com/woodworking/index.html)
http://www.mgsweb.com/woodworking/Dusty4.jpg