Small Shop Dust Collector

7/26/2019 Small Shop Dust Collector

1/6

A shop vacuum is great for collecting dust and chips in a smallshop. But there are a couple of problems with it. The lter quicklyclogs with dust, which reduces suction. And the limited capacityof many vacuums means you need to empty them frequently.

The system you see here solves both of those issues. A com-mercial cyclone unit diverts most of the debris into a largehopper. This empties into a standard yard waste bag for easyremoval and disposal. With a compact footprint and low-cost

materials, this is a great upgrade for any shop.

best-builtjigs & fixtures

Simple upgrades turnyour shop vacuuminto an efficient dust-collection system.

small shop

DustCollector

{ Yard Waste Bag. Dust and chips drop into a yard

waste bag for easy disposal. Interlocking bars keep

he bag in place when the door is closed.

24 ShopNotes No. 137


2/6

Materials & Hardware

A Sides (2) 14 x 72 - 34Ply.

B Top/Bottom/Dividers (4) 1334x 23 - 34Ply.

C Partition (1) 1334x 1412- 34Ply.

D Toe Kick (1) 314x 2212- 34 Ply.

E Back (1) 2312x 6834- 14Ply.

F Plate (1) 1334x 2212 - 34 Ply.

G Side Strips (2) 218x 1334- 14Ply.

H Back Strip (1) 134x 1814 - 14Ply.

I Gate (1) 24 x 1512- 14Ply.

J Chute Front (1) 34x 3 - 1734K Chute Back (1) 34x 412- 1734L Chute Sides (2) 34x 3 - 1014

M Rear Baffle (1)3

4x 47

16- 221

2

N Side Baffles (2) 34x 4716- 1334O Front (1) 24 x 2138 - 34 Ply.

P Glass Stop (1) 34x 12- 23 rgh.

Q Lower Door (1) 24 x 3214 - 34 Ply.

R Lock Rail (1) 34x 1316- 1734S Shelves (2) 1034x 13 - 34 Ply.

T Upper Doors (2) 111516x 1434- 34 Ply.

(18) #8 x 112" Fh Woodscrews

(6) #6 x 12" Fh Woodscrews

(1) 278" x 578" - 18" Glass

(1) 38" x 14" Weatherstripping

(7) 112" x 112" Butt Hinges w/Screws

(2) Draw Latches w/Screws

(8) 14" Shelf Supports

(2) Magnetic Catches w/Screws

(1) Dust Deputy Cyclone

(6) 14"-20 x 112" Carriage Bolts, Washers & Nu

(3) 434" Pulls w/Screws

(1) 8" x 34" Hanger Strap

(2) #8 x 12" Rh Woodscrews

(1) 2" Long Sweep PVC Elbow

(1) 2" Long Sweep Street PVC Elbow

(2) 2"-112" PVC Reducers

(2) 2" PVC 45 Elbows

(1) 10' x 2" Schedule 40 PVC Pipe

(1) Yard Waste Bag

ShopNotes.com 25

Materials & Hardware

COMMERCIAL CYCLONE

UNIT SEPARATES CHIPS

AND LARGE DUST

PARTICLES INTO HOPPER

ANGLED

BAFFLES DIRECT

DEBRIS INTO

YARD WASTE BAG

WEATHER

STRIPPING

SMALL WINDOW

LETS YOU KNOW

WHEN TO EMPTYHOPPER

FRONT PANEL

SECURED WITH

SCREWS FOR

EASY REMOVAL

SIMPLE SLIP FIT

MAKES IT EASY

TO DISCONNECT

SHOP VACUUM

FOR OTHER USES

SHOP VACUUM

FILTER STAYS

CLEAN AND

RUNS MORE

EFFICIENTLY

EASY-ACCESS UPPER

COMPARTMENT ADDS

EXTRA STORAGE

TO YOUR SHOP

SLIDING GATE

LETS DUST

AND CHIPS

FALL INTO BAG

A FULLY

ENCLOSED

CABINET

ELIMINATES

DUST CLOUDS

WHEN

EMPTYING

HOPPER

YARD WASTE

BAG MAKES FOR

EASY DISPOSAL

OF SAWDUST

LARGE HOPPER

MEANS YOU DON'T

HAVE TO EMPTY IT

VERY OFTEN

WEATHERSTRIPPING

SEALS HOPPER

COMPARTMENT

USE PVC PIPING

AND BLAST GATE

TO CONNECT DUS

COLLECTOR T

OTHER TOOL

OVERALL DIMENSIONS: 24"W x 72"H x 1534"D

Exploded View Details

To download acutting diagram forthe dust collector,

go to:ShopNotes.com


3/626 ShopNotes No. 137

CL

CL

CL

SIDE(14" x 72")

TOP(13#/4" x 23")

BOTTOM(13#/4" x 23")

PARTITION(13#/4" x 14!/2")

TOE KICK(3!/4" x 22!/2")

BACK(23!/2" x 68#/4")

B

A

D

E

NOTE: BACKIS !/4" PLYWOOD.ALL OTHERPARTS ARE #/4"PLYWOOD

NOTE: HOLESARE 3"-DIA.

5!/4

8!!/16

5!!/16

5!!/16

3#/8

3!/4

1#/4

35#/4

3!/4

2

UPPER DIVIDER(13#/4" x 23")B

LOWER DIVIDER(13#/4" x 23")

B

B

NOTE: CENTERMORTISE ONLOWERCOMPARTMENTOPENING

A

C

2

One of the nice things about thissystem is that everything is con-tained in a space-saving cabinet.

The cabinet is divided into fourcompartments. Up top, youllnd the cyclone unit behind theright door. The left door coversa storage compartment for vac-uum accessories or other items.

The middle compartment inthe cabinet is the collection hop-per. The chips and other debrisfall from the cyclone into thissealed chamber.

The lower compartment issized to hold a commonly avail-able yard waste bag. You canempty the hopper into the bagwithout raising a cloud of dust.

Figure 1 shows the generalstructure of the cabinet. You cansee that it goes together with

fairly simple dado and rabbetjoints. What makes things a littleout of the ordinary is that thesides and back are pretty long.So instead of taking the parts tothe table saw like I usually do, Iturned to portable power tools tohandle most of the work.

I used a circular saw to cut thesides and back to size. (The top,

bottom, dividers, partition, and

toe kick are all small enough tocut at the table saw.)

A hand-held router and astraightedge guide make a goodcombination for cutting the dado

joints. Its a good idea to measurethe plywood to nd a bit thatmatches the thickness.

The rabbet along the back edgeof the sides requires a differentapproach, as shown in Figure1c. Here, you can use a bearing-guided rabbeting bit to do the job.

A Few Details. I want to takea moment to look at a few detailsin some of the cabinet pieces. Firstoff, the top, bottom, and dividersare all the same size. Except forthe bottom, the other panels needsome additional work.

The top and upper dividerhave a centered dado to holdthe partition, as in Figures 1 and1a. You also need to drill somelarge holes. These accommodatethe connections for the cyclone.I used a hole saw and a heavy-duty hand drill.

build a tall plywood

Cabinet

1

FIGURE

FRONTVIEW

SIDE

TOP

PARTITION

#/4

!/4

!/4

a.

SIDE

LOWER DIVIDER

BACK

FRONT VIEW

2

!/4

1!/2

MORTISEFOR HINGE

b.

SIDE

BACK

PARTITION

!/4

TOPVIEW

!/4c.

24

DIVIDER

#/4

NOTE: DRILLSHELF PIN HOLESAFTER GLUING UP

THE CASE

SIDE VIEW

1

2

#/16

2

SIDE

TOP

1!/2


4/6

NOTE: CHUTEPARTS ARE MADEFROM #/4"-THICKHARDWOOD

J

I

H

G

F

PLATE(13#/4" x 22!/2")

SIDE STRIP(2!/8" x 13#/4")

BACK STRIP(1#/4" x 18!/4")

GATE(24" x 15!/2")

CHUTE FRONT(3" x 17#/4")

CHUTE SIDE(3" x 10!/4")

CHUTE BACK(4!/2" x 17#/4")

1#/4

NOTE: ASSEMBLEGATE AND CHUTE THENATTACH TO LOWERDIVIDER WITH SCREWS

NOTE: PLATE IS#/4" PLYWOOD.GATE AND STRIPSARE !/4" PLYWOOD

NOTE: CHUTEASSEMBLY INSTALLED

FLUSH WITH INSIDEFRONT/SIDES OF

OPENING ON PLATE

G

K

L

L

ShopNotes.com 27

2 FIGURE

The lower divider has a largeopening cut in it. This allowsdust and chips to fall from thehopper compartment to the bag.

Hassle-Free Assembly. Glu-

ing up a large cabinet like thiscould cause some anxiety. Butyou can simplify things by add-ing glue to the joints and nailingthe cabinet with an air nailer. Thislets you get on with the construc-tion without wrangling a lot ofclamps or waiting for glue to dry.

This stage of the process is agood time to cut mortises forthe hinges. If you turn to page32, you can see the jig I used to

support a hand-held router andlocate the mortises accurately.

Dust Chute. Its time to turnyour attention to some interiorwork. This involves making theassembly that seals off the bot-tom of the hopper. The rst partof the assembly is shown in Fig-ure 2. It consists of a sliding gatethats sandwiched between thelower divider and a plate. Belowthat is a chute that ts inside the

opening of the yard waste bag.

The plate has a pair of open-ings for chips to fall through. Thelarger opening handles most of

the material. Ill explain the rea-son for the other one in a bit.

Glue a few strips of thin ply-wood around the top face of theplate. This creates a pocket forthe gate once the plate is attachedto the lower divider.

The Gate. The gate is sized tot inside the pocket and seal offthe large opening in the lowerdivider. You can use the drawingat right to guide you while cut-

ting it to shape.The two horns at the back of

the gate are important features.They snowplow any dust thatdrifts into the gate pocket tothe narrow slot that you cut inthe plate. This system preventsdust from building up over timethat could keep the gate fromclosing and creating a good seal.

A Chute. The remaining part ofthe assembly is a framework that

acts as a chute for dust and holds

the bag in position. There are twothings to note here. The chutefront has a groove cut in it that

lines up with a mating rail in thedoor to pinch the bag and hold itin place (Figure 2c).

The other detail is the backpiece. Its wider than the othersto help you align the bag for easyinstallation. These are glued inplace, and the whole assemblycan be screwed to the bottom ofthe lower divider, as in Figure 2.

FRONTVIEW

#8 x 1!/2" FhWOODSCREW

PLATE

CHUTEBACK

CHUTE

SIDE 2#/4

#/4

!/4"CHAMFER

2#/8

GATE

a.

SIDE VIEW

G

F

B

CHUTE SIDE

CHUTEBACKCHUTE

FRONT

#/8

!/4

!/4"CHAMFERS

2

1

c.

NOTE: DASH LINESSHOW EDGES OF CHUTE

TOP VIEW

1#/4PLATE

#/4

3!/8

#/4

BACK

2!/8

b.

CL

GATE

2&/8

TOP VIEW

11#/4

1!/2

#/4

1

1"-DIA.


5/628 ShopNotes No. 137

CL

M

PN

REARBAFFLE

(4&/16" x 22!/2")

SIDEBAFFLE

(4&/16" x 13#/4")

FRONT PANEL(24" x 21#/8")

GLASS STOP(!/2" x #/4")

NOTE: BAFFLESAND GLASS STOP

ARE #/4"-THICKHARDWOOD.

FRONT PANEL IS#/4" PLYWOOD

GLASSPANEL

(2&/8" x 5&/8"- !/8")

MITER GLASSSTOP TO FIT

OPENING ANDSECURE WITH

SCREWS

APPLY SELF-ADHESIVEWEATHERSTRIPPING TO

CABINET BEFOREATTACHING FRONT PANEL

O

1!/2

3

6

N

#8 x 1!/4" FhWOODSCREW

3

Just a bit of work is left on thehopper before you can close it in.After that, building a few doorswraps up the woodworking.Then youll be ready for install-ing the cyclone and making theairow connections.

The hole in the lower dividerallows most of the dust and chips

inside the hopper to fall into thebag. To direct all the dust andchips toward the hole, I installed

a set of angled bafes on threesides of the opening.

The rear bafe is the rst andsimplest to make and install.It has a 45 bevel along eachedge, as you can see in Figure 3.Clamping this piece would be achallenge, so I used brads to xits position while the glue dried.

The side bafe pieces start outthe same as the rear piece, witha bevel cut along each edge. Butin order for them to t seamlessly

against the rear piece, they needcompound miters cut at the backends. This takes into account the

angle of the rear bafe and theangle of the side bafes.

I used a table saw to make thiscut. Figure 3b helps you set themiter gauge and blade angle.After cutting the miter, tilt the

blade back to 90 and trim thebafe to nal length. For the otherside bafe, you need to set themiter gauge to the opposite angleand use the other miter gauge slot.

Closing In. The front of thehopper is sealed with a plywood

panel. A small glass window inthe panel lets you see when toempty the hopper once thedust gets halfway up the win-dow is a good time. The glass isset in a rabbet and held in placewith L-shaped glass stop, as illus-trated in Figure 3c.

In case I need to open up thehopper at some point to clear aclog, I didnt glue the front panelin place. Instead its held with

screws. To maintain a good seal, Iwrapped the edge with adhesive-

backed weatherstripping.Lower Door. The three doors

on this project are all prettystraightforward slab doors.But there are still a few thingsabout each one that deserve someattention. On the inside face ofthe lower door, theres a rail witha tongue cut on one edge (Fig-ure 4b). As I mentioned earlier,

this works with the groove in

enclosing the

Cabinet

3!/8

Q

LOCK RAIL(1#/16" x 17#/4")

LOWERDOOR

(24" x 32!/4")

4#/4" HANDLEW/SCREWS

NOTE: DOORIS MADE FROM#/4" PLYWOOD.LOCK RAIL ISMADE FROM#/4"-THICKHARDWOOD

DRAW LATCHW/SCREWS

PAPERYARD WASTE

BAG

R

4

FRONTVIEW

REARBAFFLE

SIDEBAFFLE

SECURE BAFFLESWITH GLUE AND

BRAD NAILS

45

a.

SIDEVIEW

#/8FRONTPANEL

GLASSSTOP

#6 x #/4" FhWOODSCREW

GLASS

!/4

!/4

!/16

c.

SIDEVIEW !/4

LOCKRAIL

LOWERDOOR

LOCK RAIL PRESSESBAG INTO GROOVE IN

CHUTE FRONT

!/4

b.

SIDEVIEW

LOWERDOOR

4

2

a.

55

ONE END OF EACHSIDE BAFFLE IS

CUT AT ACOMPOUND

MITER

35

b.


6/6

the chute front to hold the bag.Attach the rail so that the tongueon the rail aligns with the groovein the chute front.

The hinges on the door aremounted on the inside face. Onthe opposite edge, I used drawlatches. This way the bag cant

force the door open as it

lls up.Shelves. Before making theupper doors, you can cut a pairof shelves for the upper storagecompartment (Figure 5). Theyrest on adjustable shelf supports.

Upper Doors. The upperdoors are just smaller versions ofthe lower door. Simple magneticcatches hold these doors closed.

Painted Finish. I decided topaint the outside of the cabinet.(The inside has a clear nish.)The key thing is preparing thesurfaces, especially the cut edgesof the plywood. After sandingthe whole project, I used drywallspackle to ll the edges and thensanded them smooth.

A coat of primer is the nextstep. I like to sand the primercoat to make sure the surfacesare smooth. If you nd a blem-ish, you can ll it and re-primethat section. This prep work sets

the stage for applying the n-ish coats of paint. Two coats ofpaint are all thats necessary for agood-looking, durable nish.

The Cyclone. The nal step isto install the cyclone unit. Use theholes in the cyclone to drill mount-ing holes in the cabinet, as in Fig-ures 5 and 5b. For the tightest seal,apply a thin bead of kitchen and

bath sealant to the bottom of thecyclone before attaching it.

Figure 6 has the details for abasic setup to connect your shop

vacuum and tools to the collec-tor. To minimize air leaks, wrapthe joint between the PVCreduc-ers and the cyclone with foil tape(lower right photo).

The dust collector is now readyto go. Its a great upgrade for anyshop vacuum. And in no time,your shop will be cleaner.

S

T

SHELF(#/4" x 10#/4" - 13")

UPPER DOOR(11!%/16" x 14#/4")

NOTE: SHELVESAND DOORS AREMADE FROM #/4"PLYWOOD

DUSTDEPUTY

CYCLONEUNIT

HANDLEW/SCREWS

L-SHAPEDSHELF

SUPPORTS

ST

MAGNETIC CATCHW/SCREWS

2" TO 1.5" PVCREDUCER

2" PVC PIPE(3" LONG)

2" PVC(LONG SWEEP)

ELBOW

#/4" x 8"HANGERSTRAP

2" PVC PIPE(3" LONG)2" TO 1.5" PVC

REDUCER

2" PVC45 ELBOW

#8 x !/2" RhWOODSCREW

VACUUMHOSE

2" PVC PIPE(2" LONG)

2" PVC(LONG SWEEP)STREET ELBOW

6

5

TOPVIEW

TOTOOL

NOTE: ANGLETOOL INLET PIPE

TO RUNAGAINST WALL

WALLa.

} Cyclone. The

design of the

cyclone draws

dust and chips oof the air flow so

they dont fill the

vacuum canister.

ShopNotes.com 29

SIDEVIEWUPPERDOOR

!#/16

SHELF

2

a.

SIDEVIEW

USE CYCLONETO LOCATEMOUNTING

HOLES

!/4-20 x 1!/2"CARRIAGEBOLTS,

WASHERS,ANDNUTS

APPLY A BEAD OFKITCHEN/BATHSEALANT TO

BASE OFCYCLONE BEFORE

INSTALLING

b

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Small Shop Dust Collector