On Wed, 08 Dec 2004 01:04:12 GMT, Big John
wrote:
pardon the top post.. you sort of wrote a novel there..

I may be mistaken, but I believe that the purpose of the cyclone is to
separate the larger particles, like sawdust and wood scraps..
your DC filter bags are your main filters, usually followed by an air
filtration system..

Recently I have been doing a bunch of research on dust collection and
wanted to find the very best I could. I own a 3hp Jet DC1900
collector with 30 micron bags. My 20 year old son has Cystic
Fibrosis, primarily a terminal pulmonary disease and due to his major
in architecture needs to use my shop to build his models and projects.
30 micron will not cut it. I need to be at 0.5 micron or better for
him.

As part of the research, I came across:

http://www.clearvuecyclones.com/

http://billpentz.com//woodworking/cyclone/index.cfm

Because the person (Ed Morgano) making the ClearVueCyclones lived
close to my parents in SC which I was visiting from Chicago over
TGiving I decided to pay him a visit. Ed is a really nice guy and
cares alot about the precision and quality of what he is making. I
got to see his clear cyclone in action. He had it connected to a 0.5
micron cartridge filter. When I put my nose up to the cartridge
filter I could not even smell wood dust.

Additionally this cyclone is designed after a design by Bill P.
(above). It transitions from round to square prior to the dust
collector and then enter the cyclone tangential at about 15 degrees
off horizontally and pointing downward which matches the swirl in the
collector. Since he is using clear material for the collector and
exit from the top mounted blower you can see (or not see) the dust in
the air exiting the cyclone. I could not see anything exiting the
cyclone.

Ed M. which owns clearvuecyclones.com is running basically a 2 man
shop building these.

I am also a registered mechanical engineer about 5 years out from
retirement. I feel this is the best system money can buy and if you
read Bill P.'s (also engineer) site you will see he has done a
tremendous amount of trial and error testing to come up with his data.

I have now ordered the clear cyclone, 170 feet of 6" S&D PVC, and a
bunch of wyes, 45's, and 90's and will be connecting Unisaw, DJ20,
Delta Stationary 15" Planer, 12" Dewalt compound, Delta Var. Lathe,
Delta 14" Bandsaw, Powermatic Shaper, Mortiser, Delta Jigsaw, Delta
12x48 sander, downdraft table, Powermatic Oscil. Sander, 3hpPC router
table.

I will be removing the motor and blower from my DC1900 and mounting on
the cyclone.

I just hope I don't die, get layed off, or get transferred since this
dust collection system will be quite a bit of work and it will be the
first time my shop will be fully integrated together.

This is my Christmas Present.

Check out the ClearVueCyclones, it might be your Christmas Present
too.

John