Ash Can Filter very cheap dust filter :)

[martin54]

Yer I've got an aldi one set up as a water trap for the bead blast cabinet, originally bought it for the cnc but the blast cabinet was up & running first so that's where it went. Should really think about buying another one for the router, at that sort of money it's not worth messing about keep switching it over lol.
Think I paid something like a tenner for it but if they are back in at £8 I better get down there.

[cropwell]

I have ordered one from CPC, I am looking to make it the basis for a cyclone - I'll see if it is suitable when it arrives.

[Fivetide]

Hi Fivetide,

Thats a brilliant idea :) I was wondering actually if this might be a suitable kind of filter to use on my vacuum pump which I intend to use for a vacuum table on my router? I was looking around to see what filter I would need and they all just look fairly bog standard, but not bog standard prices... The pump is a regenerative blower / vacuum type and is rated at about 6.5 HP. Anyone got any ideas? A tenner is pretty damn cheap to try out, but the pump isn't if it buggers up....

I dont know if they could handle a full vacuum , stand well clear when your testing it lol !

Hi Fivetide
I got something similar from Aldi a couple of months ago for £10 and now my local Aldi has them for £8. However if you are doing lots of woodworking you will need a cyclone filter first to prevent the ash can from filling up too quickly. See this link
The Cyclone Dust Separator and this one Bill's Cyclone Dust Collection Research - Home for suitable designs.

Regards
Mike

Nice links Mark, I had been thinking of looking into the idea of a cyclone, as you say they fill up really quickly.

I have ordered one from CPC, I am looking to make it the basis for a cyclone - I'll see if it is suitable when it arrives.

Good look post what you find out might help me lol :)

[martin54]

Might be looking at a diy cyclone myself when I get a bit of time. People in the unit next to me chucked an old dyson vacuum in the skip the other day so it has now taken up residence in my unit lol. Read somewhere about people using the cyclone parts of old dyson vacuums a while ago, just need to find the links again lol.

[cropwell]

BHF the thing arrived this morning ! It has now been converted to a cyclone (or if I have the direction wrong, it will be an anticyclone). I used mdf for the internal baffle and nylon to make an adapter for the vac hose. The swirl is a bit of 32mm FLOPLAST waste plumbing. It seems to work OK, so I have dismantled it to paint the mdf. I have to clean out the vac to check the effectiveness of the cyclone, but when the paint dries I will photograph the bits and post the results.
Cheers !!

[Fivetide]

BHF the thing arrived this morning ! It has now been converted to a cyclone (or if I have the direction wrong, it will be an anticyclone). I used mdf for the internal baffle and nylon to make an adapter for the vac hose. The swirl is a bit of 32mm FLOPLAST waste plumbing. It seems to work OK, so I have dismantled it to paint the mdf. I have to clean out the vac to check the effectiveness of the cyclone, but when the paint dries I will photograph the bits and post the results.
Cheers !!

yeah if you could post some pictures that would be great, I'm interested in the same idea.

[davethefixer]

iv been using an ash can from machine mart for about 8 months
i removed the mesh dome from inside and stuck a peice of HVAC filter medium over the vacuum inlet hole to filter the fine particals its been working fine and the cheap tesco vacuum rarely needs cleaning out.

iv got a few peices of filter medium going spare if anyone wants one just PM me.

[cropwell]

These pics show the baffle plate, the vac hose adapter and the swirl nozzle. from the CPC ash can I didn't use the filter and the original vac connector. The handle holes were used for fixing the baffle plate to the lid. This meant I did not have to drill or cut the original ash can at all.

So the whole thing cost me £10.75 for the ash can (free delivery) and the rest I had :- a couple of bits of scrap mdf, a piece of 60mm nylon rod, 200mm of 32mm waste pipe and a bend, 4 washers, 6 25x 4mm socket caps and 6 improvised t-nuts (riv-nuts backwards).

I just hope that the device works properly, preliminary tests are promising