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I used a shop Vac 5 gal vac, for dust collection on a PM lunchbox planer, when I had it, and it worked fine. No separator, and it was right next to the planer.
Since then, I now have a real planer, and want to make a simple separator.
Just wondering if anyone has used a 5 gal shop vac for this and results.
Also wondering how a 15 - 20 foot hose from separator to machine would hurt it.
Thanks. Looking forward to cutting down on the chips/dust.
I long for the days when Coke was a soft drink, and Black and Decker was a quality tool.
Happiness is a snipe free planer
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I have used old shop vacs in a similar application but 5 gallon Is a little small for a planer but other than that it's ok.
I have one of the imported seperator cyclones on one for the router table cause the dc from a shop vac works way better than the dust collector does. It's on a small vac base and works fine. The shape of the container doesn't matter when the seperator is on top.
The best seperator I have used is the one direct from china. Usually around $20 shipped. Less pressure drop and works great. No dust past it and it has a more inclined inlet shape to create a downward spiral of air.
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Here is a poor picture of my DD powered by a 5 gallon Sears shop vac. It rolls over to my 15" planer, and depending on the wood does a good job.
My hose is 7 feet long, I have never tried to extend it.
Pine makes shavings and they tend to clog at the 4 to 2.5 reducer, which means I have to clean it out between passes. Still far better than the mess on the floor, without the DD/vac.
Hardwoods tend to make chips, which this set up works very well with.
I will make a picture with the planer this morning and post it for you.
Ag
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Opps, looks like new vac is only 4 gallons....
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I wonder if that 4-2 reducer had a more gradual (cone shaped) transition if it would clog as bad or as often.
Ray
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DogwoodTales said:
I wonder if that 4-2 reducer had a more gradual (cone shaped) transition if it would clog as bad or as often.
Unknown.
But your comment prompted me to wonder about feed speed.
I have never changed that, and I think I have it set for fast.
Perhaps I should experiment with that.
Ag
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I have an extremely old large shop vac inside of a 'muffler box' with a hose ran to a thein baffle mounted on top, built around a 7 gallon bucket. There's a 12-15 foot flexible hose coming out of the baffle and I move it to whatever machine I need. Used it when running my DeWalt planer with no problems. (Other than the separator filling up rapidly when I'm removing a significant amount of material of course...)
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Robert Adams said:
I have used old shop vacs in a similar application but 5 gallon Is a little small for a planer but other than that it's ok.
I have one of the imported seperator cyclones on one for the router table cause the dc from a shop vac works way better than the dust collector does. It's on a small vac base and works fine. The shape of the container doesn't matter when the seperator is on top.
The best seperator I have used is the one direct from china. Usually around $20 shipped. Less pressure drop and works great. No dust past it and it has a more inclined inlet shape to create a downward spiral of air.
Do you have a link to the $20 separator you liked?
I long for the days when Coke was a soft drink, and Black and Decker was a quality tool.
Happiness is a snipe free planer
