Cyclonic Dust Separator

Design Problem

There are several situations, both at home and in the Invention Studio, that could benefit from dust removal.  In particular, the laser cutter air filters would last much longer if the dust was separated from the air before the air is filtered.  The belt sander and band saw could avoid spewing quite so much sawdust into the air if the dust collection ports were utilizing a dust separator to capture the sawdust.  Sawdust collected from these places does not get inhaled nor need to be cleaned off of the floor.

Design Solution

A cyclonic dust separator can collect low or high volumes of dust from the air.  Small versions of such cyclonic separators can be operated from a relatively large shop vacuum, although medium sized cyclonic separators require a custom brushless motor and controller to operate efficiently.  The designer of the spreadsheet calculator for this project claims his 6 inch version is measured to provide 99.9% separation efficiency on particles sized under 5-microns.

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

Bill Pentz’s Cyclone Worksheet

Cyclonic Dust Separator Demonstration

Here is a better view of the apparatus:

Bill Of Materials