Cyclone Separator for a Shop Vacuum

thingiverse

An initial attempt at designing an inline cyclone for a ShopVac to catch sawdust clogging the vacuum filter is presented. The proposed design involves attaching the cyclone base over a five-gallon plastic bucket, with the top outlet connected to the shop vac and the inlet on the side linked to the business end. This setup utilizes the angular momentum of the denser sawdust particles to circle the cone and fall into the bucket while allowing clean air passage into the vacuum. The design is also suggested to function as a hydro-separator for those familiar with the mining industry. To create this cyclone, seven parts are required: an inlet, outlet, upper and lower cyclone bodies, coupling rings (x3), mounting base, and body tubes (x2). This project pushed the limits of the Printrbot LC+ 3D printer. The lower cyclone body stands at 197mm in height, designed to mate directly with a standard ShopVac hose when scaled down if needed. Hex bolts with a diameter of 3M x 10 were used for assembly. The cyclone design is based on data from a high-efficiency cyclone design resource (http://www.aerosols.wustl.edu/education/cyclone/section06.html) and includes various parameters such as body diameter, inlet height, inlet width, outlet length, gas outlet diameter, cylinder height, overall height, and dust outlet diameter. The design's efficiency can be improved by increasing the cyclone's height and considering the inlet shape to force dust into the cyclone walls for optimal angular momentum. After completion, the cyclone demonstrated high efficiency in capturing both general junk and sawdust from a table saw, indicating its potential as an effective solution for preventing vacuum clogging issues.