My parents came for a visit this Thanksgiving and I was able to spend some time in the shop with my dad. I installed a cyclone dust collector last Spring, and realized that this thing really sucked… I installed the dust collector on the outside of my shop, and when it runs, it basically creates a vacuum inside my shop. The amount of air being removed from room is amazing, you can really notice it when you try to shut the door. This was not a big deal during the summer months (other than it might not have been running at peak efficiency), but now that it is cold outside, it was sucking all of my heat out with the dust! We came up with this idea to box in the dust collector filter, and push the clean (warm) air back into my shop. We built a 66″x 24×24 frame out of split 2x4s and covered it with drywall. I still want to make a frame around the front panel, so I can take it off easier. I need to (should) clean the filter out every so often, to keep the suction at a maximum level. We then cut a 14×14 inch hole in the back of the box, which when went through to my shop. Inside the shop, we covered the hole with a furnace return grill; it looks pretty cool. We did not make any real dust after putting it together, but the initial tests seems promising. The cyclone sounds a little different when it running, but not that much louder. It really equalized the pressure in the room, as the doors are much easier to close now. Hopefully, the motor is not working as hard and actually pulling more air through the duct work.
All in all, I think it was a pretty good little project, well worth the effort. I had been wanting to move the filter bag for months. I originally had it hanging right in front of the cyclone, which was always in my way! Now, I have no excuses to not work in my shop!
