| Blog series by BrettLuna | updated 10-23-2018 10:58 PM | 6 parts | 6446 reads | 5 comments total |
Part 1: Design and Adapting the Air Filter
Since we’re replacing our well pump this week, I won’t be buying that spiffy new dust collector this fall that I’ve been eyeballing. Instead, I opted to modify my current DC, a very humble, very 1-horsepower-ish Shop Fox W1727. The plan is to replace the filter bag with a more efficient pleated canister filter, equip it with a Super Dust Deputy separator, incorporate my iVac remote switch, and build a new base to hold it all. Here’s what points A and B look like: ...
Part 2: Minor Update
I took yesterday off to be home for the replacement of my well pump and took some of that time to tinker with the dust collector. I added some foam tape the filter cap and to the outside bottom of the tub, where the clamp secures the dust bag. Much better seal there, now. While I was emptying the dust bag, I tossed a few handfuls on the floor for an impromptu test. This thing sucks more than it ever has. My guess is the old filter bag had about 25 ft² of surface area. With about 10 ti...
Part 3: Pieces Parts
I spent part of my Saturday laying out cut lines and making the straight cuts on the table saw. Sunday, I did my bandsaw work, gave the edges a first smoothing, rounded over most of the edges, and did some more work on the caster base. This included trying out my new corner radius jig from Rockler.
Part 4: A little paint, a few screws...
Progress has been slow thanks to various distractions but I now have the caster base painted with Krylon “Hammered” spray paint, in black to give it a textured, industrial look. I also got the initial assembly of the chassis done: Assembly was good ol’ glue and pocket screws. Once the paint on the base has cured completely, I’ll set the chassis and dust separator in place to dial in where to mount the cone support. A complication with that is that cones are rou...
Part 5: Final paint
Finally, some real progress with the tedious finishing process. I put the last coat of paint on the new dust collector chassis: I abandoned my plan for the cone support. It was proving just too finicky. I’ll come up with another means of securing the barrel/separator. The “hammered” spray paint (dark bronze, here) was kind of tricky to apply. It likes a moderately heavy and very wet coat to develop the texture, rather than several thin coats as recommended for other sprays. I m...
Part 6: Overdue Update - Pretty Much Done
I’ve been remiss in keeping the blog up to date. I did finally get the chassis primed and painted: I then mounted it to the base; installed the iVac remote switch and an electrical box; and tried the Super Dust Deputy on for size: A story about that electrical box: the home centers didn’t have a single-receptacle cover for that box, so I bought a blank cover to to modify. I measured the receptacle diameter as 1-3/8”, precisely drew my layout lines, chucke...
