22 Replies

empty it more often,that should make things much easier.

I suppose emptying it more often is the option. It’s a shame that you can only use a small portion of the bag.

I went to the place I bought the dust collector for something completely unrelated and the salesman asked me about the dust collector, I told him my issues and he said “you are not the only one with this issue”
OK, I do feel a little better but it still doesn’t solve the problem, great dust collector but the bagging system design is terrible.

sometimes the options are limited. You may be able to create a box or some other container that will be easier to empty.

I’ve learned to empty my dust bins weekly. That has become my normal routine, every Sunday I clean up the shop and empty the shop vacs, dust collector, and saw dust bin under my table saw. Blow out filters and vacuum the shop. That way stuff doesn’t build up beyond a weeks worth.

This is dust collector #4 in my shop and the smallest one of them, the weight of a full bag is certainly not a problem, since I have a forklift. The problem is I don’t have the option (without a multitude of problems) to have a full bag. There is even a clear space on the barrel that has a “full” mark. The design was obviously meant to beable to have a full bag and I hope designed without the intent of bag and cage removal issues.
I understand the design would take alot to change. It would be nice if the company could recognize this and have a future plan and have a retro fit option for mine. As for the time being I took out the bag and when it’s full I’ll use the other collector to extract the dust out of the barrel.

Get rid of the cage and the bag and just fill it to the point where you can still lift the barrel. The bag overcomplicates things. Also, there are lots of mods around for these things with all kinds of contraptions for lifting and sealing the barrel, etc. Some of them are pretty ingenious. Most focus on the actual separater, but you already have that part.

Thanks Brian. I can’t really do much with the barrel, it’s pretty flimsy. I’m sure there is a way to get a full bag, with or with out using the barrel or the cage. The weight of dust isn’t an issue with the help of the fork lift.

Mine uses a thirty gallon drum and I don’t have much trouble with it. I used fencing to make my cage (5" square openings) and a bit of shaking and twisting and they pull out fine. The suction problem is solved by running some tube down to let the air move and kill the suction problem.

The Jet video on this seems straight-forward, though I can see where suction would make the bag difficult to remove – I have the same problem with grass & leaves when I rake them, and place them in a drum – a garden hose draped down the side should eliminate that problem.

The cage allows the bag to be in the drum – otherwise, the bag is sucked-out. I agree with Brian, eliminate the cage & bag, and pour the filled container into a bag-lined trashcan – it’s a bit messy the first several times, but it is better than most alternatives. I have the large Clearvue, and empty it after each project.

This is the cage I built for my cyclone using cheap fencing. It’s easy to remove – a twist, a tug and a shake and it comes out easy.

The bags I use are cheap, clear big box clear bags. A hose from the top to the bottom allows air to enter

fencing.

This is an excellent idea… one that I will implement in my shop – for both my main system and ‘extractor’ (shop vac) system. Thanks Kelly.

Cool idea Kelly

Our tomatoes are happier for it too. The stock cages sold downtown are a poor attempt at comedy, considering the size tomato plants actually grow.

I think the entire roll, enough to make about six cages with a two foot or better diameter, and a cage for the important stuff (above) ran about $23.00.

On the collector drum in the photo, my only regret was not installing the view port higher. I’ll enlarge it one of these days.

The other think I had to do was, grind off and duct tape the heck out of any screws and nuts on the inside of the can, so they wouldn’t snag the bags.

My collector is only used on for table saw dust. This particular dust is gritty like sand. It settles down and compacts itself, so it tends to get dense and heavy. When the barrel is some what full it makes it very difficult to remove the cage, and forget about removing the bag.

Timothy, the solution MAY be less difficult than you thought: If you make a cage just big enough to fit the inside of the barrel, then make one a few inches smaller in diameter, They would sandwich the bag and might make it easier to pull out.

Ideally, the cage(s) should be smooth wall, to avoid catching on anything. For example, I have a big chunk of flexible, plastic like material sold to avoid scratching appliances, when moving them. It’s about thirty inches wide and about four feet long.

The larger cage would keep the bag contained and allow you to pull it out of the barrel. It may even provide enough spacing to allow air in to the barrel. Otherwise, you’d need a couple 3/8" hoses.

If the cage you have now is hanging because of horizontal connections of the wire, the solid might solve the problem. Ones I’ve seen sold to hold plastic bags open for filling with leaves make getting wet leaves out of things much easier.

If you try this route, you can check, for example, with moving companies and those who supply them, as well as garden and law care suppliers for the large plastic you can roll.

It seems that in one way or another people are reconfiguring the manufacturers design. It seems that is what I also need to do…..but I won’t, I have a gallon bucket that I scoop it out with, into garbage can. I took out the bag and the cage. …..i guess technically I did change it up…..whatever, it still works I guess

Hello Timothy,
You can add a serarator but you will still have to empty it. (psst and not every 6 months!) maybe at the end of each day as a pack up routine.
I have a small DC with 90mm pipe, so I made my own from two buckets and a short piece of pipe

The dust as Kelly said vegies love it along with my friends Chooks.

If you use plastic buckets be sure to ground them to prevent static shock.

I have a 30 gallon barrel with a locking lid that I use for my DC and a bin sensor that lets me know when the bin is full. The sawdust gets dumped behind my shop or in my wife’s compost. Briefly used a bag in the bin, but found it an extra unnecessary step.

Rob, your separater looks a lot like mine. I went through 3 redesign/rebuilds before I settled on this one. It works with my shop vac, not a regular DC.

https://woodworkingweb.com/entries/51-bucket-chip-collector

I think these separators would make a night and day improvement to any single stage system. The problem I run into is using something like that on the planer or jointer fills it up too quick, then everything starts passing into the bags again.

Keep your eyes peeled for thirty gallon plastic drums, if you have the same problem. A plywood top for the one you guys showed and one would be off and running.

Note mine a few posts back. It has handles and wheels installed, which makes it easy to just pull out back and dump. If you’re not running bags, those things might make it a little easier to deal with emptying loads.