I made a swarf / dust 'cyclone' separator in about 30 minutes to go in front of the vacuum in the shop. This way I stop filling up expensive bags (I like bags for dust removal) with metal chips and swarf. And now I don't have to remove the chips by hand, I just just grab the vacuum and dump the pail.
This design really isn't a true cyclone, and might not won't work well for fine dust (I haven't tried it), but for larger particles (like metal chips) it works very well. It also saved me $100 from buying the Dust Deputy - a great inexpensive cyclone but a tad expensive for what I want to do. The total cost (no included the hose - which you would have to buy anyway) was around $10 or so dollars.
The used bucket with a lid was free from a someone with a pool. It was used for bromine pucks for pool treatment.
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