Prevent Sawdust From Clogging the Vacuum Cleaner Filter With a DIY Pre-Separator
The more you use your Shop-Vac, the more you lose suction due to a clogged filter. This DIY pre-separator will prevent your Shop-Vac filter from clogging up and prevent its suction power from decreasing.
When you pick up material such as sawdust, the pre-separators channel most of the sawdust into a separate container, so it never gets into the filter and main chamber of your Shop-Vac. No sawdust getting into the filter means it stays cleaner longer and provides more suction. This build from Instructables user Art Mulder ( wordnwood ) uses buckets and plywood scrap to recreate the same effect as commercially available pre-separators such as the Dust Later Cyclone . Pre-separators like Dust Later and other similar products can cost anywhere from $ 60 to $ 200, but this build will cost you next to nothing if you have some of the components lying around in your workshop. You can find complete instructions for a DIY cyclone separator at the link below and see it in action in the video above.
Cyclonic separator with almost free cycle from two buckets | Instructables