If you want a bunch of fine dust to suck up to try the new mod out, don't worry about it. Replace the tiny stock impeller with an impeller that is basically the biggest impeller I can fit in the housing. At a few gates I have a 4" to 2. I also made my own pipe wall brackets out of 2x4s. Personally I think the best mod you can make would be for air flow. Plus, the stock Harbor Freight impeller as a forward-inclined fans whereas the larger Rikon impeller has a backward inclined. While I could get rather simple ones for a few bucks, I don't want a gate with a track that will eventually fill with sawdust and impede operation. Using 4" PVC removes the coupler joint. From the research it has the same shaft diameter as the harbor freight one and is a direct bolt in. Harbor freight dust collector impeller upgrade kit. I used a hobby knife to cut through the vinyl of the flex pipe, make sure my start and end of the cut ended on the same wire support. To make this work I needed the trash can to fit in the corner. The longest run is 41', using a handheld anemometer, here are the results. Cut List (each): (2) 6. Step 5: Dust Collector Installation.
Both top and bottom have a 1/8" wide x 1/4" channel for the vinyl sides. My old 35A uses tiny turnbuckles on the inside to hold it in place. It just wasn't cutting it so I modified it with a larger impeller so that I could use a six inch duct. I had to raise the filter/bag bracket to make all this work. To make the baffle, I built a circle cutting jig out of scrap.
It's a 12" impeller with reverse vanes while the stock HF impeller is 10" with forward vanes. My DC uses 5" duct, reduced to 4" at three drops, it is ducted through a Super Dust Deputy and exhausts outside. The next step is to attach the cover to the housing. At any 90* turns you want to use two 45s and a straight run of pipe instead of a 90* elbow. To hold the blower to the wall we made a mounting bracket with 2x4s anchored to the wall studs. FYI this makes a lot of noise in metal ducting. Harbor freight dust collector impeller upgrade your browser. I was concerned that painting the blades could cause them to swell slightly and I didn't want to have to re-sand them. I oriented the gate in the closed position before gluing the handle, and I did the same when screwing the other handle in. 25" adapter caulked into the gate. I moved forward and attached the 6″ piece to the cover and added 4 more screws. The best part is all total it cost me about 650$ as I had the strut & plywood so it was way cheaper than buying a 2 stage.
The top has a 5" hole for the dust collector motor. I measured the nut/washer height to exactly 4. The Super Dust Deputy XL cyclone is designed to mount directly to the lid of the barrel. You can have the best impeller, but if there is to much pressure behind the fan, you will have poor suction. 25" reducer to the 2. HF Dust Collector Upgrade Step #3. FYI: This post contains a few affiliate links to products we used to make this project. I started with a galvanized trash can, this dictates the size of the baffle. Trash can with Thein Baffle inside. I haven't fully integrated it with ducting and a permanent housing yet, but I've made some modifications such as a Thein baffle and a 55 gallon drum for chip collection. I then used a wire cutter to cut through the wire. 25" diameter hole was cut out of the 4.
Step 1: Filter Upgrade. At a home shop it's more for comfort and to avoid small shocks. There comes a time when you work on enough DIY woodworking projects that a shop vacuum just won't cut it anymore. In case you are interested, Step 1 was the Impeller upgrade and can be seen HERE. I would procrastinate cleaning the floor until I started a new project which meant if I ran out into the garage to get something, I. most likely definitely tracked in a good amount of sawdust on my socks. They are better as there is no track for dust to fill up and are much cheaper. My latest undertaking helped our garage look and function more like a woodworking shop. It was also the most expensive at $225. Dave's Workshop Blog: Central Machinery (Harbor Freight) 2 HP dust collector upgrades. Router circle cutting jig. I used a small puller to start removing the old impeller and then pulled it off by hand.
Oneida Super Dust Deputy¨ XL. Make sure the receptacle is rated at 20 amps as well. Upsize the inlet flange from 5" to 6". A mandatory upgrade is the filter.
I reinstalled the center bolt. Started out with the infamous HF 2 hp dust collector, which isn't bad for the price. The bag will catch any particles that makes it though the blower to the filter. But, it's out of stock for 3 more months and costs $120 (plus shipping). HARBOR FREIGHT DUST COLLECTOR UPGRADE W/ SUPER DUST DEPUTY XL. I will be upgrading to a 6″ hose between the DC and the Super Dust Deputy. I wanted the collector in a corner that was only 18" wide and had a garage door swing arm in the space. The next step was to remove the woodruff key from the old impeller and put it in the new one. I considered attaching springs to hold the baffle to the trash can, hooking to the can's handles and drilling a hole into the bottom plate.
5" as close to the tool as possible.