November 14, 2024

BAUER Cyclone Dust Separator to RIDGID Vacuum Adapter

I bought this BAUER Cyclone Dust Separator Kit for 5 Gallon Buckets from Harbor Freight to try out because I’ve always wanted to try one of these and with a coupon in was pretty cheap.  While it does work better than expected it does have quite a few short comings.  Its quite tipsy (while empty) so keeping up right is a problem while working, the lid is impossible to remove without a pry tool and it’s really flimsy, and it doesn’t fit any of the vacuum hoses I have.

They give you this adapter but as you might see from the dust ring my 2.25″ Ridgid hose only fits on it about .25″ and is very restrictive with the smaller step down for other size hoses.

To solve (at least that problem for now) I jumped into CAD to design and then 3D print my own custom adapter.

I got pretty close (on the second try) with the design so the adapter conforms to the spiral vortex generator.  Being 3D printed I wanted as much contact area as possible so its stronger. I did print it with 5 perimeter shells and I think 60% infill too.

Here is the 2.25″ OD vacuum hose connected.

Here is the full system. So far it works well… if it does break I might change the adapter design to a 90° bend which might help with it tipping over too as my hose is a little shorter than normal.

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