Small Shop Dust Collection Systems. Bing. A Woodworker's Bench Notes, your source for plans, jigs and information. Thien Type Pre-separator - by Vincent Nocito. Like many others, I found myself constantly cleaning my dust collector because the cartridge was plugged with sawdust and chips.
I purchased a cyclone separator lid (photo 2) at a woodworking show and placed it on a 30 gallon metal trash can. While it did reduce the amount of debris getting to the dust collector, it was far from optimum. J. Phil Thien's Projects - Index.