A Bit Off Topic…

I have been very busy these last few weeks and have had little time for radio-activity other than running FT-8. Early mornings here at the QTH have been active on 15m and sometimes 10m into Europe stating after dawn. 40m remains good into Asia during the same time of day. I am working on some antenna ideas to take advantage of the improving conditions. More to come on that topic…

I did get a bit distracted this week on completing a dust collection scheme for my 3020-pro CNC machine. I have a small shop vac but not a cyclone separator. I did not find one scaled to my needs nor within my budget. I was at a local pawn shop recently where I saw several upright vacuums cleaners for sale with the separator feature on them. I picked up a “Dust Devil” for $15. Removing the canister and the hose I took some measurements and 3D printed three hose adapters to hook this up as a separate cyclone separator. Everything fit on first try and lo and behold the thing actually works!

The nice thing about this hack is that the vacuum can be easily returned to service as a floor vac. Not bad for $15. Next it an enclosure for the machine which I’ll prototype with dollar tree foam board.