Downdraft design questions

thefabricator03 wrote:

Lol yeah misspent youth. I dont watch anything anymore, dont have the time.

You have children!

rodw wrote:

Yeh you guys get the Tacoma which is very similar to the Hilux but only with a Petrol motor. (Tacoma is bigger). The Tacoma has a C section Chassis and the HIlux is a full box section so we don't have to weld on fish plates to the chassis to strengthen it up!

Is Hilux available with gas or diesel, or diesel only?

Several foreign auto manufacturers sent diesels to the US in the 2000s, some still do, but not as many. Perhaps the emissions for diesel is too strict... the Volkswagen scandal probably added more attention to the incoming diesel autos as well.

Diesel's over here are not what they used to be. We have one left in the fleet that does not require DEF. Do you have to use DEF over there?

I started another thread about the motor drivers... same ones you are using. I am a bit lost on the configuration. I got it turning a motor, but it's super slow...

txtrone wrote:

rodw wrote:

Yeh you guys get the Tacoma which is very similar to the Hilux but only with a Petrol motor. (Tacoma is bigger). The Tacoma has a C section Chassis and the HIlux is a full box section so we don't have to weld on fish plates to the chassis to strengthen it up!

Is Hilux available with gas or diesel, or diesel only?

Several foreign auto manufacturers sent diesels to the US in the 2000s, some still do, but not as many. Perhaps the emissions for diesel is too strict... the Volkswagen scandal probably added more attention to the incoming diesel autos as well.

Diesel's over here are not what they used to be. We have one left in the fleet that does not require DEF. Do you have to use DEF over there?

Yeh, we have a DPF that there is a class action against Toyota over. Has not bothered me yet. We only have the diesel option now. They do a petrol in some markets. I have a client in Bali with one. I think the Caribbean, Mexico and South America get a petrol.

Hmm, back on topic but I found this DIY design
www.woodweb.com/galleries/shopbuilt/posts/95.html

I found the bast gate on Amazon for $40
www.amazon.com.au/POWERTEC-70227-Aluminu...e-improvement&sr=1-1


Actually looks quite promising... and reasonably priced.

I saw the one from amazon when I was looking for parts... but figured it would be easier/cheaper to add the gates onto the square tube ports than adapt these. Home Depot sells these for $20 online.

This one is available locally for $15USD ... I almost went with it.

If I was building the duct from scratch (again) I would definitely use circular tube for the ports... there are tons of items for sale to fit the circular duct. We had the square left over and so we used it... sometimes that comes back around to bite!

Most of my searches led to woodworking cyclone dust collectors, but eventually I landed on Donaldson Torit's website for high temp, high load, dust separators. These are out of my price range but they gave me a lot of ideas.

In the end I bought my solenoids, copper tube, and most of the fittings on Amazon. The actuators and some harder to find fittings came from Allied Electronics.

I ordered a Teco Westinghouse 5HP 3 phase VFD on ebay, should be here by Tuesday or Wednesday, for half price... it must have fell of a truck somewhere in New Jersey. I am going to use that for the motor 'starter' ... I wont use most of the features on the VFD, but it will be easy to interface with LinuxCNC and also gives the ability to soft start the motor.

I have been reading the the setup guide for pncconf today. My goal for tomorrow is to get the motors all spinning properly on the old 4x4 table. At that point I may switch over the LinuxCNC setup to the big table aka 'The Mark I' ... gotta take the leap of faith at some point!

It's a start.

The pneumatic plumbing on the inside of the table is complete. The copper lines terminate at a bulkhead, which is attached to the duct 'tray'. It all slides out as one piece.

Looks fantastic. Can't wait to see how it works.I was given a DXF file for a 8" blast gate yesterday. I'm still pondering how to put mine together. How much space do you have from the bottom of the slats to the bottom of the tray?

Should the air rams be covered to protect from falling sparks do you think?

rodw wrote:

Looks fantastic. Can't wait to see how it works.I was given a DXF file for a 8" blast gate yesterday. I'm still pondering how to put mine together. How much space do you have from the bottom of the slats to the bottom of the tray?

Would you mind sharing?
I will have to measure from the slats to the bottom of the tray and get back to you. Making a reminder to myself now.

rodw wrote:

Should the air rams be covered to protect from falling sparks do you think?

That's a good question. You are likely to have your exhaust table running before me, I still have to get LinuxCNC to move the gantry around! I went ahead and removed the electronics and computer that I had been using. Hopefully that will force me to get this one running with LinuxCNC. I got some motors turning on the bench, but that is not the same.

I read through your thread (on another forum) where you documented the entire spaceship build. You are a madman, but you have a really cool spaceship!