In order to continue assembly of my new sand table I had to remove the soda layer of the test run and found the fine sticky powder is quite a mess to handle. So I made a cyclone collector to prevent the soda from clogging the vacuum and to recover the soda cleanly.
The cyclone head and bottle connector are 3d printed. Otherwise there is only a large and a small Trader Joes sparkling water bottle, a few inches of 1" and two feet of 3/4" PVC pipe. Works pretty well, maybe even useful for other cleanup work.
In case somebobody needs such a sucker (or a Ghostbuster gun), I attached a zip with the .stl and .sat files for the cyclone head and the bottle connector. It also contains the models for the sand comb (see image below) with 3 different length tines.
I printed all parts from PLA without any support. In spite of the cavities and overhangs that worked just fine
Some minor cleanup with an exacto knife or sand paper may be required to make the tubes fit
There is a 4" long, 1" nom. diameter white PVC pipe glued into the center of the cyclone head
The suction tube is about 2 feet long from 3/4" nom. dia. PVC (preferably the thin wall 200psi variety). I softened the end with a hot air gun and squished it as a flat nozzle.
Cut the bottom of a large Trader Joe's sparkling water bottle with a box cutter right where the straight side transitions into the knobby bottom
Clean the mating groove in the cyclone head from fuzz (thick needle or back of an exacto blade)
Test fit the bottle and glue in with e.g. silicone (I used the clear non-foaming Gorilla glue)
Glue the suction tube into the side socket and fasten to the bottle, e.g with tape.
The coupling is designed to mate with my Dyson handheld vacuum. Other types may need an adapter.
