Dust deputy cyclone - Woodworking Talk

Kenbo · 06-07-2011, 07:37 PM

Hey guys. Here's the issue. I'm sick and tired of the process of emptying my shop vac and cleaning out the clogged filter. I have my shop vac located in a sound insulated cupboard in my shop and honestly, it's a pain to remove and clean out but the lack of noise from a shop vac is awesome. I've seen the dust deputy cyclone recently and it is on sale at a supplier fairly close to me. I can see that if the cyclone works the way that it should, it would make cleaning out the shop vac a job that rarely needs to be done but I'm wondering about the filter of the shop vac. Does the dust deputy prevent your filter from getting clogged? Does anyone have one of these things and do you have any opinions on them. I would appreciate any input, whether it is positive or negative. I don't want to spend my money on something, only to find out it's a piece of crap.
Thanks
Ken

firemedic · 06-07-2011, 08:08 PM

Ken, why not just go with a DC? Even if you have to build an outhouse for it...

~tom

Kenbo · 06-07-2011, 08:31 PM

I have a dust collection Tom. I have a DC with a 4" intake as well as an airborne ceiling mount collector. I use my shop vac for smaller tools and clean up around the shop and the filter gets clogged very quickly.

firemedic · 06-07-2011, 08:43 PM

Gotcha. I don't have a deputy so with that I'll leave it to those who do!...

~tom

thegrgyle · 06-07-2011, 09:40 PM

Years ago, I bought the miniture Clear-vue Cyclone (made of clear plexiglass) that is the exact same size as the one you mentioned.... in fact Clear Vue had to stop making theirs because of copyright infringements

..... Anyway, it does a GREAT job of separating the bigger bits of woodchips and sawdust, and your shop vac would be virutally clean of that stuff (at least till your container for the miniture cyclone got full). The very fine dust that doesn't get separated will just clog up your filter on the shop vac, and assuming that you only use it for sanding and smaller stuff, I don't know how much it will help with what you are trying to avoid, since the sanders primarily just make fine dust.

If you are using to clean around the shop, all the shavings and cutoff dust from the tablesaw and what-not, it would probably do that real well. Depends on how much you do of the two different activities.

I don't know if this helps..... This has been my experience, though. I never regreted buying mine, but it did take up more space than I had anticipated. You have to run a hose from the shop vac to the dust deputy, and then from the deputy to the device or area you want to use it, and then you have to have a container that the DD dumps into, and that takes up space.

Fabian

rrich · 06-08-2011, 01:41 AM

Ken,
The purpose of all cyclones is to separate the large particles from the wood flour. (a.k.a. Fine dust)

The stuff that clogs your shop vac filter is wood flour.

So the stuff that will get to the shop vac is all of the fine stuff. The larger chunks will be trapped by the cyclone.

The only thing that I could suggest is to get a "ClearStream" filter for the shop vac. You'll have to clean the filter as you do now, but your shop vac will suck better even when almost full.

I have two shop vacs and clean the filters with every emptying of the shop vacs. It's just life in a wood shop.

eley · 06-08-2011, 04:56 AM

Hey, I had the same problem, and was also looking at the DD. But I ended up getting the dust vortex from rockler for something like $30 .lees than what the DD goes for. For far it's worked great.

thegrgyle · 06-08-2011, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrich

Ken,
The purpose of all cyclones is to separate the large particles from the wood flour. (a.k.a. Fine dust)

The stuff that clogs your shop vac filter is wood flour.

So the stuff that will get to the shop vac is all of the fine stuff. The larger chunks will be trapped by the cyclone.

The only thing that I could suggest is to get a "ClearStream" filter for the shop vac. You'll have to clean the filter as you do now, but your shop vac will suck better even when almost full.

I have two shop vacs and clean the filters with every emptying of the shop vacs. It's just life in a wood shop.

Rich,

I just checked out those filters,and I will be ordering one for my shopvac. I had bought the HEPA filter for my shop vac, but I love the idea that you can clean the cleanstream ones, even rinse them in water.

Thanks for the hookup!

Fabian

ChiknNutz · 07-14-2011, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eley

Hey, I had the same problem, and was also looking at the DD. But I ended up getting the dust vortex from rockler for something like $30 .lees than what the DD goes for. For far it's worked great.

That Dust Right Vortex looks pretty good for the money, but the lid and canister are $70...did you get it on special or something? Or, did you just get the components and plans which I see is $20?

Still, the Thien system seems to be the preferred design, wonder how this DRV compares to it? Has anyone tried both? Might be a good review...

mwhals · 07-14-2011, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenbo

i have a dust collection tom. I have a dc with a 4" intake as well as an airborne ceiling mount collector. I use my shop vac for smaller tools and clean up around the shop and the filter gets clogged very quickly.

+ 1

Kenbo · 07-14-2011, 09:55 PM

For those who are interested, here is the link to the thread outlining what I decided to do about the Dust Deputy Cyclone.

And here is the link to outline what the results have been like thus far with the seperator.

Just in case some of you missed these threads.

clabbers · 10-12-2011, 10:51 PM

My friend had a Oneida DD plastic cyclone, and it kept tipping over, (top heavy) for it, so he bought a pail dolly. Last time used (5yrs ag0). Still workes, a little repair needed

reprosser · 10-12-2011, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thegrgyle

Years ago, I bought the miniture Clear-vue Cyclone (made of clear plexiglass) that is the exact same size as the one you mentioned.... in fact Clear Vue had to stop making theirs because of copyright infringements

..... Anyway, it does a GREAT job of separating the bigger bits of woodchips and sawdust, and your shop vac would be virutally clean of that stuff (at least till your container for the miniture cyclone got full). The very fine dust that doesn't get separated will just clog up your filter on the shop vac, and assuming that you only use it for sanding and smaller stuff, I don't know how much it will help with what you are trying to avoid, since the sanders primarily just make fine dust.

If you are using to clean around the shop, all the shavings and cutoff dust from the tablesaw and what-not, it would probably do that real well. Depends on how much you do of the two different activities.

I don't know if this helps..... This has been my experience, though. I never regreted buying mine, but it did take up more space than I had anticipated. You have to run a hose from the shop vac to the dust deputy, and then from the deputy to the device or area you want to use it, and then you have to have a container that the DD dumps into, and that takes up space.

Fabian

Clear Vue is selling them again. I just got one a couple weeks ago and it seems to work great.

clabbers · 10-13-2011, 03:34 AM

Does this mean they do not have any infringements on the Dust Depty?

reprosser · 10-14-2011, 10:21 AM

The new Clear Vue looks different from the old CV06. No cone below the spiral. It sits on a 5 gal bucket. They provide 2 of the 5 gal buckets so you can sit the unit inside the second bucket - makes it easy to remove and dump.

Kenbo · 10-14-2011, 05:30 PM

For those that are interested, after I posted this thread, I decided to try an experiment by making my own seperator, 5 gallon pail version of a dust deputy. I ran the experiment for about a month (I think) and the build thread, and the results of the experiment are in this thread. I saved a whack load of cash making my own seperator and use it to this very day. I am still very happy with the results and don't know how I lived without it. I don't even consider using a dust deputy or other brands of cyclones anymore. Click the link if you are interested, and try making your own before you give these big companies your hard earned money.

CNYCarl · 10-15-2011, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kenbo

Hey guys. Here's the issue. I'm sick and tired of the process of emptying my shop vac and cleaning out the clogged filter. I have my shop vac located in a sound insulated cupboard in my shop and honestly, it's a pain to remove and clean out but the lack of noise from a shop vac is awesome. I've seen the dust deputy cyclone recently and it is on sale at a supplier fairly close to me. I can see that if the cyclone works the way that it should, it would make cleaning out the shop vac a job that rarely needs to be done but I'm wondering about the filter of the shop vac. Does the dust deputy prevent your filter from getting clogged? Does anyone have one of these things and do you have any opinions on them. I would appreciate any input, whether it is positive or negative. I don't want to spend my money on something, only to find out it's a piece of crap.
Thanks
Ken

I'm a bit biased- my nephew is an engineer at Oneida Air Systems and I have a Dust Deputy- but I can tell you in the nearly three years I've had it, I have yet to replace the filter in my Ridgid shop vac. In fact, the shop vac is almost as clean on the inside as the day I bought it. My dust sources are the table saw, planer, jointer, biscuit joiner, spindle sander, bandsaw, miter saw, DA sander, router- every tool has some form of dust collector. At this point, I can't imagine not having one.

Dvoigt · 11-05-2011, 09:48 AM

I don't use a shop vac, but I did connect my shop vac hose to a 4" adapter and run it on my DC. The shop vac hose fits on my random orbit sander and my festool tools, so no need to take up the extra room with a redundant vac.

clabbers · 11-15-2011, 11:45 PM

piece of overpriced plastic, top heavy tips over alot, top popped off on mine. Called and was told "oh well , glue it" I guess for less than $100 what can you expect? I heard clearview had this first but somehow Oneida got around it with thier patent. Still it is plastic, how much does it really cost? Tried it on sanding a dry wall, failed miserably. filter still got plugged. Couldn't handle that fine of a dust. Waste of money in my opinion.

elenalee · 11-19-2011, 10:20 AM

Interesting post about dust cyclone
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