Opinions on Dust Deputy

[Jason Rodgers]

Hi, folks. In the "It Worked for Me" article that I submitted for the latest American Lutherie quarterly, I mention that I use the Dust Deputy mini cyclone with my shop vac. Since AL runs advertising for Oneida, Tim Olsen asked me what I thought of the unit. I gave it two thumbs-up, so he asked if I'd write a review for another issue. I said, yes.

My thoughts were to give my observations and experiences as I've been using it in my shop (with one of the bigger RIDGID shop vacs), using non-technical lay terms. But it would be nice to include some observations and experiences of folks using different setups: i.e., different sized vacuums, different diameter hoses, different length of runs, different filters, etc.

I know we have discussed the Dust Deputy here before, but I don't want to just loot the archives. If you are interested in sharing your experiences, I would quote you in the article and let you proof a rough draft before sending it off to GAL headquarters. And of course, I would direct traffic to the MIMF for further reading!

Thanks, in advance!

[Bob Hammond]

Hmm, I'm not directly addressing your question, but a head-to-head comparison to a shop-built Thien baffle separator might be informative. One could start with one pile of chips and dust, divide it in two parts of equal weight, and then feed them to the separators with tared-weight collection buckets And then weigh the collected dust.

[Bob Gramann]

I have one installed on a Ridgid vacuum. I waited much too long to buy it. I can go for a long time now (weeks)without emptying the vacuum and cleaning the filter. Before, cleaning the filter was required after a single sanding session (sometimes I use the vacuum on the ROS istead of hooking the sander up to the dust collector). I heartily recommend the Dust Deputy. (Since I took the photo, I have replaced the tape with rubber Fernco sleeves).

[Waddy Thomson]

I have one of the first iteration versions, the steel one with the steel drum, and I have used it with both a large Shop Vac and now use it with a Festool Vac,. It has performed flawlessly, and I only have to empty it every few months. Most times there is no dust in the vacuum, or so little, I do not have to change the bag or clean the filter, depending on the vac I'm using. On;y the ultra fine dust makes it through to the vac. I had/have HEPA filters on both the Shop Vac and the Festool.

[Jason Rodgers]

Bob H, I like the way you're thinking, especially regarding comparisons with other smaller, bucket-topper chip-collection products out there. I'm guessing you're referring to those simple "separator" thingies, with one hose in and one hose out on a fancy bucket lid? I don't have one of those, and from what I hear, they're just silly compared to the DD.

Bob G, you had chips/dust in your shop vac container? I'm with Waddy on this one: I have found almost NOTHING but very fine dust in the shop vac. I emptied the bucket two or three times, but not the vac. After a few months of using it on the jointer, drill press dust hood (as described in my article), and general sawdust and shavings cleanup, I opened the shop vac to see how things were going. There was some very fine dust from shell sanding, and a couple stray planer curls, but it was otherwise empty.

Waddy, what are HP ratings of the various shop vacs you've used? I realize those don't quite equate to the HP and cfm ratings of larger dust collection units, but I suppose it would be useful in side-by-side shop vac comparisons.

Maybe I just need to ask: what sort of info would you want to read in a product review that would persuade you make a purchase? Do you need cfm or velocity info? I was thinking about putting a ping pong ball on the end of a fish scale and letting it suck on it, with and without the cyclone to get a comparison of how much draw might be lost with the cyclone in line (I'm thinking waaaay low tech here).

[David King]

It works, it's cheap -end of story I say.

[Bob Gramann]

Jason, now when I empty the vacuum, it's the upper bucket under the Dust Deputy. The main vacuum chamber usually doesn't have anything in it (except maybe a couple of curls as you described). There's a small amount of fine dust in the filter which I vacuum off.

[Waddy Thomson]

Waddy, what are HP ratings of the various shop vacs you've used? I realize those don't quite equate to the HP and cfm ratings of larger dust collection units, but I suppose it would be useful in side-by-side shop vac comparisons.

Horsepower ratings are pretty useless. The manufacturer rates the ShopVac at something like 6.5hp, a total joke. CFM is something like 210 CFM and static pressure is 58". The Festool is not rated with the same specs, so I can't compare directly, but it works better than the ShopVac, and it's smaller, and fits under a bench easily, so it's out of the way. My DD sits on the floor behind my drill press, and the vac is about 6 feet away under the bench my band saw and 4x25 sander sits on. I use it most at those locations. I have another vac, without the DD that I use for general work where my solera is located. I do use bags in my vacs, and find that while it might limit power a bit more, it sure makes clean-up easier, and keeps the filters cleaner.

[Alan Carruth]

I got one of the early version DDs when I was preparing to put foam insulation in my attic. There was about 2" of rock wool up there that we needed to clean out. My small shop vac says it holds six gallons, but I don't believe it. Even with daisy-chained hoses the DD worked really well, and saved a lot of effort. Since then I've mostly used it when re-sawing, and it does a very creditable job of picking up the dust from the bandsaw.

Alan Carruth / Luthier

[Dan Gilmore]

My experience is very similar to what the others said. I have the plastic DD version, over a bin, then into a big Ridgid shop vac with a HEPA filter. It has performed beyond my expectations, using it with several machines. While I do have a true dust collector for my big tools, I still use the DD/Ridgid fairly often. I'd recommend it with no reservations.