Dust Deputy

Dust deputy shop vac cyclone separator do you....

  • Have one already

    Votes: 21 48.8%
  • Have an equivalent home made one

    Votes: 3 7.0%
  • Would like to get one or make one

    Votes: 14 32.6%
  • Not interested in using one for my shop vac.

    Votes: 5 11.6%

  • Total voters
    43
  • Poll closed .

Rob Keeble

Member
Messages
12,633
Location
GTA Ontario Canada
Ok we aint had a poll for some time so why not. Yeah i know some of you hate them well just look the other way then.:D

This one i was wondering about the dust deputy. Recently got hold of one and hooked it up to my vac and what a delight. No more cleaning out the shop vac and the hepa filter stays clean and keeps expelled air clean.
 
Love mine. Built a little cart for it. It fills up the bucket and keeps the filter clean and the vacuum empty. Keeps the efficiency of the vacuum up as well :thumb:
 
Have one and love it. It has paid for itself in HEPA filter replacement savings. My only complaint is that the bucket lid that came with the kit comes off too easily when the hose gets tugged. Nothing a little Yankee/redneck engineering can't fix, just haven't gotten around to doing anything about it yet. Also, I have limited floor space in my shop, so it seems I'm moving the shop vac cart out of the way more than I'm using it. Still, I highly recommend the Dust Deputy. :thumb:

BTW Jason, that's an awesome setup. :clap:
 
I love mine. I bought it when they were on sale a while back and mounted it on a 5 gallon bucket. replaced mu old beat up filter at the same time and got a better longer vacuum hose. All great improvements. I'd like to see pictures of peoples set ups if you have them. The thing I really like about it is, I keep my shop a lot cleaner now that I have the the cyclone. I hated emptying the shop vacuum and cleaning the filter all the time. Here is mine:
 

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I bought the DIY version and love it. I used an HD 5 gallon bucket. I think the bucket is a little "light weight" because it starts to cave in on itself if I am using it for extended periods. Ive been looking for a more heavy duty replacement bucket. I may have to go direct to Oneida to get it.
 
I used an HD 5 gallon bucket. I think the bucket is a little "light weight" because it starts to cave in on itself if I am using it for extended periods. Ive been looking for a more heavy duty replacement bucket. I may have to go direct to Oneida to get it.

I'm using a galvanized steel ten gallon trash can with mine. I made a new lid for the can from a circle of ½ inch plywood with closed cell weatherstripping around the edge to seal it to the can. Works great with my Fein vacuum. In over two years, I've never needed to empty the vacuum.
 
hey jason do you think you lose suction from going so far in hose to your central hookup? nice shop there bud.. and that table did yu show us that when yu got done with it:)?

Physics tells me that i DO lose suction way out at the end of the hose in the furthest corner of the shop and I DO have to go easy on the floor attachment way over there (thankfully the jointer and lumber cart cover most of that corner, anyway) but in the end, I can't say i've seen ANY issues with suction so far. It'll still suck up a nail if i'm not paying attention and eventually works its way all the way up to the ceiling and through the ABS into the cyclone.

I think having the cyclone keep the filters so clean and not using a HEPA filter probably keeps the airflow up there pretty good which might be why I have such good performance from the rig.

The table .... well the table ain't done yet. I put the drawer in clamps last weekend (after about a 9 month break from it, working on my back room) and so hopefully i'll be getting a finish on it this weekend. Hopefully.

Anybody figure out how to manufacture spare time, yet? I could sure use some! :)

Thanks for the comments, everyone. Didn't mean to hijack the thread with my showin' off :eek:
 
Have one. Love it. Got it as a gift; steered the giver to the sale at Rockler. Well worth what was paid and probably more. Part of the satisfaction may come from running a shop vac that I often have to purposely leak via a rotater-cuff-valve designed for the purpose. I run a 25' x 2-1/4" hose and add a whip to that if/when required for the ROS, router and such.
 
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I have one and still need to build a Thien for my larger dust collector. I picked up one when they were introduced and have used it for drywall, woodworking and other things. My father was impressed when we did the drywall, but asked about the whine (used with a Fein vac). Since I had transported it, I didn't have a good connection at the lid and a little duct tape quieted it down. He ended up buying the bare deputy, and I picked up a pickle bucket from a friends restaurant (thicker then the Dust Deputy buckets, and as slick). I made a ring out of some scrap at a machinists friends shop, and dad used some old cork board material as a gasket. He was using it with a tiny (1.5 gallon) shop vac, although he did move it through a few, to compare it to one of those cheaper bucket lids (sent me pictures). It did a much better job then those cheaper lids.

He built a cart; I need to, but I have used it on other things and don't want to keep tearing the cart up (probably should get a couple more pickle buckets for cart only use).
 
Im actually thinking of the larger one for my DC so the suction doesn't degrade as the bag fills. When I am planing or jointing stock once the bag reaches about 40 to 50% it only picks up about 3/4 of the chips. the rest get pressed into the board by the outfeed roller or shot back at me from the jointer. I'm considering a 3hp 2300 cfm but still the cyclone may be a greater benefit.
 
Randal brings up a point I forgot to mention. Before I had the Dust Deputy, I was using one of the molded plastic "separator lids". It was just about worthless. The difference between that and the cycle were like night and day.

Rich, you might look into building a Thien separator for your big DC (at least until you get a cyclone). The cost is minimal, and they are amazingly effective. Phil Thien has a forum set up to discuss them here:

http://www.cgallery.com/smf/index.php?board=1.0
 
Randal brings up a point I forgot to mention. Before I had the Dust Deputy, I was using one of the molded plastic "separator lids". It was just about worthless. The difference between that and the cycle were like night and day.

Rich, you might look into building a Thien separator for your big DC (at least until you get a cyclone). The cost is minimal, and they are amazingly effective. Phil Thien has a forum set up to discuss them here:

http://www.cgallery.com/smf/index.php?board=1.0

Ive thought about it. Ive also looked into plans of building my own cyclone.
Its on "the list" of the many things I need to do to improve my shop. :eek:
 
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