Small Shop ShopVac Dust Collection Upgrade

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egnald

Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2017
Messages
3,119
Location
Columbus, Nebraska, USA
Greetings all:

Since reading a couple of recent threads on dust collection systems and upgrades to them, I decided that it was finally time for me to take care of some overdue maintenance on the system in my small shop.

History: About 6 or 7 years ago I started out with a ShopVac brand 25 gallon vacuum fitted with one of those super flexible, collapsable, hoses that will reach to every corner of my shop. It didn't take me long though to realize that I needed something better and more convenient to empty out and clean. Enter the home made Thien Baffle system. As simple as this was, it was a huge improvement. At that time I also upgraded the filter in my vacuum from the standard paper and foam to a pleated cartridge type. Following this, a year or so later I came across a video review and comparison of several vacuum cleaner based cyclone type separators by the Wood Whisperer. The hands down winner appeared to be the Oneida Dust Deputy which was advertised to capture 95% of the dust entering the system. So I invested in a kit that included two buckets and casters to attach the Dust Deputy to a ShopVac. At less than $100 bucks it provided a much cleaner design and significantly improved performance over the home-built Thien system. During the upgrade I also installed a ShopVac filter bag in the vacuum just to provide another layer for filtering out fine dust in addition to the cartridge filter.

Upgrade: Yesterday I read about the "New" style of Anti-Static Dust Deputy that incorporates what they call Neutral-Vane technology which is touted to improve separation efficiency by 20% over their older model and to remove 99% of the dust. (There are a couple of YouTube video reviews with some testing of the efficiency improvement from the new design that appear to bear this out). So, this morning, along with doing some long overdue cleaning and maintenance, I replaced my "old" Dust Deputy with the "new" Neutral-vane design. I also replaced the standard filter bag in my vacuum with one made for capturing drywall and other fine dust.

So, other than occasionally emptying the bucket, my system will probably go without maintenance for another 5-years and I will have a little more peace of mind that I at least did something to improve the air quality in my shop considering the available space and my financial means.

For anyone that has a limited space and doesn't have some kind of dust collection system, I would highly recommend the Oneida Dust Deputy and shop vacuum system. - Dave

A few thumbnails:

Drywall and Fine Dust bag, cartridge filter, "new" Dust Deputy:
IMG_2447 (cropped).jpg IMG_2450 (cropped).jpg IMG_2451 (cropped).jpg

The system tucked back in its place, tucked away under a shelf in the shop:
IMG_2452 (cropped).jpg
 
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