Shopsmith Forums

So we have all been there, working on a project and half way through you have to take the filter off the shopvac and go outside and bang it against the wall, meanwhile inhaling all the dust. I have a older home that we have been renovating for a few years. I have bought probably 7 or 8 filters in that time, some I dont even bother to clean because I didnt want to fuss with the dust.

I took down a few wood working magazines on my latest trip and noticed this DIY cylone for 59.00 with free shipping. They also have a 99.00 kit that includes all the hardware, mounts and hose. I have a Rigid Vac (actually 3 of them) and they have a 100 percent replacement parts warranty. So I order another hose for free. I had assorted hardware laying around the house. I did need to purchase a few bolts and 5 gallon buckets.

So for a price break down.

59.00 cyclone from Oneida Air Systems
23.00 for two 5 gallon buckets 8 5/16 bolts, washers and locknuts, and a 1/4 sheet of plywood.

It took me maybe 3 hours to assemble on the Shopsmith. It would have been even a shorter time if I had the Bandsaw up and running but we are restoring it right now.

Tools I used was a Jigsaw, a circle cutter for the drill press, battery drill, wrenches, and a screwdriver.

Now for the good stuff. So lets test it out I thought. I took the shopvac contents and dumped them onto the floor of the garage. Hooked everything up and vacuumed it up. It was fun watching all the dust and spin around the cyclone but I noticed some stuff seemed to hang up towards the top. I thought to myself I just wasted 82 dollars. So I opened up the shopvac to my surprise nothing inside. Clean as a whistle. Opened up the 5 gallon pail and it had everything inside. Now it was time to really torture the thing with some dog hair. My wife often uses the shop vac on the floors inside the house because it does a good job of getting up all the dog hair. We have 3 labs so it builds up quickly. Took it to the other shopvac contents and still nothing inside the vacuum. I tried MDF dust and all kinds of things that would normally clog the vac in seconds. Still no dust to be seen. It does a good job at keeping the dust out of the shopvac.

Something that also made me happy was I was able to clean the other filters of the shopvac with the vacuum without the vacuums own filter getting clogged! So I have 3 clean/almost new filters without having to beat them or standing a chance of damaging them.

Another feature that made me happy is the ability to switch out 5 gallon buckets. I can use one for my metal work and the other for wood work.

So if you haven't noticed I am very happy with my purchase. Today it save me already 60 dollars in new filters. One being a Hepa Filter for $30 alone:eek:

Here are some links to the kits

59.00 kit http://store.oneida-air.com/dust-deputy-diy.aspx (free shipping)

99.00 kit http://store.oneida-air.com/dust-deputy.aspx (It doesnt look like they off free shipping for this kit)

I will post pictures and video later so you can see the proof in the pudding.

Josh

Now you have done it! Just when I finished juggling my budget for the last half of this year along comes your post and a deal on something I want!

To top that off I just finished cleaning up some drywall dust from a bathroom upgrade I'm working on and thinking to myself here goes another filter.

To top even all that off I hadn't thought about the two bucket idea! I have been working on a project with sawdust, plastic bits, and aluminum chips and now drywall dust, that mix will be going to the land fill. The wood chips I would like to have saved and used for mulch or added to the compost pile in thin layers. Two buckets would let me do that a whole lot easier then any other way I can think of.

Yes now You have done it, you have shown me the path to future dustless happiness, and that is priceless, well minus the $$ to buy it.

Ed

Video finally went live. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjxHiGXaTbo

I had been seeing these in the woodworking mags but had not given it more than casual thought since I have two big collectors and intend to pipe them outside. Then it struck me that one might be much better at sucking the fine ash out of our pellet stove than the steel bucket version we use now. The pellet ash is fairly clean as ashes go but one could sure save a lot of filter cleaning on the vacs. I could still use the steel bucket but hot spots are pretty much non existent in our pellet ashes.
I also kind of like using a vac for sawdust on some machines (stuff like a scroll saw for example) that do not make large amounts of dust rather than running a big unit for them. I can often run a short hose and mount the vac under the tool instead of dealing with a hose across the floor or hanging from overhead. One of these would make the vac effective for a longer time. As long as the vac fan motor unit was sufficient a very small vac could be so used. I'm thinking of old but good more powerful household vacs here... A decent old garage sale Filter Queen would be great. Many of the better Eureka canisters of the 1970's to the 1990's shared the same 2 fan double ball bearing Lamb Electric motor unit as many of the high priced door to door units. The big plus for the Filter Queens was that they did a far better job of protecting their motors from dust than most. They are also very quiet and fully rebuildable.
If you have a noisy one the ball bearing you want is a 38KDD.
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I wonder if they are going to come out with a 4" version of this plastic cyclone unit?
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BTW, you guys do know that you can wash those wet/dry vac filters out with a garden hose any number of times don't you??? Just back flush them from the inside and sit therm in the sun or in front of a fan so it will dry and not rust the metal bits. No banging and no cloud of dust...
I also sometimes use compressed air with a long stemmed (a 3' length of steel brake line with a bend at the end) blow-gun that I made up years ago for blowing the chaff out of tractor radiators.

Hi,

Placed my order last week for the $99 version but I did notice that they claimed the "sale" ended at the end of May on the web pages.

Still waiting to see what the charges are going to be. Got a UPS number tonight so I should be finding out soon. The $99 version had a fix rate shipping note which did not appear when I checked out... they did say a second invoice would be forth coming with shipping charges if they apply.

Been holding back on some more drywall sanding in hopes of testing the unit out on that.

Really glad this got called to my attention, well if they honor the prices anyway.

Ed

Sorry Ed - Why would you want to sand Sheetrock? A damp sponge will smooth out any irregularities from the mud and it is a lot less messy!

I would say you don't have a vacuum powered sander right? I got one just about 26 years ago and the only thing wrong with it is that it takes it toll on dust filters. This new system may change all of that, and I'd like to test it out.

You are correct in saying a sponge or wet cloth does work well on mud I don't like that method as well for spackling which is another thing on my todo list along with some painting and trying out that new green painters tape... never a lack of things to do around home.

Ed

charlese wrote:Sorry Ed - Why would you want to sand Sheetrock? A damp sponge will smooth out any irregularities from the mud and it is a lot less messy!

reible wrote:I would say you don't have a vacuum powered sander right? I got one just about 26 years ago and the only thing wrong with it is that it takes it toll on dust filters. This new system may change all of that, and I'd like to test it out.

You are correct in saying a sponge or wet cloth does work well on mud I don't like that method as well for spackling which is another thing on my todo list along with some painting and trying out that new green painters tape... never a lack of things to do around home.

Ed

The damp sponge is also easier on the paper surface of the drywall.

As far as spackling, why not use mud for that also?

Real painters do NOT use tape:D

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This the item I want to try out again and see how well it functions with the cyclone.

Ed

When I was finishing my basement I got one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/MT800-Sand-Kleen- ... B00005A1K8

Works really well, you get the speed of screen sanding (wet sponge works but takes to long for a large area), and good dust control. Just make sure to set the air bleed right or the sand head wants to stick to the wall and makes it hard to sand.

Duane