I'm a relative newbie to building stuff and I so appreciate videos like this from "the pros" showing that things don't need to be fancy or perfect to work well, and that it's perfectly fine to string several pieces of scrap wood together for projects like this. Thanks, Steve.
I love that I was able to get my hands on that exact same vacuum model and didn't have to modify the plans at all. I added a small block with a hole on the outside of the cart walls to secure the first hose and used 3 pieces of scrap plywood to build a small cable square that serves as a reel to store the excess cable. I can't live without this cart now.
My favorite approach to keeping them together is something I read in a comment a few years back (never saw a video on it). The guy made basically a 4-legged stool, where the 'seat' was about halfway down the legs, and was really just the cross-pieces of 2 H-shaped frames, notched together in a cross-lap joint (so 4 uprights, joined together with a cross-lapped X in the middle). The bucket sat on the X and was contained by the upper halves of the uprights. The lower halves were just tall enough to clear the vac motor, plus a couple inches. The bottoms of the legs were attached to the top of the vac so as to be removable, by screws going through the leg into the tops of little L-brackets that had been epoxied to the top of the vac. The 5-gal bucket sat in this cradle made basically from 6 sticks, perched atop the vac, which rolled around on its own casters. Simplicity! And very affordable in today's lumber market.
6:05 Just a heads up for those watching in 2023. The casters on the current version of the cyclone separator in the video have bolts that are only 3/4" long, so you need to use 1/2" plywood for the bottom, or use other casters
Dust extraction is something we all have to deal with in a woodshop. If you work in a small space or out of your garage, you don't have to install an expensive, complicated system to get good results. I get by with a shop vac and a cyclone dust separator. More info bit.ly/WWMMdust. If you are interested in the components I use, check the links in the description.
Thanks for posting this, Steve. I originally had built a cart as well but found that the longer "wheelbase" made it more difficult to steer the thing over uneven terrain, cracks in the driveway, etc. My solution was to actually go the route that you went away from and I grabbed a plant pot holder with casters for about $5 at the garden center. I sacrificed a 5 gallon bucket and bolted it down to the caster base. The cyclone bucket just sits inside perfectly. Finally to overcome the issue of lashing it to the shopvac, I just cut a series of holes in the sacrificial bucket and threaded the strap through it like a belt. Works perfectly.
Steve Ramsey Wouldn't it be more convenient to stand the new vac on its end, have suction upwards, toward the cyclone, and have blow out the side/end? That would also reduce the surface area the entire setup takes in the shop. Might also make it easier to get the vac out when needing to change the filter. =)
Steve Ramsey Hey, I'm new to woodworking and bought a 1hp dust collection system from grizzly. what do you think about grounding the unit to prevent fire? Is it a serious concern?
I was making plans for my garage workshop. In the search for dust collection for my new table saw I watched this video, bought a good shop vac and a cyclone. My first project was a small cart for them, just like in your video. I'm very happy with how it ended up. Thanks Steve, for the inspiration! All the best from The Netherlands, Europe.
Add a little roof over the vac. That'll protect it from the rain and double as a mobile little shelf for project doo-dads when it's inside. Would also give you an anchor point for hoses.
I have had that same 4 gallon rigid vac for about 11 years now. it's been left outside enough to not be very orange anymore, but it still works pretty well. Like basically every other wet/dry vac, I do like that you can also get disposable bags for certain tasks that would ruin the cleanable filter or gunk up the container walls.
I use both a dust collector and a shop vac. The best thing I did was to buy a set of remote outlets so I can turn them on and off with the press of a button on the remote which I carry in my shop apron.
Even better, I like to use the outlet strips that have a master and a few slave outlets. Any time the "master" tool is turned on, the "slave" tools automatically turn on with the master. So, if your shop vac is plugged into a slave outlet with the power switch on the vac left on, it will automatically turn on with whatever is the master.
@@faceup5 Even better, get Alexa (Or similar) and some voice controlled outlets. Control everything; "Alexa turn on the vacuum" or "Alexa, turn on the shop lights"
@@JegolS @faceup5 has the better solution. It requires no additional step of telling Alexa/Google Assistant to turn on (and then again, off) the shopvac. It's a passive solution that turns on/off when you use the tool and stop using the tool.
Nice Build. I did something similar with my vac and a 22 gallon metal trash can. Works great. But the thing I like the most about my build is that I purchased a 20 ft hose that allows me to have the vac outside and be in my garage, cuts way down on noise and I also added a remote switch to my cord so now when it gets cold I can have the vac outside and the remote turns the vac on and off as needed. Just clip it to my belt. Works great.
The first thing I made when I started woodworking was a simple dust collector: empty plastic 10 gallon paint bucket, tangential side input just below the lid, vertical central pipe extending about 6 inches down though the lid. This hooks up to the regular domestic vacuum cleaner, when needed. The bucket lives on a shelf under my workbench, since all my power tools are benchtop devices and only used one at a time. Even though the hose is only 35mm i/d it happily picks up hand-plane shavings and almost nothing makes it into the vacuum cleaner bag, even fine sanding dust. The total cost was around 10 dollars for PVC pipe fittings and some glue yet it has saved me sooo much clean-up work, only defeated by the ******* mitre saw!
A couple of years ago i had to router about 2000’ of mahogany edging for a job. Figuring my dust collection system, broom and pan, would be overwhelmed, i decided to make a quick, portable router table and do it in the back yard. I waited for a nice breezy day and let her rip, with the wind at my back. When i was done most of my back yard and the surrounding trees look like they were sprayed with purply, red blood. Rain the next day cleaned all that. Best dust collection/disposal system ever.
Great video as always Steve. I did not hear you mention "micro-dust" not to be confused with micro-jig. After developing a never ending cough a year ago my doctor asked if I had a woodshop which I do and my wife parks her car in it. He recommended a respirator instead of the paper masks, which I found at Harbor Freight for under 20 bucks. It keeps out dust that we can not see in the 10 micron's and smaller range which is produced when sawing, sanding, using the router, ect... It worked as I am now a world class athlete in my own mind now that I can breath. I also vent the exhaust side of my shop vac to the outside as this small dust goes straight through the filter and into the air to be breathed so reducing as much of it as possible is a must. Thanks for all your ideas and happy wood.
I found your comment very helpful as I had contracted Covid 19 in March. I was hospitalized and put on a vent in ICU . I am thankful to be alive but have been left with COPD. I need to focus on clean air in my workshop. So thank you and thank you Steve.
I built a dust separator out of a 10 gallon metal drum from the car dealership I worked at. It has a thien baffle made from a piece of plywood suspended from threaded rods. The inlet outlet was a couple of pieces of PVC. Put that and my old shop vac on a cart like you did. It is amazingly efficient, the shop vac sees virtually no dust. Probably have $15 or $20 plus some scrap wood invested but it was a major game changer.
Adding a bag to the inside of the wet/dry vac is helpful to preserve the life of the filter. Most manufacturers like Ridgid and ShopVac sell bags specifically made for the various size of their vacs and this can act as another "stage" to prolong the life of the filter.
I just finished making a diy dust/sawdust collection system using 2 The Home Depot buckets and my Shop Vac. Thank you for your video on creating a portable cart for keeping them together and portable!
Howard McEwen Well, with regular maintenance, resupply of power, unavailability at odd hours, not that affordable/useful. But if you have a kid from before, absolutely the cheapest system ever!
Living in a climate where you can work outside so much of the time would make a huge difference to me, especially when it comes to dust collection. I'm jealous ;) when I see all warmth and sunshine, especially in Feb. when I have to get a snowplow to reach my car to drive to Home Depot. I made a dust collector with the cyclone-Dust Deputy-on top, and a small shop vac on the bottom. It's a great space saver. Made from scrap. Having it on top does not seem to matter.
@Steve Ramsey I also use, in conjunction with a cyclonic separator, an inline fan mounted above my cutting area. I use a piece of black filtration foam for air cleaner units, and then roll it up (twice) into a cone shape and glue the edge with super glue and activator spray. It slips right onto the intake side, does a great job of cleaning the air for extremely cheap, and the inline fans are super efficient - 0.8A at max speed, 120v. I picked up the black foam at Lowes for $5 a piece, made up a few cones, and they are washable and reusable - just spray them off with the garden hose from inside out. I'd tested the airflow reduction using air filters, pads, etc. - but they always created a large reduction in air volume movement. The cone shape is similar to the intake for a turbo, providing 360 degree pickup and increased surface area so it doesn't reduce airflow at all. Placing the same foam directly on the intake, but laying flat reduces the airflow by nearly 70%. I roll the foam twice to make the filters, giving it better particulate filtration, and it still doesn't slow it down. I use the Vivosun D4 4" fan, it has 195CFM of airflow and it's only $30. I run the exhaust side through a flex hose to the other side of the work area, so I get cool air while working and it provides directional air movement for the pickup. I wipe down the blades every couple of months, and swap filters every couple of days. Just an idea :)
I also opted for a shop vac for dust collection after running the volume numbers using 2 1/2" hose. I would recommend a CleanStream replacement filter that filters down to .3 microns and can be used both wet and dry, no more removing the filter for wet jobs. For hard to reach dust collection ports on machinery I like to keep a hose attached to the tool so it's easy to just attach to the vac.
I have to say that, not only do I learn a lot from you, I have a lot of fun and laughs watching your videos. Thank you very much for sharing. Looking forward to your future ones.
To make a few notes for dust and debris on the surface of a tool bench brush and dust pan reduces amount in the collector, on the floor (missed sawdust) broom and scoop shovel first. for those that want to remove the filter Most shop vacs use all or part of the discharge air to cool the Motor which does not take lightly to particles going through it.If there is a warning not to use around flammable liquids or such than your unit is one of these. BTW the absolute fastest way to ruin a shop vac filter is to get it wet and then cleanup sawdust or drywall dust. If using to cleanup water have a sponge (open pore foam) filter in place of the pleated one
very nice. this is essentially the same "two stage" system I used in my shop for several years before I built a full sized two stage collector. its a great little system and easy to move to the tool rather than having hoses laying across the floor creating a tripping hazard.
Health issues are the main reason to have good dust filtration and extraction. You have the good fortune to work outside year round. That cyclone has a number of benefits in that it is a Bill Pentz design vs. just a cone.Thanks for posting. Checking out dust collection hoses at my Boxstore found 30 dollars a minimum for plastic hoses.
Thank you for this. I'm just starting to get into woodworking and I was thinking of similar to this and seeing it done makes me more confident to do it myself.
I built a somewhat similar system but went vertical! Bucket and cyclone are 'downstairs' and ShopVac is stacked above. Base has rollers so easy to move around and takes little space (very important in my very, very small shop). I use a filter bag in ShopVac for additional dust filtering. Very effective and works well.
Can I just say how much I enjoy your videos! not only do you make them informative and entertaining, but I love how you always introduce the "MicroJig". It's starting to be something I look forward to in each video.
Hi Steve, thanks for the Vid :) One thing I found with setting up Vac systems was that the vacuum hose was expensive. I discovered that either grey water or flexible irrigation hose works well, it's a little stiffer than the proper hose but quit a bit cheaper here in Aus. I hope this helps. Cheers Steve :)
I coupled the Oneida cyclone and bucket with a Craftsman 5hp wall mounted vacuum and 20' long hose. Those cyclones are so worth the money. The vacuum bucket literally sees 1% of the dust. I used plumbing rubber connectors to mount to my tools for the hose to plug into to.
Another great use for a wet/dry vac....instead of spending $50 on a pipe snake to clear a plugged drain or clogged toilet, use the wet/dry! Yes, sounds weird, but if you create an air dam around the vac hose in the toilet bowl, the vac will create a HUGE amount of pressure in and out. Worked wonders for me.
Dosbomber It's not theory. I had an impossible clog that plunging for 2 hours didn't help. Luckily there was only clear water left in the bowl. I didn't want to spend $50 on a snake for a 1 time use, so I spent $70 on a wet/dry. I put the vac hose as far in the flush hole as I could, then surrounded the hose with small towels. I kept the lid as far down as I could, expecting blowback. It wasn't messy, and a few short on/off's did the trick.
I made a dust extractor from a you tube video. Only used a small handvac for the suction. It worked but not enough power. I have a small shop also and have been using a 2/12 gallon vac for about 10 years now. To save money I use paper filters and clean them outside with an air compressor when they get dirty. I can usually get about 6 full loads before they start getting holes in them. Will have to work on combining the two units and see how it works
Hey Steve, do you think you could do a video on standard lumber a person should have in stock? like what kind of go to building materials do you rely on the most? I have a workshop full of tools, but rarely any wood, and I have less working knowlege of whats out there, than what tools to use on them.
Thanks Steve, your design/plans were just what I was looking for. I got the 4 gallon Ridgid vac and built your exit set up from your plans and used a Home Depot "Duststopper" for the top of the 5 gallon bucket instead of the taller cyclone. Your plans were perfect and the project turned out great. thank you so much
Steve leaves his shop vac outside for fifteen years. Meanwhile I can spill a drink on the other side of the garage and everything within 20 feet that contains a circuit is completely ruined.
Right? Same. The latest: I buy a brand-new ShopVac. I use a bag to preserve the filter and hence prolong the suction power. I use it maybe 2-3 times a week, very light-duty stuff. About 6 months later, the motor suddenly starts sounding different, so I investigate and find that the brushes are sparking terribly. Fine. I clean the commutator and reface the brushes--which are barely used--to perfection, put it all carefully back together but it doesn't change a thing--still tons of sparks and the commutator is black again. Repeat. Same. REPEAT. SAME. Look for new brushes, which apparently don't exist. F it. Buy a new Ridgid. We'll see what happens. Pray for me....
@@daveschultz3471 Look on CL for a cheap 2 bag dust collector you can find them for 50 to 200 bucks all the time. Shop vacs are great for cleaning the car, they are not worth a shit in a serious woodworking shop. Find one at a estate sale, garage sale or a craigslist ad.Or go give harbor freight a few bucks. Depending how what your doing and how much collection power you need you'll be happy you did that. This depends on what tools you have and what your doing, A vacume dosn't work for a decent table saw. And the Air Filtration systems are too late if dust is in the air your getting dust in your lungs. You adjust the dust collection system to what type of work your doing and how much and what machines your using it for. Sure a 6" Random orbital sander might be ok with a wet vac. Put a table saw, planer, joiner power sander and so on in the mix that vacume isn't going to work for you anymore. You'll need a 1.5 to 3 hp system and bigger is always better. It also depends on where you've set up your shop, garage, basement of your house, or out in a outside workshop independent of the house. My workshop is my basement If I used a cheap system then I fill the whole house with saw dust and wreak my High efficiency air conditioner system furnace and filter. You have to pick a system that fits your needs and budget then over build it some in case you expand more. I need a system that puts 0 dust in the shop's air and can move 1800 cfm, I might get 100 cfm from what I have and 98% dust free, I won't hit the 0 dust in the air not even the best system will do that. I tried a vacume on a table saw, almost all the dust wound up on the floor.
REALLY--who on earth clicks thumbs down on this video--this is a GREAT video as always by Mr. Ramsey--he puts his heart and soul into everything he does, he teaches, he doesn't pretend to know everything and he is down to to earth--seriously?????
GREAT video Steve. This setup is the best for us "small time" woodworkers. A word of caution, be careful pushing/pulling it around by the cyclone. Maybe a handle (make it extra fancy) might be in order. Have a good weekend.
I went the other way with mine and built a mount for the dust deputy into a weird little shelf in my very small garage (can't even fit a car in there), and just stash my shop vac next to it. Add a 20 foot hose and I can reach all of my tools with plenty of hose to spare. I recently added a nice super-flexible hose from Rockler that adds another 15 feet or soand can vacuum out my car without moving the shop vac.
I Like your vac cart. I wander if you should design a push handle to help you move it around? I saw you pushing it by the cyclone and it flexed the lid of your bucket. Do you think the flexing might cause a problem some day? Thank for another good video.
Not sure how much it would affect the structural integrity of the box, but you might cut a slot in the sides of the box to view the sawdust level. Although, not sure how visible it'd be with less light entering the bucket. Perhaps a slot on either side?
Didn't Matthias have a small dust collector where he put a small light behind the bucket so that you could see the dust level. Maybe an LED strip light would work.
We started buying Dust Deputies for our miter saws at work a few years ago. It was the cheapest solution I could find at the time, and it works well. Our maintenance guys found a handy device where you plug the saw into the top outlet and the vacuum into the bottom outlet, and the vacuum automatically turns on and off when the saw is drawing power (off is slightly delayed to ensure you get all the sawdust). I'd be inclined to build something like that into a mobile dust collection cart, along with a built-in extension cord, to make it extra fancy.
you all probably dont care but does anybody know of a method to get back into an Instagram account..? I stupidly lost the password. I would love any tips you can offer me
@Bryant Knox Thanks for your reply. I got to the site on google and Im in the hacking process atm. Seems to take quite some time so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
Really useful video. Thanks! I already owned a shop vac just like this so I built a similar cart. I added a switch/splitter though that I plug both the vacuum and the tool into. So for example, when I turn on the table saw the vacuum turns on automatically as well. I also added a post-like handle that sticks up about two feet, right up the middle of the cart, so I can drag the thing around my garage. It's the most satisfying thing I've built all year, and I've spent too much time in my garage over the last 12 months.
Make a square box to collect the dust rather than a bucket as this stops the dust spinning in the bucket. It seams to work better for me and you can make the top size a tight fit for a rubbish bag for emptying. A square box can also be made rectangular so it can be hung on a wall or fit between tools. If you have the money get a long hose and put the vacuum outside if it won't annoy your neighbours.
This is something I've been considering for myself! Does the size of the box have an effect on the amount of suction? Also, what size vac are you using?
I'll reply to myself and answer this question in case anyone else is wondering... I went ahead and built several different containers of varying sizes for dust collection, and the size of the container doesn't seem to have a profound effect on the suction. I'm currently using an old 2hp shop vac connected to a Dust Deputy, which in turn is bolted onto a 5/8" MDF box I slapped together (roughly 2'x2'x3'). Works like a charm!
@@svenstenberg The size of the container will not affect suction, but as the container gets larger the surface area increases - which means more force trying to crush the container.
I add about two cups of water to the bottom of my dust 5 gal collection bucket, it keeps the REALLY fine dust from seeping back out by making it sticky. Plus, If I forget to empty the canister between work sessions it dries and hardens into a great puck shape I can use as firewood (I don't use pressure treated lumber, and nearly zero plywood, I'm crazy not stupid. DON'T BURN PRESSURE TREATED WOOD) I also have a friend that swears by a decorative wall waterfall fountain to help clean the air in his shop. One day I'm going to make (essentially) a giant wet/dry shop-vac bong to capture dust by pulling the air thru a water chamber. I'm pretty sure it's going to clog, and be wasted effort, but I'm not doing it for efficiency, but for fun... As long as I keep telling myself that.
Why did you choose keep the original operational orientation of the vacuum? Would it have been possible to stand it up on one end so the intake was pointing straight up and reduce the amount of connective hose between the two?
Lochinvar Roome That can cause the vacuum to not work on some models. Wet/dry vacs often have a float to prevent water from getting in the motor. Tilting the shop vac up makes the float more likely to slide and cover the intake. This prevents suction.
I have the same vacuum I set it up right for it to fit under my bench along with my dust deputy and can. It hasn't been blocked up yet. Also if all you use it for is the the shop you can remove the ball. I also have a bag in mine for that 1-5% that gets past the dust collector.
Haha this is so great. Halfway through the video before you mentioned the cart, all I could think of was, "Why doesn't he just make a mobile cart to put both the vacuum and the cyclone in, then the whole thing would be mobile!" Then you proceeded to do just that. Great job, Steve.
hi Steve. Love the videos. this is a great idea. I don't have a garage to work out of. my projects I work on during my lunch hour in the parking lot of my work place from the back of my tacoma pick up. for me as long as I am able to woodwork I am happy dosnt matter where. Thank you for showing your creativity to the world. you have showed me many techniques. you sir are a wood working genius. Thank you.
Hi Steve! Thanks for this video and all the others. I have been looking forward to seeing your videos every friday for the last five years. You gave me the passion of woodworking. I began with a hand saw and, a drill and a hammer to make a pallet wood small table. I made a cart as yours, some time ago. My cyclone is made from a construction site cone. I added pieces of PVC pipes on the wooden structure to hold the vacuum accessories and a broom (for everything a vacuum can't take). I added some hooks to hold a shovel for the dust and to avoid the electric cable running on the floor and blocking the wheels. And I hang some one hand clamps on the structure too. Anyway, I wish you to still be inspired, enthusiastic, and fun. Stay safe. Best regards from south of France (sorry for my English).
You could hinge the front panel where the hose is coming out so you could just pull out the vacuum to change the filter instead of unscrewing that piece. Does that happen frequently enough to worry about?
A couple of things you could add would be a place on the side to wind the power cord up. Also some way to keep the hose out of the way when not in use. Every large machine I own immediately gets a set of wheels. I am currently working on adding a cyclone to my harbor freight dust collector complete with a 55 gallon drum. All on wheels.
You often remark about the size of your shop. Compared to mine, it's palatial! My shop is in the basement and so small it's hard to turn around inside of it. I should focus on miniatures.
Thats great, good to see it works well, only observation is there is a obvious weak point on the neck of the cyclone and you have all those hoses, I think I would add a sort of handle going up to the top of the cyclone so you can move it around on that and give the cyclone and hoses some additional support so you dont snap it off. Thats all, great job thanks, good to se it working, I just bought one so will do something similar. Thanks.
"One of the advantages of the cyclone is that you can see how full the bucket is". ... [puts the bucket inside a box] ;) Oh, BTW, right now your subscriber count is 666,007. The names Bond, Lucifer Bond.
Been cruisin' the portable dust collection videos tonight. Besides thanking you for your post, I'd like to tell your viewers that I just saw an Asian content provider who adapted PVC to a slightly smaller opening by slitting it, fitting it, and taping the seam, a good trick to add to the heating and stretching or using sections of plastic bottles as if they are oversize shrink tube.
LOL. Peter Brown. I like this. My shop is increasing in tools and loosing space. I have a dust deputy on my Media Blasting Cabinet and the whole setup is on a cart. Time to cut some wood and down size my shop vacs. Great build.
Really late for this one, sorry. I used a 50 gallon plastic drum and an olde shopvac. Took the old inlet and mounted it lower on the side, mounted the motor on top on the opposite side of the intake. Basically a Shop-Vac on steroids. Put the rollers from the original on the bottom of the barrel for, well, rolling it around. Worked well until the motor burnt out. It was a VERY old unit and howled and screamed like a tortured cat right from the beginning. Did get 3 minutes out of it. Will keep my eyes open for a better unit this winter. Really enjoy your channel.
I've seen furnace filters zip tied to box fans to make a cheap and fairly effective air cleaner, placed next to where you are sanding it can help a lot.
I have this exact setup; box included. I switched from filters to the dust bag, better air flow and plenty of filtration. The cyclone paid for itself inside a month of use from having to buy bags so much.
Congratulations for your new dust collector system. My shop is in one of the rooms of my apartment. So, I use the same vacuum that I use in the car in my shop. Thank you for sharing your experiences. Thanks to MicroJig and Audible for sponsoring the show.
I ended up with affordable dust collection for both large and small tools. For small tools I actually used the same shop vac Steve did for the same reasons: my dust was going into a cyclone so I needed a small vac with good power. I went even cheaper by using the Home Depot "Dustopper." It's basically an extremely basic cyclone that pops onto a standard HD bucket. It's not as good as the big cyclone units you see out there, but it does a pretty good job for $40, which is probably a half to a third of the cyclone Steve is using here. So that's about $120-140 for the vac and the Dustopper and some accessories (all the hoses you'll need come with these two units). For the BIG dust moving, I went with the Harbor Freight 2HP dust collector. I know there's discussion about what HP means on the shop vacs, but I assure you that this thing is very close to the 2HP rating (it pops my breaker on startup every once and a while - got to get that dedicated 20-30A circuit one day). It MOVES dust like nobody's business. I stick it on my planer and it gets most of that stuff out. Same with my table saw. For anything that escapes, I hook it up to a floor sweep and use a broom to move the remaining chips over to it. The Harbor Freight collector can be had for as little as ~$180 plus shipping, which is pretty fantastic when compared to all those models that run upwards of $2000. But I did add a fairly expensive Oneida cyclone to it for about $230, plus around $50-75 in accessories like hoses, hose clamps, blast gates, and other stuff. But still, for around $450 I feel like I'm ahead of the game. The only thing I don't like is the fairly porous filter, so that'll be another investment. Lastly, check out the resale market. I've gotten great tools on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist.
BTW, tip on this shop vac: I put mine on a cart in the upright position (suction port facing up). At first this kept making it cut out for some reason. I discovered it's because of a float designed to keep water out of the exhaust port. It took some doing but I had to remove that to get the vacuum to work on its rear end. I like it positioned this way because instead of having that hose sticking out the side and going all the way up and over the cart, it just arcs from the top of the vac to the top of the cyclone.
Hey Steve you should add 2 little blocks with rabbits cut in to them on the side so you can wrap the cord on the side of the box. This is a very helpful video. My sawdust management right now is just to blow it around and sweep up what I can. Thank you.
Nicely done Steve. I usually open my garage door about a foot and open the man door so I get a cross breeze. This helps to move the very small airborne particles out of my shop/garage.
Hearing him say "I don't have a lot of floorspace" while having a 1 car garage that I turned into a shop made me die a little :( On a serious note, I've been using my shop vac for awhile, but never thought about building a cyclone for it to help with small dust collection! Your videos are always so informative and helpful, thanks for taking the time to help us plebs out!
I'm still using my old dust deputy despite needing 2 repair jobs on it to stop leaks. The twin bucket sytem leant itself well tona cart build, screw the bottom bucket to the cart and the top one can just slide in and out as needed. If you're old dd bucket will allow the new one to fit in it, you could do that and remove half the blocks/cross piece and have far easier access to the vacuum unit should the need arrise.
Good ideas. I had the same problems with my Dust Deputy. It developed a lot of leaks and the plastic deteriorated. A lot of that was my own fault though, for leaving it outside and exposed to the elements.
Nice build. One extra benefit of the cyclone preventing filter clogging is that it can allow the use of a much finer filter on the vac. The finer filter will capture the really small dust particles (the ones that are dangerous to health), and of course won't get blasted full of holes as it's not having to handle anything large enough to be visible to the eye (as long as the cyclone is separating efficiently). The problem with a normal shop vac is that the filters are either packed full of dust (losing suction) or coarse/damaged enough to pass the fine dust - so it just becomes a pump that blows the dangerous stuff all round your shop. Another benefit to working outside I guess. I see others have commented on the HP claims: 1HP is approximately 746 watts. 5HP is over 3700 watts. On a 110v US mains outlet that's going to pull 3700/110 = 33 amps! I suspect that's likely the inrush or short-circuit motor stall current; also known as the "marketing BS" figure!
Steve. I plane all the rough lumber for my projects as it cuts the cost dramaticaly. My wife takes all my chips and uses them in her many perrenial beds. It becomes a win win situation. The only wood we do not share is any pressure treated wood.
I'm a relative newbie to building stuff and I so appreciate videos like this from "the pros" showing that things don't need to be fancy or perfect to work well, and that it's perfectly fine to string several pieces of scrap wood together for projects like this. Thanks, Steve.
I love that I was able to get my hands on that exact same vacuum model and didn't have to modify the plans at all. I added a small block with a hole on the outside of the cart walls to secure the first hose and used 3 pieces of scrap plywood to build a small cable square that serves as a reel to store the excess cable. I can't live without this cart now.
My favorite approach to keeping them together is something I read in a comment a few years back (never saw a video on it). The guy made basically a 4-legged stool, where the 'seat' was about halfway down the legs, and was really just the cross-pieces of 2 H-shaped frames, notched together in a cross-lap joint (so 4 uprights, joined together with a cross-lapped X in the middle). The bucket sat on the X and was contained by the upper halves of the uprights. The lower halves were just tall enough to clear the vac motor, plus a couple inches. The bottoms of the legs were attached to the top of the vac so as to be removable, by screws going through the leg into the tops of little L-brackets that had been epoxied to the top of the vac. The 5-gal bucket sat in this cradle made basically from 6 sticks, perched atop the vac, which rolled around on its own casters. Simplicity! And very affordable in today's lumber market.
6:05 Just a heads up for those watching in 2023. The casters on the current version of the cyclone separator in the video have bolts that are only 3/4" long, so you need to use 1/2" plywood for the bottom, or use other casters
Dust extraction is something we all have to deal with in a woodshop. If you work in a small space or out of your garage, you don't have to install an expensive, complicated system to get good results. I get by with a shop vac and a cyclone dust separator. More info bit.ly/WWMMdust. If you are interested in the components I use, check the links in the description.
Thanks for posting this, Steve. I originally had built a cart as well but found that the longer "wheelbase" made it more difficult to steer the thing over uneven terrain, cracks in the driveway, etc. My solution was to actually go the route that you went away from and I grabbed a plant pot holder with casters for about $5 at the garden center. I sacrificed a 5 gallon bucket and bolted it down to the caster base. The cyclone bucket just sits inside perfectly. Finally to overcome the issue of lashing it to the shopvac, I just cut a series of holes in the sacrificial bucket and threaded the strap through it like a belt. Works perfectly.
Steve Ramsey Wouldn't it be more convenient to stand the new vac on its end, have suction upwards, toward the cyclone, and have blow out the side/end? That would also reduce the surface area the entire setup takes in the shop. Might also make it easier to get the vac out when needing to change the filter. =)
Could cause problems in the shopvac motor. It's likely the sleeve bearings on the impeller are designed for that specific orientation.
Sounds like a great idea!
Steve Ramsey Hey, I'm new to woodworking and bought a 1hp dust collection system from grizzly. what do you think about grounding the unit to prevent fire? Is it a serious concern?
I was making plans for my garage workshop. In the search for dust collection for my new table saw I watched this video, bought a good shop vac and a cyclone. My first project was a small cart for them, just like in your video. I'm very happy with how it ended up. Thanks Steve, for the inspiration! All the best from The Netherlands, Europe.
Add a little roof over the vac. That'll protect it from the rain and double as a mobile little shelf for project doo-dads when it's inside. Would also give you an anchor point for hoses.
Great idea!
Thanks for the great video. Any particular reason you went from the Oneida to the ClearVue? Thanks in advance.
Matt Heere
Wood carving searching j
.
Matt Heere Vertical would have been good for a lot of floor-space-challenged people I think
Chris Robinson Clearview, maybe because Bill Pentz recommends it?
I have had that same 4 gallon rigid vac for about 11 years now. it's been left outside enough to not be very orange anymore, but it still works pretty well. Like basically every other wet/dry vac, I do like that you can also get disposable bags for certain tasks that would ruin the cleanable filter or gunk up the container walls.
I use both a dust collector and a shop vac. The best thing I did was to buy a set of remote outlets so I can turn them on and off with the press of a button on the remote which I carry in my shop apron.
Even better, I like to use the outlet strips that have a master and a few slave outlets. Any time the "master" tool is turned on, the "slave" tools automatically turn on with the master. So, if your shop vac is plugged into a slave outlet with the power switch on the vac left on, it will automatically turn on with whatever is the master.
@@faceup5 Even better, get Alexa (Or similar) and some voice controlled outlets. Control everything; "Alexa turn on the vacuum" or "Alexa, turn on the shop lights"
@@JegolS @faceup5 has the better solution. It requires no additional step of telling Alexa/Google Assistant to turn on (and then again, off) the shopvac. It's a passive solution that turns on/off when you use the tool and stop using the tool.
@@faceup5 where can I find those?
@@luke9822 If your Alexa can hear you over a running shop vac, you're a louder man than I!
Nice Build. I did something similar with my vac and a 22 gallon metal trash can. Works great. But the thing I like the most about my build is that I purchased a 20 ft hose that allows me to have the vac outside and be in my garage, cuts way down on noise and I also added a remote switch to my cord so now when it gets cold I can have the vac outside and the remote turns the vac on and off as needed. Just clip it to my belt. Works great.
The first thing I made when I started woodworking was a simple dust collector: empty plastic 10 gallon paint bucket, tangential side input just below the lid, vertical central pipe extending about 6 inches down though the lid. This hooks up to the regular domestic vacuum cleaner, when needed. The bucket lives on a shelf under my workbench, since all my power tools are benchtop devices and only used one at a time. Even though the hose is only 35mm i/d it happily picks up hand-plane shavings and almost nothing makes it into the vacuum cleaner bag, even fine sanding dust. The total cost was around 10 dollars for PVC pipe fittings and some glue yet it has saved me sooo much clean-up work, only defeated by the ******* mitre saw!
A couple of years ago i had to router about 2000’ of mahogany edging for a job. Figuring my dust collection system, broom and pan, would be overwhelmed, i decided to make a quick, portable router table and do it in the back yard. I waited for a nice breezy day and let her rip, with the wind at my back. When i was done most of my back yard and the surrounding trees look like they were sprayed with purply, red blood. Rain the next day cleaned all that. Best dust collection/disposal system ever.
Great video as always Steve. I did not hear you mention "micro-dust" not to be confused with micro-jig. After developing a never ending cough a year ago my doctor asked if I had a woodshop which I do and my wife parks her car in it. He recommended a respirator instead of the paper masks, which I found at Harbor Freight for under 20 bucks. It keeps out dust that we can not see in the 10 micron's and smaller range which is produced when sawing, sanding, using the router, ect... It worked as I am now a world class athlete in my own mind now that I can breath. I also vent the exhaust side of my shop vac to the outside as this small dust goes straight through the filter and into the air to be breathed so reducing as much of it as possible is a must. Thanks for all your ideas and happy wood.
This comment will be of interest to future historians that will mark 2020 as the year of the dearth of respirators.
I found your comment very helpful as I had contracted Covid 19 in March. I was hospitalized and put on a vent in ICU . I am thankful to be alive but have been left with COPD.
I need to focus on clean air in my workshop. So thank you and thank you Steve.
I built a dust separator out of a 10 gallon metal drum from the car dealership I worked at. It has a thien baffle made from a piece of plywood suspended from threaded rods. The inlet outlet was a couple of pieces of PVC. Put that and my old shop vac on a cart like you did. It is amazingly efficient, the shop vac sees virtually no dust. Probably have $15 or $20 plus some scrap wood invested but it was a major game changer.
Adding a bag to the inside of the wet/dry vac is helpful to preserve the life of the filter. Most manufacturers like Ridgid and ShopVac sell bags specifically made for the various size of their vacs and this can act as another "stage" to prolong the life of the filter.
For example: www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-High-Efficiency-Dust-Bags-for-3-0-gal-to-4-5-gal-RIDGID-Wet-Dry-Vacs-2-Pack-VF3501/100520395
I use a dust deputy and a bag insert in my rigid vac and it works great....... as long as I empty the deputy bucket lol
A lot of filters can be washed and reused multiple times before needling replacement.
The bags are expensive!
I read somewhere to cover the filter with a pair of nylons. It allows air flow and still protects the filter
That pair of radio headphones 🤣😂 ah man that brings back memories. You Have great energy Steve, thanks for sharing. Hope you're well 😊
Very nice! I did pretty much the same thing, but opted for a vertical solution, opposed to your horizontal implementation.
I just finished making a diy dust/sawdust collection system using 2 The Home Depot buckets and my Shop Vac. Thank you for your video on creating a portable cart for keeping them together and portable!
My dad had an affordable dust management strategy. Me and a broom.
Howard McEwen Well, with regular maintenance, resupply of power, unavailability at odd hours, not that affordable/useful. But if you have a kid from before, absolutely the cheapest system ever!
Hope he didn't leave you outside the garage all year round!
Haha! My dad too!
David Powell Lol!
Howard McEwen It was my everyday method... until i saw this video... lets go get moms vaccum
Living in a climate where you can work outside so much of the time would make a huge difference to me, especially when it comes to dust collection. I'm jealous ;) when I see all warmth and sunshine, especially in Feb. when I have to get a snowplow to reach my car to drive to Home Depot.
I made a dust collector with the cyclone-Dust Deputy-on top, and a small shop vac on the bottom. It's a great space saver. Made from scrap. Having it on top does not seem to matter.
"I find that having plans saves me a lot of time in the shop."
Good advice for most aspects of life.
@Steve Ramsey I also use, in conjunction with a cyclonic separator, an inline fan mounted above my cutting area. I use a piece of black filtration foam for air cleaner units, and then roll it up (twice) into a cone shape and glue the edge with super glue and activator spray. It slips right onto the intake side, does a great job of cleaning the air for extremely cheap, and the inline fans are super efficient - 0.8A at max speed, 120v. I picked up the black foam at Lowes for $5 a piece, made up a few cones, and they are washable and reusable - just spray them off with the garden hose from inside out. I'd tested the airflow reduction using air filters, pads, etc. - but they always created a large reduction in air volume movement. The cone shape is similar to the intake for a turbo, providing 360 degree pickup and increased surface area so it doesn't reduce airflow at all. Placing the same foam directly on the intake, but laying flat reduces the airflow by nearly 70%. I roll the foam twice to make the filters, giving it better particulate filtration, and it still doesn't slow it down. I use the Vivosun D4 4" fan, it has 195CFM of airflow and it's only $30. I run the exhaust side through a flex hose to the other side of the work area, so I get cool air while working and it provides directional air movement for the pickup. I wipe down the blades every couple of months, and swap filters every couple of days. Just an idea :)
I'd suggest adding a handle to move the cart around instead of the cyclone - I would think it would help the seals/joints last longer.
I also opted for a shop vac for dust collection after running the volume numbers using 2 1/2" hose. I would recommend a CleanStream replacement filter that filters down to .3 microns and can be used both wet and dry, no more removing the filter for wet jobs. For hard to reach dust collection ports on machinery I like to keep a hose attached to the tool so it's easy to just attach to the vac.
dude your videos are so strangely fun to watch. Keep it up! you're inspiring
I have to say that, not only do I learn a lot from you, I have a lot of fun and laughs watching your videos. Thank you very much for sharing. Looking forward to your future ones.
To make a few notes for dust and debris on the surface of a tool bench brush and dust pan reduces amount in the collector, on the floor (missed sawdust) broom and scoop shovel first.
for those that want to remove the filter Most shop vacs use all or part of the discharge air to cool the Motor which does not take lightly to particles going through it.If there is a warning not to use around flammable liquids or such than your unit is one of these.
BTW the absolute fastest way to ruin a shop vac filter is to get it wet and then cleanup sawdust or drywall dust. If using to cleanup water have a sponge (open pore foam) filter in place of the pleated one
very nice. this is essentially the same "two stage" system I used in my shop for several years before I built a full sized two stage collector. its a great little system and easy to move to the tool rather than having hoses laying across the floor creating a tripping hazard.
Another great video, Steve. And as a project manager, I really appreciate you take the time to make a plan for this. Nice work!
Absolutely love the old Ford truck. I've owned a few of them. Take care, be safe, and have fun regardless.
I KNOW I can't be the only one who subscribed JUST for the micro jig jokes and not the ACTUAL "project videos"!
Reese Asher Steve needs to do a compilation of all of the microjig intros. A Christmas special or something.
Only if it is sponsored by Casper mattress :p
Health issues are the main reason to have good dust filtration and extraction. You have the good fortune to work outside year round. That cyclone has a number of benefits in that it is a Bill Pentz design vs. just a cone.Thanks for posting. Checking out dust collection hoses at my Boxstore found 30 dollars a minimum for plastic hoses.
Thank you for this. I'm just starting to get into woodworking and I was thinking of similar to this and seeing it done makes me more confident to do it myself.
I built a somewhat similar system but went vertical! Bucket and cyclone are 'downstairs' and ShopVac is stacked above. Base has rollers so easy to move around and takes little space (very important in my very, very small shop). I use a filter bag in ShopVac for additional dust filtering. Very effective and works well.
How did you decide to put the larger, heavier shop vac on top?
Haha! I was just going to comment about how clever that was, then the audible ad came up! Well, let me know if you ever need a body dipped.
Haha! While reading that book I was also thinking how expensive dipping an entire body would be!
You would get a huge amount of trol comments about how not well suited is that solution to get rid of a body because of the cost!
Peter Brown you can always compromise and dip a doll and turn it into a lamp or something.
nice
It's not as expensive as you think ... *looks around nervously*
Can I just say how much I enjoy your videos! not only do you make them informative and entertaining, but I love how you always introduce the "MicroJig". It's starting to be something I look forward to in each video.
I've rewatched videos just to see that part again. I'm actually kinda sad when he doesn't do that!
Hi Steve, thanks for the Vid :)
One thing I found with setting up Vac systems was that the vacuum hose was expensive.
I discovered that either grey water or flexible irrigation hose works well, it's a little stiffer than the proper hose but quit a bit cheaper here in Aus.
I hope this helps.
Cheers
Steve :)
I coupled the Oneida cyclone and bucket with a Craftsman 5hp wall mounted vacuum and 20' long hose. Those cyclones are so worth the money. The vacuum bucket literally sees 1% of the dust. I used plumbing rubber connectors to mount to my tools for the hose to plug into to.
Another great use for a wet/dry vac....instead of spending $50 on a pipe snake to clear a plugged drain or clogged toilet, use the wet/dry! Yes, sounds weird, but if you create an air dam around the vac hose in the toilet bowl, the vac will create a HUGE amount of pressure in and out. Worked wonders for me.
They make fantastic emergency-pumps. I used mine to empty a washing machine after the motor died mid-cycle.
Great idea in theory, but I don't think I'd like what was clogging my toilet to be in my shop-vac. I'd probably strike that one from the list. :P
Dosbomber It's not theory. I had an impossible clog that plunging for 2 hours didn't help. Luckily there was only clear water left in the bowl. I didn't want to spend $50 on a snake for a 1 time use, so I spent $70 on a wet/dry. I put the vac hose as far in the flush hole as I could, then surrounded the hose with small towels. I kept the lid as far down as I could, expecting blowback. It wasn't messy, and a few short on/off's did the trick.
Path in AZ
Clear water would make a world of difference.
I made a dust extractor from a you tube video. Only used a small handvac for the suction. It worked but not enough power. I have a small shop also and have been using a 2/12 gallon vac for about 10 years now. To save money I use paper filters and clean them outside with an air compressor when they get dirty. I can usually get about 6 full loads before they start getting holes in them. Will have to work on combining the two units and see how it works
Hey Steve, do you think you could do a video on standard lumber a person should have in stock? like what kind of go to building materials do you rely on the most?
I have a workshop full of tools, but rarely any wood, and I have less working knowlege of whats out there, than what tools to use on them.
Thanks Steve, your design/plans were just what I was looking for. I got the 4 gallon Ridgid vac and built your exit set up from your plans and used a Home Depot "Duststopper" for the top of the 5 gallon bucket instead of the taller cyclone. Your plans were perfect and the project turned out great. thank you so much
Steve leaves his shop vac outside for fifteen years. Meanwhile I can spill a drink on the other side of the garage and everything within 20 feet that contains a circuit is completely ruined.
How that William?
Tub trout
Right? Same. The latest: I buy a brand-new ShopVac. I use a bag to preserve the filter and hence prolong the suction power. I use it maybe 2-3 times a week, very light-duty stuff. About 6 months later, the motor suddenly starts sounding different, so I investigate and find that the brushes are sparking terribly. Fine. I clean the commutator and reface the brushes--which are barely used--to perfection, put it all carefully back together but it doesn't change a thing--still tons of sparks and the commutator is black again. Repeat. Same. REPEAT. SAME. Look for new brushes, which apparently don't exist. F it. Buy a new Ridgid. We'll see what happens. Pray for me....
@@daveschultz3471 Look on CL for a cheap 2 bag dust collector you can find them for 50 to 200 bucks all the time. Shop vacs are great for cleaning the car, they are not worth a shit in a serious woodworking shop. Find one at a estate sale, garage sale or a craigslist ad.Or go give harbor freight a few bucks.
Depending how what your doing and how much collection power you need you'll be happy you did that.
This depends on what tools you have and what your doing, A vacume dosn't work for a decent table saw. And the Air Filtration systems are too late if dust is in the air your getting dust in your lungs.
You adjust the dust collection system to what type of work your doing and how much and what machines your using it for.
Sure a 6" Random orbital sander might be ok with a wet vac.
Put a table saw, planer, joiner power sander and so on in the mix that vacume isn't going to work for you anymore. You'll need a 1.5 to 3 hp system and bigger is always better.
It also depends on where you've set up your shop, garage, basement of your house, or out in a outside workshop independent of the house.
My workshop is my basement If I used a cheap system then I fill the whole house with saw dust and wreak my High efficiency air conditioner system furnace and filter.
You have to pick a system that fits your needs and budget then over build it some in case you expand more.
I need a system that puts 0 dust in the shop's air and can move 1800 cfm, I might get 100 cfm from what I have and 98% dust free, I won't hit the 0 dust in the air not even the best system will do that.
I tried a vacume on a table saw, almost all the dust wound up on the floor.
REALLY--who on earth clicks thumbs down on this video--this is a GREAT video as always by Mr. Ramsey--he puts his heart and soul into everything he does, he teaches, he doesn't pretend to know everything and he is down to to earth--seriously?????
Filter salesmen
GREAT video Steve. This setup is the best for us "small time" woodworkers.
A word of caution, be careful pushing/pulling it around by the cyclone.
Maybe a handle (make it extra fancy) might be in order. Have a good weekend.
I went the other way with mine and built a mount for the dust deputy into a weird little shelf in my very small garage (can't even fit a car in there), and just stash my shop vac next to it. Add a 20 foot hose and I can reach all of my tools with plenty of hose to spare. I recently added a nice super-flexible hose from Rockler that adds another 15 feet or soand can vacuum out my car without moving the shop vac.
I Like your vac cart. I wander if you should design a push handle to help you move it around? I saw you pushing it by the cyclone and it flexed the lid of your bucket. Do you think the flexing might cause a problem some day? Thank for another good video.
That little Ridgid unit is GREAT! I bought one for my wife and she loves it, such a convenient form factor
I love how small it is!
I just bought the new one for myself, the top comes off and can be used as a blower!
Not sure how much it would affect the structural integrity of the box, but you might cut a slot in the sides of the box to view the sawdust level. Although, not sure how visible it'd be with less light entering the bucket. Perhaps a slot on either side?
Good idea. There is a clear window in the top of the bucket, but it gets coated with dust pretty quickly and is useless!
Didn't Matthias have a small dust collector where he put a small light behind the bucket so that you could see the dust level. Maybe an LED strip light would work.
get a cheap led flashlight and shine it down the top window it would let you see the level better through the side if you do cut a slot.
We started buying Dust Deputies for our miter saws at work a few years ago. It was the cheapest solution I could find at the time, and it works well. Our maintenance guys found a handy device where you plug the saw into the top outlet and the vacuum into the bottom outlet, and the vacuum automatically turns on and off when the saw is drawing power (off is slightly delayed to ensure you get all the sawdust). I'd be inclined to build something like that into a mobile dust collection cart, along with a built-in extension cord, to make it extra fancy.
Great video, Steve! I think I might switch to a smaller shop vac as well and build something similar.
you all probably dont care but does anybody know of a method to get back into an Instagram account..?
I stupidly lost the password. I would love any tips you can offer me
@Andrew Jabari instablaster ;)
@Bryant Knox Thanks for your reply. I got to the site on google and Im in the hacking process atm.
Seems to take quite some time so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
@Bryant Knox It worked and I actually got access to my account again. I'm so happy!
Thanks so much you saved my account !
@Andrew Jabari Happy to help xD
Steve is great has fast become my favourite Wood working show. Easy to watch.
did the smaller shop vac work just as well as the old big one? HP and amps excluded, was the real life dust collection effectiveness the same?
Same HP so it shouldn't matter. The physical size of the collector doesn't affect suction.
Your vids are timeless no matter what someone at some time for the rest of time will need most of your videos
add some hooks for the hose and the power cable
ditto
double-ditto
Or, just "don't care". I find that "not caring" is an easy and inexpensive solution to many workshop situations.
Really useful video. Thanks! I already owned a shop vac just like this so I built a similar cart. I added a switch/splitter though that I plug both the vacuum and the tool into. So for example, when I turn on the table saw the vacuum turns on automatically as well. I also added a post-like handle that sticks up about two feet, right up the middle of the cart, so I can drag the thing around my garage. It's the most satisfying thing I've built all year, and I've spent too much time in my garage over the last 12 months.
Make a square box to collect the dust rather than a bucket as this stops the dust spinning in the bucket. It seams to work better for me and you can make the top size a tight fit for a rubbish bag for emptying. A square box can also be made rectangular so it can be hung on a wall or fit between tools. If you have the money get a long hose and put the vacuum outside if it won't annoy your neighbours.
This is something I've been considering for myself! Does the size of the box have an effect on the amount of suction? Also, what size vac are you using?
I'll reply to myself and answer this question in case anyone else is wondering... I went ahead and built several different containers of varying sizes for dust collection, and the size of the container doesn't seem to have a profound effect on the suction. I'm currently using an old 2hp shop vac connected to a Dust Deputy, which in turn is bolted onto a 5/8" MDF box I slapped together (roughly 2'x2'x3'). Works like a charm!
@@svenstenberg Thanks for the update!
@@svenstenberg The size of the container will not affect suction, but as the container gets larger the surface area increases - which means more force trying to crush the container.
If you stop making these amazing videos I'll cry.
I love your videos , but I have one question. When you do a full dust extraction system, do you ... MICROJIG!
I add about two cups of water to the bottom of my dust 5 gal collection bucket, it keeps the REALLY fine dust from seeping back out by making it sticky. Plus, If I forget to empty the canister between work sessions it dries and hardens into a great puck shape I can use as firewood (I don't use pressure treated lumber, and nearly zero plywood, I'm crazy not stupid. DON'T BURN PRESSURE TREATED WOOD)
I also have a friend that swears by a decorative wall waterfall fountain to help clean the air in his shop. One day I'm going to make (essentially) a giant wet/dry shop-vac bong to capture dust by pulling the air thru a water chamber. I'm pretty sure it's going to clog, and be wasted effort, but I'm not doing it for efficiency, but for fun... As long as I keep telling myself that.
Why did you choose keep the original operational orientation of the vacuum? Would it have been possible to stand it up on one end so the intake was pointing straight up and reduce the amount of connective hose between the two?
+Lochinvar Roome Good idea!
I was going to ask the same thing but I was thinking more in the sense of decreasing the footprint in the small shop.
Lochinvar Roome That can cause the vacuum to not work on some models. Wet/dry vacs often have a float to prevent water from getting in the motor. Tilting the shop vac up makes the float more likely to slide and cover the intake. This prevents suction.
I have the same vacuum I set it up right for it to fit under my bench along with my dust deputy and can. It hasn't been blocked up yet. Also if all you use it for is the the shop you can remove the ball. I also have a bag in mine for that 1-5% that gets past the dust collector.
Thank you. Since I'm not familiar with that model, I was only thinking about reducing the footprint.
Haha this is so great. Halfway through the video before you mentioned the cart, all I could think of was, "Why doesn't he just make a mobile cart to put both the vacuum and the cyclone in, then the whole thing would be mobile!" Then you proceeded to do just that. Great job, Steve.
Why remove the bucket handle given that you still have the empty the bucket regularly.
hi Steve. Love the videos. this is a great idea. I don't have a garage to work out of. my projects I work on during my lunch hour in the parking lot of my work place from the back of my tacoma pick up. for me as long as I am able to woodwork I am happy dosnt matter where. Thank you for showing your creativity to the world. you have showed me many techniques. you sir are a wood working genius. Thank you.
Alex Fresquez Wow dude, the struggle is real ! Never again will I complain about how shitty my garage is.
Some kind of handle would be a good feature to add. It would be better for the cyclone when moving the unit around.
Nice video as always though ☺
Yeah, and one of those kids popcorn popper toys in front of it would really complete it.
I was thinking a little red wagon handle, but I like your idea much better.
Peter Löfstrand I was thinking the same thing. The plastic of the cyclone isn't going to like being pushed around very long.
Hi Steve! Thanks for this video and all the others. I have been looking forward to seeing your videos every friday for the last five years. You gave me the passion of woodworking. I began with a hand saw and, a drill and a hammer to make a pallet wood small table.
I made a cart as yours, some time ago. My cyclone is made from a construction site cone.
I added pieces of PVC pipes on the wooden structure to hold the vacuum accessories and a broom (for everything a vacuum can't take).
I added some hooks to hold a shovel for the dust and to avoid the electric cable running on the floor and blocking the wheels.
And I hang some one hand clamps on the structure too.
Anyway, I wish you to still be inspired, enthusiastic, and fun.
Stay safe.
Best regards from south of France (sorry for my English).
Well thank you Jean-Philippe. I really appreciate that. Your cart sounds awesome!
You could hinge the front panel where the hose is coming out so you could just pull out the vacuum to change the filter instead of unscrewing that piece. Does that happen frequently enough to worry about?
I'll probably only change it once a year or so.
A couple of things you could add would be a place on the side to wind the power cord up. Also some way to keep the hose out of the way when not in use. Every large machine I own immediately gets a set of wheels. I am currently working on adding a cyclone to my harbor freight dust collector complete with a 55 gallon drum. All on wheels.
You often remark about the size of your shop. Compared to mine, it's palatial! My shop is in the basement and so small it's hard to turn around inside of it. I should focus on miniatures.
Thats great, good to see it works well, only observation is there is a obvious weak point on the neck of the cyclone and you have all those hoses, I think I would add a sort of handle going up to the top of the cyclone so you can move it around on that and give the cyclone and hoses some additional support so you dont snap it off. Thats all, great job thanks, good to se it working, I just bought one so will do something similar. Thanks.
Great project! :) Maybe add a tall handle of some sort..?
Well done. Very entertaining. I’ve always utilized smaller vacs throughout my carpentry/construction career for the same reasons you’ve noted. Dig it.
Steve,
what do you use for drawing your plans up?
I would like to know this, as well.
Steve, I’m new to wood working and I’m finding you videos so helpful... I just wanted to say thanks for all your efforts to help us mere mortals
"One of the advantages of the cyclone is that you can see how full the bucket is". ... [puts the bucket inside a box] ;)
Oh, BTW, right now your subscriber count is 666,007. The names Bond, Lucifer Bond.
this made me LOL
Been cruisin' the portable dust collection videos tonight. Besides thanking you for your post, I'd like to tell your viewers that I just saw an Asian content provider who adapted PVC to a slightly smaller opening by slitting it, fitting it, and taping the seam, a good trick to add to the heating and stretching or using sections of plastic bottles as if they are oversize shrink tube.
I must correct you. NOT 'All equipment comes with a dust extraction port'. Tell this to my 'older' craftsman table saw..
Or just about any drill press or scroll saw.
@@IDoNotLikeHandlesOnYT My scroll saw has a dust port. My table saw and drill press do not.
LOL. Peter Brown. I like this. My shop is increasing in tools and loosing space. I have a dust deputy on my Media Blasting Cabinet and the whole setup is on a cart. Time to cut some wood and down size my shop vacs. Great build.
"No, it's not a Garage, it's a DRIVE-IN Workshop"
FIFY, You're welcome
Really late for this one, sorry. I used a 50 gallon plastic drum and an olde shopvac. Took the old inlet and mounted it lower on the side, mounted the motor on top on the opposite side of the intake. Basically a Shop-Vac on steroids. Put the rollers from the original on the bottom of the barrel for, well, rolling it around. Worked well until the motor burnt out. It was a VERY old unit and howled and screamed like a tortured cat right from the beginning. Did get 3 minutes out of it. Will keep my eyes open for a better unit this winter. Really enjoy your channel.
Please don't torture us East Coasters with your In-N-Out burger shirt! We don't have them :-(
I've seen furnace filters zip tied to box fans to make a cheap and fairly effective air cleaner, placed next to where you are sanding it can help a lot.
Saw dust? You mean MAN GLITTER
That's so funny :-D
HA HA!!
Excellent.
I'm a woman and I still think this is hilarious.
LOL!
This is one of the best comments I've ever seen, I'm using this term for the rest of my life. Thank you stranger.
I never realized how many HRC stickers you have in your garage. Impressed!
sometimes i only come here for the MICRO JIG reference ..:):):)
I have this exact setup; box included. I switched from filters to the dust bag, better air flow and plenty of filtration. The cyclone paid for itself inside a month of use from having to buy bags so much.
I Use a leaf Blower to blow out my shop
Humm, fast and easy. You most be a lazy boy...
So why I never thing about this before ?
Lyda Shop ..haha me too, infact I just did this evening, but it's getting old...that's why I'm here
So, how is your lung capacity doing?
Commercial at the end. Favorite channel ever.
If you are looking for a shopvac, don't mind the HP rating. It's an overblown number.
Congratulations for your new dust collector system. My shop is in one of the rooms of my apartment. So, I use the same vacuum that I use in the car in my shop. Thank you for sharing your experiences. Thanks to MicroJig and Audible for sponsoring the show.
I hope you get 666,666 subscrbers in time for Halloween.
rhaacke he is gonna get that in like an hour
I ended up with affordable dust collection for both large and small tools. For small tools I actually used the same shop vac Steve did for the same reasons: my dust was going into a cyclone so I needed a small vac with good power. I went even cheaper by using the Home Depot "Dustopper." It's basically an extremely basic cyclone that pops onto a standard HD bucket. It's not as good as the big cyclone units you see out there, but it does a pretty good job for $40, which is probably a half to a third of the cyclone Steve is using here. So that's about $120-140 for the vac and the Dustopper and some accessories (all the hoses you'll need come with these two units).
For the BIG dust moving, I went with the Harbor Freight 2HP dust collector. I know there's discussion about what HP means on the shop vacs, but I assure you that this thing is very close to the 2HP rating (it pops my breaker on startup every once and a while - got to get that dedicated 20-30A circuit one day). It MOVES dust like nobody's business. I stick it on my planer and it gets most of that stuff out. Same with my table saw. For anything that escapes, I hook it up to a floor sweep and use a broom to move the remaining chips over to it. The Harbor Freight collector can be had for as little as ~$180 plus shipping, which is pretty fantastic when compared to all those models that run upwards of $2000. But I did add a fairly expensive Oneida cyclone to it for about $230, plus around $50-75 in accessories like hoses, hose clamps, blast gates, and other stuff. But still, for around $450 I feel like I'm ahead of the game. The only thing I don't like is the fairly porous filter, so that'll be another investment.
Lastly, check out the resale market. I've gotten great tools on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist.
BTW, tip on this shop vac: I put mine on a cart in the upright position (suction port facing up). At first this kept making it cut out for some reason. I discovered it's because of a float designed to keep water out of the exhaust port. It took some doing but I had to remove that to get the vacuum to work on its rear end. I like it positioned this way because instead of having that hose sticking out the side and going all the way up and over the cart, it just arcs from the top of the vac to the top of the cyclone.
Your videos have helped me move to a new level in my woodworking. Thank you Steve.
Hey Steve you should add 2 little blocks with rabbits cut in to them on the side so you can wrap the cord on the side of the box.
This is a very helpful video. My sawdust management right now is just to blow it around and sweep up what I can. Thank you.
Nicely done Steve.
I usually open my garage door about a foot and open the man door so I get a cross breeze. This helps to move the very small airborne particles out of my shop/garage.
I always find the most intelligent and logical (not over the top) solutions on your channel. Liked and subscribed!
Hearing him say "I don't have a lot of floorspace" while having a 1 car garage that I turned into a shop made me die a little :(
On a serious note, I've been using my shop vac for awhile, but never thought about building a cyclone for it to help with small dust collection! Your videos are always so informative and helpful, thanks for taking the time to help us plebs out!
I'm still using my old dust deputy despite needing 2 repair jobs on it to stop leaks. The twin bucket sytem leant itself well tona cart build, screw the bottom bucket to the cart and the top one can just slide in and out as needed. If you're old dd bucket will allow the new one to fit in it, you could do that and remove half the blocks/cross piece and have far easier access to the vacuum unit should the need arrise.
Good ideas. I had the same problems with my Dust Deputy. It developed a lot of leaks and the plastic deteriorated. A lot of that was my own fault though, for leaving it outside and exposed to the elements.
Nice build. One extra benefit of the cyclone preventing filter clogging is that it can allow the use of a much finer filter on the vac. The finer filter will capture the really small dust particles (the ones that are dangerous to health), and of course won't get blasted full of holes as it's not having to handle anything large enough to be visible to the eye (as long as the cyclone is separating efficiently).
The problem with a normal shop vac is that the filters are either packed full of dust (losing suction) or coarse/damaged enough to pass the fine dust - so it just becomes a pump that blows the dangerous stuff all round your shop. Another benefit to working outside I guess.
I see others have commented on the HP claims: 1HP is approximately 746 watts. 5HP is over 3700 watts. On a 110v US mains outlet that's going to pull 3700/110 = 33 amps! I suspect that's likely the inrush or short-circuit motor stall current; also known as the "marketing BS" figure!
Steve. I plane all the rough lumber for my projects as it cuts the cost dramaticaly. My wife takes all my chips and uses them in her many perrenial beds. It becomes a win win situation. The only wood we do not share is any pressure treated wood.