[MEBCWD]

Last night I was in the shop for an all-nighter. I have been trying to avoid some of this heat we have been having here in the Dallas area. I got to a point that glue was drying and I needed to go inside to do some test fitting. I did not want to wake everyone up with dogs barking if I went inside so I got everything ready to re-do the test I had messed up last week.

To start I cleaned the vacuum and filter (Ridgid WD 70000), the Dust Deputy (Oneida Air), the Dustopper (Home Depot) and the Dust RIGHT Separator (Rockler).

For each test, I ran a 5 9/16x16 ½ Poplar board through the planer and took two 1/32" passes. Took pictures of the collection bucket, vacuum bucket and filter. Then sanded 3/4" off the end of a 1/2x5 9/16x16 ½ Poplar board with a 12" disk sander. Took pictures of the collection bucket, vacuum bucket and filter. Between test, the vacuum bucket and filter were cleaned.

 

[MEBCWD]

The Dust Deputy had no problem with the planner chips and there were no chips in the vacuum bucket and the filter looked clean. After sanding the 3/4" off the board the collection bucket contained a mixture of planer chips and dust. Checking the vacuum bucket showed very light dusting and cleaning the filter showed very little dust actually made it to the filter.

 

[MEBCWD]

The Dustopper had no problem with the planner chips and there were no chips in the vacuum bucket and filter looked clean. After sanding the 3/4" off the end of the board the collection bucket contained a light dusting and noticeable fine dust on top of the planner chips. The vacuum bucket had a light dusting and cleaning the filter seemed to have slightly more dust than the Dust Deputy had left but not bad at all.

 

[MEBCWD]

The Dust RIGHT Separator had no problems with the planer chips. The vacuum bucket did have a few planner chips and the filter also had some in the pleats. After sanding the 3/4" off the end of the board there was light dusting on the sides of the collection bucket but not much noticeable dust mixed with the planner chips. The vacuum bucket had a lot of fine dust and a few planner chips. The filter had a lot of dust and chips in the pleats.

 

[MEBCWD]

My rating would be the Dust Deputy on top, the Dustopper a very close second, and the Dust RIGHT Separator way behind the other two.

Both the Dust Deputy and the Dustopper did a great job of separating the chips and dust and let very little fine dust through to the vacuum to clog the filter. One thing to remember is to connect the correct hoses to the tool and vacuum.

 

[kp91]

Doesn't get any better than that for a real world comparison! I have been very happy with the HD Dustopper, especially for the price

 

[MEBCWD]

Doesn't get any better than that for a real world comparison! I have been very happy with the HD Dustopper, especially for the price

I think that it was really good next to the Dust Deputy. Should let you run the vac for quite a while before having to clean the filter. I'd buy another one and probably should replace the 2 Dust RIGHT Separators that I have.

 

[Herb Stoops]

Great job comparing the 3 different dust collectors. Good picture documentation too. I wasn't surprised but it just confirms what I have always thought. I have a DD that i was figuring on hooking up to my palm sander instead of my big cyclone unit.
Good Job,Mile.
Herb

 

[DesertRatTom]

Terrific review! Thanks, the DD has been of interest for a long time. Not much more than the HD unit.

 

[TwoSkies57]

Very well done Mike!! I've been very pleased with my Dust Deputy and how well it works. The only complaints I have are 1, I have to empty it all to often, but thats more a matter of use and volume than design. Suppose it means I'm still busy in the shop which is a good thing and 2: You don't wanna be around when the thing is full and the top blows off... *L* man, what a mess that makes. Here again, operator error (laziness) not a design problem. I got a 10 gallon drum just waiting to be adopted by the DD...

Biggest surprise was the assessment of the Rockler product. You'd thing they would have a much better offering.

 

[MEBCWD]

Terrific review! Thanks, the DD has been of interest for a long time. Not much more than the HD unit.

You do need to remember that the dust Deputy comes with a hose and the two buckets and the Dustopper is just the top and hose so you still need a bucket.

 

[MEBCWD]

Biggest surprise was the assessment of the Rockler product. You'd thing they would have a much better offering.

I have two of the Rockler separators and I knew they were not as good as the Dust Deputy. I am using one with a 1 hp dust collector for one of my CNC machines and there is always dust and chips that get into the bag and I have to empty it now and then and run it through a washer once or twice a year to keep it going. The other one I was using on a 6hp shop vac and I had to clean the filter all the time, it did help but I knew there had to be something better. I bought one of them on sale for $49.95 and bought the other one off a Facebook post for $20.

I finally talked myself into buying the Dust Deputy and have been using it with the Ridgid Smart Cart. I can use it for about 3 months without cleaning the filter and it still has good suction, it really surprised me and I wish I would have bought it earlier. When I heard about the Dustopper I thought I'd check it out and I am really pleased with how it did in the test.

 

[rrrun]

Outstanding review. I just got a dust deputy that I'm hooking up to my DW 735 this weekend; will let you know how that works out.

 

[MEBCWD]

Outstanding review. I just got a dust deputy that I'm hooking up to my DW 735 this weekend; will let you know how that works out.

Henry did you get the smaller DD for shop vacs or did you get the larger 4" model for the dust collectors?

That is the planner I used for the test and I reduced the 4" output to 2 1/2" for the test, worked great.

 

[DesertRatTom]

I have the HF 2 hp unit with a chip collector made from Rockler parts. Pretty effective, but I'd really like to eliminate nearly all the sawdust, particularly in the one with the Wynn metal filter in the shop. I've thought about keeping the 4 inch system by getting the larger DD, but it's really overpriced at five times the cost of the smaller dust devil. Has anyone had experience with this HD/DD setup? My second unit is in the garage, with a bag and collects chips and sawdust from a DW735. The present system works OK, but will I get less sawdust in the filter or bag with a 2.5 inch DD? Opinions solicited.

 

[CharleyL]

Mike,

I have been using a Dust Deputy for several years and I totally agree with your comments about it. I have yet to find anything but a very thin layer of very fine dust inside my vacuum that's almost to little to see, unless I make a streak in it with my finger. No chips or anything larger has ever made it past the Dust Deputy.

My present vacuum system is a re-purposed whole house central vacuum unit with awesome suction. So much so that it imploded my first 5 gallon white bucket within seconds of using it the first time. I learned from the internet that the pickle buckets that are available used from the Firehouse Subs chain sandwich shops were supposed to be a tougher bucket, so I picked up a few of them for $2 each. The money that they get for these buckets is supposed to be donated to the local fire company, so it's kind of a win-win both ways. Well, I managed to implode my first pickle bucket too, but it did take a little longer, before I managed to suck up a planer ship and plug the hoes end.. Then I realized that these buckets were tougher because the top 1/3 of the bucket has ringed ribs around it, but the bottom 2/3 really isn't that much different than the white, gray, or orange buckets. So, to fix my bucket implosion problem I stacked three of these pickle buckets together, giving me 3X the wall thickness and ribs all the way to the bottom of the top most bucket. This worked well and solved my imploding bucket problem, but you first use these buckets they will make your shop smell like dill pickles, until enough air and saw dust goes through them to remove the pickle smell. It was about gone after the first 4 gallons of saw dust was collected and dumped. Not very noticeable after that.

I have since changed to a metal 20 gallon collection barrel under my Dust Deputy and no longer use the pickle buckets. I also now vent my central vacuum unit to the outdoors, so no more dill pickle smells at all for my shop, but stacking these pickle buckets did work well for me. With a Shop Vac it isn't likely that they will need to be stacked, but if you experience a bucket implosion with your Home Depot or Lowes buckets you might want to look into getting one of these tougher buckets from Firehouse Subs. If you experience imploding problems, just use two buckets stacked. Add another if you still have problems. They are tougher than the white, gray, and orange buckets from the Borgs and a pretty good deal at $2 each. I use mine for washing my cars now.

Charley

 

[DesertRatTom]

I posted this elsewhere, but think it belongs here instead regarding the bucket options:

My chip collectors are 30 gallon fiber drum with a lock-on steel top. A band goes around the lid and metal reinforcement at the top of the drum and seals the drum. The walls are thick and just won't implode. I got two of them new from Uline for about $50 each. The only down side is you can't tell how full it is. I think you could drill a peek hole in the top big enough to shine a light in, seal it with a clear plastic "window". The actual usable capacity is between 15 and 20 gallons with the Rockler system, and I think it might be higher with a DD. I have had to divide my shop - ran out of space, cutting, assembly in the shop, wood prep in the garage. Most will just need one barrel. https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail...YE9Q&gclsrc=ds

Here's a picture of the drum and Rockler setup. The steel top probably won't need reinforcement for the DD mount.

Uline drum with Rockler fittings.

 

[MEBCWD]

Tom for the 2hp dust collector I think I would use the larger 4" Dust Deputy because I think the large collector might be a bit much for the small unit. Rockler does have free plans for a roll around separator using those fittings that looks like it would work pretty good. Of course that depends on how it is hooked up. I am using a small DD with a 1hp collector on a CNC because the dust boot was made for a 2 1/2" fitting. My biggest problem is all the spiral hose between the separator and the dust boot. I do have some hard pipe that I will replace the hose with when I get enough time to stop working projects and do the upgrades to my shop I want to do (insulation, lighting, dust collection, air outlets and exhaust blower upstairs). Instead of updating the dust boot to 4" I'm thinking about replacing that CNC with a better machine. That is a good excuse to buy another CNC isn't it?

 

[Bob Adams]

I have my Harbor Freight DC hooked up to the (larger Dust Deputy) and that unit is exhausted outside, which eliminates any dust inside my shop. This unit handles my larger tools, table saw, band saw, planer etc.. I also have the smaller dust deputy hooked to my central vac, this is used for all of my sanding, router table, miter saw, shop clean-up etc. I have not changed or cleaned that filter in 2 years. The filters for the central vac are very expensive and before I installed the Dust Deputy I was changing filters every month. As far as I am concerned the Dust Deputy has paid for itself. Here is a picture of the central vacuum's filter. What you are seeing is a very fine layer of dust.

 

[rrrun]

Henry did you get the smaller DD for shop vacs or did you get the larger 4" model for the dust collectors?

That is the planner I used for the test and I reduced the 4" output to 2 1/2" for the test, worked great.

I got the small unit and combined it with a Powertec exhaust bag from Amazon. Spent the weekend gluing, so still haven't hooked up the planer ... that will happen in the next 48 hours, though. Just waiting on the glue to cure....