Laguna 16-Gallon Cyclone Canister verses Dust Deputy?

[James W Glenn]

I am putting together a shop vac based dust collection system to use with a track saw, router and various sanders, as well as general shop cleaning. The plan so far is to build a cart to hold a a shop vac and separator with enough of a structure to mount an auto switch, speed control, and hose crane. The Dust Deputy seems well regarded for this kind of set up, but the Laguna 16-Gallon Cyclone Canister looks like its general "form" would be easier to live and more durable in a small shop environment.

http://www.lagunatools.com/accessories/DS16-Dust-Separator


I'm assuming the Dust Deputy would have better separation of "fines", but adding a Thien baffle to the Laguna should help. I found one review on another forum, where the author had replaced a Dust Deputy with the Laguna and Thien baffle. Has any one here had any experience with the Laguna?

[chase standifer]

I used the Laguna canister for all my tools prior to buying my CV1800. It works well for chips but the filter would clog pretty fast when working with any of the large tools. If I were to do it again I would get the super dust deputy.

[James W Glenn]

How did it fair with the hand held tools and or miter saw dust?

[Jebediah Eckert]

I have the Laguna 16 gallon cyclone canister. It is the only separator I have owned. I have had it for two years and use it with a Fein Turbo II vacuum. When I bought it the unit was on a crazy discount, I think 50% off. The directions that come with it are lousy, and I don't think the unit works very well. I also saw the review on the Thien baffle but never got around to building it. There seems to be a few steps missing on the instructions I read to do the baffle.

The unit separates the larger stuff but that's is definitely it. I decided not to waste more money and time on it so I started using bags in the Fein, and now I'm happy enou with the overall system (combo of the two).

The positives are it rolls nicely, is not too large, is easy to empty, stable and doesn't tip, and is pretty durable. Maybe my expectations were too high but when I vacuumed the predetermined amount of sawdust and chips etc, it was about 50/50 of it in collector and vacuum. I emailed Laguna when I got it figuring I did something wrong and they basically said it is working as it should.

[Mike Chalmers]

A couple of points.

In whose world is 16 gallons huge?
If someone is going to build a Thien baffle, then why add another piece that is for the same purpose? To me, it should be one or the other. I'd take the Thien baffle over the Laguna, and the SDD over both.

Basically just an opinion on the Laguna piece, I have never used that, however, have read several threads on it and it doesn't impress me. I have used the Thien, and stepped up to a SDD.

[glenn bradley]

Interesting way to re-market a simple solution that has been around (and performing poorer than other solutions) for years(?).

329578

I has these types of separators for 5 gal and 30 gallon cans. Even the small Dust Deputy is so much better it isn't even a comparison in my experience.

[Jebediah Eckert]

Interesting way to re-market a simple solution that has been around (and performing poorer than other solutions) for years(?).

329578

from somebody who owns, and used the Laguna for two years, that's exactly what it is but on a nice metal can with wheels. I don't remember what I paid but it was cheap and less then buying the parts to make something similar. I will say it does roll nice and smooth and easy to maneuver around the shop, but that's about it.


At full price I would not be happy, I'm just out a few more Fein bags a year then if I had a better system.

although the guy who adds a Thien (I think that's what It is) on the Laguna got great results.

[James W Glenn]

A couple of points.

In whose world is 16 gallons huge?
If someone is going to build a Thien baffle, then why add another piece that is for the same purpose? To me, it should be one or the other. I'd take the Thien baffle over the Laguna, and the SDD over both.

Basically just an opinion on the Laguna piece, I have never used that, however, have read several threads on it and it doesn't impress me. I have used the Thien, and stepped up to a SDD.

I was going to put the Thien baffle inside the Laguna. It has a lot of the features that make it a good start for a small Thien separator that will be hooked up to a shop vac.

It is 14 gallons and has a 18 1/4 diameter. This seems a better size than a 5 gallon bucket and is comparable to a good size shop vac volume.

It has the inlet and outlet in reasonable position for a Thien Baffle to work.

It has a good mechanical attachment for the top. Seems like an improvement over a 5 gallon bucket or any self built lid for a larger can.

It has a view port pre installed.

It has casters pre installed.


Compared to the Dust Deputy:

I will have to install a baffle and it may not be as efficient with fine dust.

Its metal and in my eyes less prone to catastrophic failure than a plastic cyclone.

Its a more compact package and could fit under a work table.

It seems less likely to tip over, and incur said catastrophic damage.

Presently it is 30% more expensive than the Dust Deputy package, and 75% less than the metal Dust Deputy with 10 gallon can.

[Jebediah Eckert]

If you do the baffle snap a few pics. The one online is missing a few parts I think. I need it to be idiot proof, I don't know a thing about thien baffle, and don't really want to learn. Just working would be nice. It is a nice size, solid, and rolls around smooth. I bet with the baffle you will be happy.

[James W Glenn]

I dont know if you saw the complete Blog article by Jim Wagner:

http://jrwagner.org/blog/2013/08/31/laguna-0516-dust-collector-improvement/

The fussy bit seems to be keeping the mounting holes in the flat baffle and the round lid aligned. His jig seems like it would work better than the MKI eyeball. If I go this route, I will probably add a 45 degree fitting to the internal end of the intake to get the air flow a bit more inline with the drum face and extend the exhaust tube down to copy the "standard" Thien geometry. There is all sorts of info at J. Phil Thiens website:

http://www.jpthien.com/smf/index.php

[chase standifer]

How did it fair with the hand held tools and or miter saw dust?
It has been covered pretty well by the others, but it worked fine is smaller tools. Just don't expect it to do a thing for fine dust.

[Jebediah Eckert]

Thanks James, that is the one I saw. At the time I was confused by a few things and decided not to waste my time trying it before I figured out the missing pieces. Realistically I'm just going to buy a few extra Fein bags for the vacuum, that system has been user friendly and does what I expect it to do.

I found my receipt. I paid $60 for it at Woodcraft. Pretty sure it was one of those Christmas specials. Maybe that will come around again?

[Wade Lippman]

The Laguna seems a bit better than the old separator because it has the exhaust in the center; but the intake is not far enough over to the side. The positions of the in and out tubes are the best part of the standard Thien baffle design.
A few years back I built a Thien baffle and tested it with and without the baffle, against the Dust Deputy. While markedly better than the old separator, it wasn't nearly as good as the DD.

I find the can that came with the DD to be perfectly adequate. The 16 gallon drum on the Laguna would last me several years.

[Charles Lent]

You would be much better off with a Dust Deputy. I've been using one for about a year now for my sanders, miter saw, and scroll saw work, as well as vacuuming the floor with it, and still have nothing visible in the vacuum filter or canister. My first trial of the Dust Deputy was to vacuum out the cabinet of my Unisaw, which had about 4 gallons of sawdust in it. When I finished vacuuming out the Unisaw I continued and vacuumed the floor of my shop with it. When I opened the Shop Vac it was still visually clean. When I opened the 5 gal bucket under the Dust Deputy it had about 4 1/2 gal in it. In my opinion the Dust Deputy works better than Oneida says that it does. Although my separator is not a Super Dust Deputy, I would expect similar results from the Super Dust Deputy.

Charley