Jim Dwight
03-13-2016, 9:50 AM
I started commenting on this in a thread on much different variable DCs and decided I needed to move to another thread. What made me jump in were the comments you need to spend $600 on a shop vacuum. I have about $200 in this setup and I think it works very well. I had a small 1 hp delta DC in my last shop that I just sold because the current shop doesn't have much space (14x24), I found the 1 hp to be too small, and the shop vac setup does almost everything the DC did and is more useful for the little tools (tracksaw and sanders).
I'm using a Rigid shop vacuum you can buy for about $50, a dust deputy, also about $50, an aftermarket quasi HEPA filter (HEPA filtration material but not HEPA rated) that was about $30 and a auto-on switch that was about $40. I put these on a cart that is based upon plans I found on-line from Woodsmith. With a sheet of plywood, this adds up to about $200. But I also have wheels on it and a Bosch 5meter hose so I do have a few more dollars in this setup. But easily under $300. I need to clean it up and put a coat or two of finish on it but it works well.
I use the 5meter hose for the tracksaw, sanders, and the CMS and RAS. It will get all the dust from the tracksaw and sanders but only reduces the spray from the CMS and RAS. That is mostly because they aren't designed for effective dust collection. My table saw is a Ryobi BT3100 which has a 2.5 inch port. With the stock Rigid 2.5 inch hose, this setup works great for it too. What it will not do is get the debris from my lunchbox planner (Ryobi AP-10) or Jointer (Inca 10 5/8 inch). The DC wouldn't handle these too machines either. So I sweep up and use the shop vac to get the rest.
I would not want to use any shop vac without the cyclone on the inlet. My experience is that the filter needs cleaning too much. I had that issue with the DC too. The cyclone gets most of the material, the shop vac essentially never needs emptied. But the filter needs cleaned every 5 drywall buckets or so. I just bang it out and put it back. I buy no bags so I have essentially zero operating cost.
For a small shop like mine, this is a very handy and pretty effective setup. It is a bit of a pain to plug and unplug electrical connections and hoses. I could fix the shop vac in place and run piping but I suspect I'd have to upgrade the shop vac to a more powerful model for it to handle it. For now, at least, I'm pretty happy with this setup.
As you can see in the pictures, I connected the shop vac to the cyclone with 2 inch PVC. I had to heat the ends with a heat gun to form them but it was pretty easy. I think the smooth piping improves suction relative to a flex hose. The joints are just slipped together. I can get an idea how full the bucket is by lifting off the 180 bend and looking down into it.
I'm using a Rigid shop vacuum you can buy for about $50, a dust deputy, also about $50, an aftermarket quasi HEPA filter (HEPA filtration material but not HEPA rated) that was about $30 and a auto-on switch that was about $40. I put these on a cart that is based upon plans I found on-line from Woodsmith. With a sheet of plywood, this adds up to about $200. But I also have wheels on it and a Bosch 5meter hose so I do have a few more dollars in this setup. But easily under $300. I need to clean it up and put a coat or two of finish on it but it works well.
I use the 5meter hose for the tracksaw, sanders, and the CMS and RAS. It will get all the dust from the tracksaw and sanders but only reduces the spray from the CMS and RAS. That is mostly because they aren't designed for effective dust collection. My table saw is a Ryobi BT3100 which has a 2.5 inch port. With the stock Rigid 2.5 inch hose, this setup works great for it too. What it will not do is get the debris from my lunchbox planner (Ryobi AP-10) or Jointer (Inca 10 5/8 inch). The DC wouldn't handle these too machines either. So I sweep up and use the shop vac to get the rest.
I would not want to use any shop vac without the cyclone on the inlet. My experience is that the filter needs cleaning too much. I had that issue with the DC too. The cyclone gets most of the material, the shop vac essentially never needs emptied. But the filter needs cleaned every 5 drywall buckets or so. I just bang it out and put it back. I buy no bags so I have essentially zero operating cost.
For a small shop like mine, this is a very handy and pretty effective setup. It is a bit of a pain to plug and unplug electrical connections and hoses. I could fix the shop vac in place and run piping but I suspect I'd have to upgrade the shop vac to a more powerful model for it to handle it. For now, at least, I'm pretty happy with this setup.
As you can see in the pictures, I connected the shop vac to the cyclone with 2 inch PVC. I had to heat the ends with a heat gun to form them but it was pretty easy. I think the smooth piping improves suction relative to a flex hose. The joints are just slipped together. I can get an idea how full the bucket is by lifting off the 180 bend and looking down into it.