Rigid WD4070 Dust-Bot Cyclone Shop Vac Mod

[Daniel Greening]

I recently purchased a Rigid WD4070 Shop Vac as a cheap alternative to buying a Fein Turbo 1. I wanted a compact vac which I could easily fit into my 5-door Subaru Impreza, as opposed to my other much larger Rigid vac. I had been using an Oneida Dust Deputy with the larger vac, but had not elected to attach it to the vac due to the overall combined size and decreased portability.

When I saw the vertical vac pipe storage hole which runs vertically down through the WD4070's body, I thought that I might be able to use it as a spot to mount the Dust Deputy on top of the vac. Sure enough, a 2"x2" piece of galvanized pipe threads snugly into the thick plastic sides of the hole, giving a mount for a 2" floor flange. This is then attached to a circle of plywood sitting on the bottom of a cut-down 3.5 gallon bucket using 1/4 bolts and various nuts and washers. Another 3.5 gallon bucket with the Dust Duty mounted to it sits inside the first bucket - drill air relief holes. An elbow, the stock Dust Deputy hose, and the bucket handle and we are done!

I am experimenting with either a 5lb or 10lb plate weight in the bottom of the WD4070, but even with no weight, it pulls around with a 2.5" hose attached to the Dust Deputy on a concrete floor. Suction is excellent, and this vac is a little bit more powerful than my old larger Rigid which was 4.25 peak HP.

Thoughts?

[Jim Dwight]

Your arrangement is better than my first one. I hooked my dust deputy up on a platform supported by sections of rigid vacuum tubing that fit over the casters of the vacuum. It was tippy and liked to come apart. My current setup is based upon plans from Woodsmith that are available free. Both the vacuum and cyclone are on a plywood cart with 3 inch casters on bottom. I hooked the vacuum to the cyclone with 2 inch PVC tubing. I had to heat it for it to fit but that didn't take long. The smooth PVC has less resistance than the 2.5 inch flexible hose. I use a Bosch 5 meter hose on it in addition to my Rigid hoses. I get essentially no dust in the shop vacuum, it all goes in the bucket of the cyclone. Even fine drywall dust. My setup makes emptying the bucket easy. The PVC slips apart and the bucket lifts out.

[Daniel Greening]

I was considering making a plywood cart for the prior large Rigid vac, but I needed the setup to take up as little space in the Impreza as possible. I've had to make several trips from my house to job sites to get all of my tools over in the past, which is a bit of a waste of time, even though the jobs are all in the metro Boston area.

I am going to pick up one of the premium Rigid hoses, as the older ones that I have (black corrugated 2.5" plastic) are not the most flexible. I also need to work up an adapter so that I can attach my tool hose directly to the Dust Deputy. Ideally I'd love to adapt the Rigid swiveling quick-connect to the Dust Deputy, which I am sure is possible with a bit of hacking.

Now if I could find a 5-layer HEPA VF3500 style filter for this unit. Gore doesnt seem to make one in this smaller size. I did see a 5-layer Craftsman filter which might work.

[Daniel Greening]

I do think that I am going to add the static conducting metal tape which came with the DD and replace the vac's cord with a grounded cord which I can terminate the cyclone to via a jumper. This things gets loaded up with static VERY easily and I hate getting zapped when working!

[Jim Dwight]

This is the hose I bought after buying a Rigid:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...J9RX5F88Q2MCJ1

It's $35. Works a lot better than the Rigid. The vacuum size slips over the inlet to the cyclone fine and the small end of the hose fits my DeWalt track saw very well. I bought a 35mm to 1 1/4 adapter to hook to some other tools. This hose is supposed to be a clone of the Festool hose (which costs a lot more). There is a anti-static version but it's closer to $100.

[Daniel Greening]

Good to know! That looks like a perfect hose for my smaller tools. I was going to get the orange Rigid hose from HD, however it looks like that hose is not the full 2.5" diameter that my older black Rigid hoses are.

[Jim Dwight]

Yes, I use a Rigid 2.5 inch hose for my table saw which needs more airflow and plan to use it on the router table too. Bosch hose is for handheld tools.

[Daniel Greening]

I added a steel Vestil LID-STL-LL 5-gallon bucket lid with clamp to keep the lid on the bucket. Much more secure now!