Dust Collection: Portable Dust Collection Cart with Noise Reduction & Dust Separator

[Paul Briggs]

This is a dust collection cart that I made for my small workshop that serves multiple purposes:

o It provides a handy portable working surface of various shop projects
o It serves as my primary means of vacuuming dust from the floor and work surfaces
o It includes a dust separator made from a Dust Deputy that separates out 95+% of the wood dust into an easily removable container (and allows the shop vac to continue to produce maximum suction)
o It includes a noise reduction system for the shop vac that significantly muffles the shop vac noise (-10 dB)
o It has power outlets on both sides of the cart (one is switched)
o It allows easy connection of a vacuum hose to various woodworking tools in the shop to suck up most of the dust at the source of dust generation, including:

- Radial arm saw
- Kreg pocket screw jig
- Circular saw

All parts used are off-the-shelf parts. No specialty parts are needed.

I used a Ridgid WD1450 14-gallon 6 HP shop vac (available from Home Depot for $99). It has great reviews and provides excellent suction.

My source of inspiration for the noise reduction came from the following two links by Mr. Schrunk:

How To Silence Your Shop Vac
http://www.startwoodworking.com/post...-your-shop-vac

Build a Simple Box to Muffle Your Shop Vac (be sure to view the video and listen to the difference the noise reduction system makes)
http://www.finewoodworking.com/works...-shop-vac.aspx

The acoustical noise reduction padding that Mr. Schrunk used is expensive, and I decided to use some egg crate foam padding that I had in storage. You really don't have to have any padding in the box to get a significant noise reduction (I don't think the egg crate foam padding added that much to the noise reduction). Note that I did not get anywhere near the noise reduction that Mr. Schrunk got, but it is still perfectly fine for my purposes.

More detail for this project can be found at an Instructable that I wrote for this project:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Port...Noise-Reducti/

[Stan Calow]

Thanks for sharing Paul. I have been thinking of doing something like this. Dragging the vac and the dust deputy around the shop is a pain.

[Paul Briggs]

Stan - When you turn it on, the muffled noise is not very noticeable compared to the out-of-the-box shop vac - it's really a pleasure to use. It's also really nice to have switched power and a portable work surface available. When using the Swap Saw kit panel saw (shown in the background), I connect the vacuum hose to the circular saw and turn on the saw and the dust collector at the same time. If you decide to build something like this, let me know - I do have some suggestions for improvement.

[Mark Blatter]

Paul - It is funny that you built this recently. I had the same idea about a month ago, but have only progressed so far as to buy the Rigid vacuum. I bought a slightly smaller one because I was thinking about a height of around 32", though I have been rethinking that part. I would like to use the top as a sanding table, with some level of suction on the table to help collect the sanding dust.

I appreciate you putting up the plans. I will review them and likely abscond with many of the idea.

[Paul Briggs]

Mark - My cart is 38-1/4" tall. You will want to make sure that the cart is tall enough to accommodate both the dust separator (Dust Deputy) and associated collection container.

This tool might be easier to build in two stages: 1) build the shop vac noise reduction box first, and then 2) build the dust separationation/collection box (and then bolt or screw them together).
Mr. Schrunk has dimensioned plans for a shop vac noise reduction box here: http://www.startwoodworking.com/post/how-silence-y... .
I would make the following changes to his design, though: 1) run the shop vac intake through a hole on the right side so that it can easily connect to the Dust Deputy in the future, 2) shorten the shop vac power cord and install a power outlet inside the box, 3) add a switch and power outlet on the left side of the box (you may also want to run wiring to the right side if you want a switch/power on the right side in the future), 4) adjust the height of the box to your desired height (and perhaps add a drawer or storage compartment on the top), and 5) use 3" casters.
Once you've got the shop vac noise reduction box assembled and running the way you want, you could then build a box with the dust separation/collection compartments separately, and then attach it to the right side of shop vac box, add a piece of plywood underneath that runs the length of both boxes for stability, and then add the casters.

See also the Instructable below for more information.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Port...Noise-Reducti/

Paul - It is funny that you built this recently. I had the same idea about a month ago, but have only progressed so far as to buy the Rigid vacuum. I bought a slightly smaller one because I was thinking about a height of around 32", though I have been rethinking that part. I would like to use the top as a sanding table, with some level of suction on the table to help collect the sanding dust.

I appreciate you putting up the plans. I will review them and likely abscond with many of the ideas.

[Charles Palmer]

Great job! I want to do the same thing. How do you maintain the suction? Is the rubbermaid container sealed to the dust deputy? I really like the idea, but I'm not sure how the suction is maintained.

[Paul Briggs]

Charles,

The bottom container that holds the rubbermaid collector is completely airtight. I used sealant around all of the wood edges separating the Dust Deputy from the bottom section. Then I made a lip for the bottom section, added weatherstripping, and used small toggle clamps to ensure a tight seal. I did a smoke test (blew out a match and checked to see if any smoke was being drawn into the dust collection portion), and it passed. It is critical to ensure that no air gets into the bottom section. I have some more information and pics in step 6 of the following link:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Port...Noise-Reducti/

Thanks,

Paul

Great job! I want to do the same thing. How do you maintain the suction? Is the rubbermaid container sealed to the dust deputy? I really like the idea, but I'm not sure how the suction is maintained.