multi-cyclone, multi-vac shop vac system

[al ladd]

Several time over the last several years I've contemplated dust collection upgrade for my small CNC router, and I end up looking at this:
https://www.oneida-air.com/dust-depu...diy-design-kit

I pretty much get what I want from a small Vacmaster 2-stage "wall hung" 8 Amp system that's really quiet, and coupled with an old steel Oneida dust deputy doesn't end up with chips in the vac (though the filter clogs with fine dust, and needs regular cleaning, even though all the chips end up in the pail below the mini cyclone.).

Occasionally I do a job that would benefit from more CFM than this little vac delivers (110 CFM). Recently I added a Festtool ETS 125 REQ sander to my two Dynabrades, and discovered the joy of orbital sander dust collection. (Previously I just used a downdraft table).

Now I'm wondering if I could make a mini central vac powered system modeled after the one Oneida presents, but with a Y and two blast gates, that would allow me to 1) run the small vacmaster for orbital sanding, 2) a larger vac (maybe Fein Turbo1) for CNC work (or choose the more appropriate of the two -I do a lot of inlay work that requires very little CFM), or 3)simultaneously collect from the router and orbital, or 4) put the two vacs together for the CNC in high demand work.

If money and power consumption were not a concern I'd get an Oneida Dust Cobra. But they both are concerns for me.

I bet there are people on this forum that have an understanding of the pressure and air movement interplays that come into effect here.
Thanks!

[james manutes]

Is your " old steel DD " full size or the smaller one meant for use w/ an extractor or shop vac ? The current steel cyclone offered by Oneida has 5" openings and I believe won't work well with a smaller vac. or an extractor . At 110 CFM your going to go w/ smaller hoses on he standard small DD cyclone . If I've misunderstood your question , sorry . Seems like 2 systems sharing a dust bin to me ?

[al ladd]

Is your " old steel DD " full size or the smaller one meant for use w/ an extractor or shop vac ? The current steel cyclone offered by Oneida has 5" openings and I believe won't work well with a smaller vac. or an extractor . At 110 CFM your going to go w/ smaller hoses on he standard small DD cyclone . If I've misunderstood your question , sorry . Seems like 2 systems sharing a dust bin to me ?

My existing Dust Deputy is a steel one, but it's a discontinued steel version of the little shop vac type I bought at close-out many years ago. I might get 3 standard plastic ones if I try this.https://www.oneida-air.com/dust-depu...diy-design-kit


The Oneida kit I'm looking to emulate uses 2 Shop vacs, 3 standard shop-vac type Dust Deputies, and a single bin. Their design suggests Shop-vac Bucket Head vacs, which are very cheap, and only have 60 CFM rating, but they say, in response to the question:
"Can you use this multi-cyclone design with a 2HP system?
Horsepower isn't the best indicator for the strength of a vacuum system. The better metric to look for is the CFM (airflow rating) of your vacuum.
The multi-cyclone design is ideal for vacuum systems (not dust collectors) with a CFM rating of up to 250 CFM. ---(not clear if they mean each or combined, but probably each).


My plan would be to use a Fein Turbo1, and a small Vacmaster, so I'd have the option of 110 CFM (with vacmaster), 150 CFM (with Fein), or 260 CFM with the pair.


This all sounds too good to be true. It's sort of obscurely located on Oneida's site, and I can find no review or feedback based on user experience for this system. But Oneida knows dust collection!

[Ron Selzer]

I saw this in the past and wondered about it. Have enough cyclones for now however thought if I needed another one, thisd one would be fun to build.
[post back after you build it and let us know how it works.
Ron