Simple Dust Collector vs Dust Deputy

If you use power tools to cut or sand wood, you know it can create a lot of sawdust that can quickly clog up your vacuum's filter. One solution to this problem is to place a cyclone filter between the tool and the vacuum. A properly designed cyclone filter will create a vortex and deposit the majority of the sawdust in the canister below it.

A simple cyclone dust collection can be created from nothing more than a bucket and some PVC fittings. There are a number of ways to go about building them, but how well do they work compared to commercially available options?

In this video we compared the Oneida Dust Deputy to the DIY cyclone dust collection unit, and the results are interesting. The DIY unit did well at first, but as the bucket filled up, performance decreased.

The test was performed the the following way:

1. 200 grams of sawdust were weighed out then set aside
2. The dust collection bucket was weighed and the scaled zeroed out
3. The sawdust was vacuumed up, and the bucket weighed again to determine how much sawdust was collected

The test was performed with an empty bucket and a half-full bucket. The Dust Deputy performed consistently in both tests, however the DIY cyclone only collected some of the sawdust with the half-full bucket. A 2nd test was done with just the DIY cyclone at 25% full.

Test Results

	Oneida Dusty Deputy	DIY Dust Seperator
Empty	186g	200g
25%	-	146g
50%	186g	28g

The test shows that the DIY dust collection unit is certainly better than nothing, but it doesn't work as well as the Oneida Dust Deputy.



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