Thread: Dust Deputy

good one, jack620. What fitting did you use to connect the hose to the 50mm OD port on the Dust Deputy that connects to an appliance? What size hose goes to the sweeper?

Hi Jill,
both hoses are standard festool hoses. A 50mm hose from the vac to the DD, and a 36mm hose from the DD to the wand. Both have the same fitting which fits snugly over the ports on the DD. I find the 36mm a bit small for vacuuming the floor. Large chips tend to choke the tapered rubber fitting on the wand end of the hose.

I will eventually buy the Festool 50mm x 4m hose for vacuuming, as I already have the 50mm Festool vacuum wand and attachments. Although at $235 I'm not in a hurry! What kills me is the same hose is $105 in the US. Pity the US Festool dealers aren't allowed to sell to us in Oz. I hate being ripped off.

For those considering a Dust Deputy, the pics show the benefits.

Pic 1. The contents of the pail after a few hours of routing

Pic 2. What got through to the Ozito bag.

Pic 3. Nothing to do with the deputy, but I was quite surprised at how effective the denim bag in the Ozito is. No visible dust getting through to the outside of the bag.

Originally Posted by chrisb691

I have now fitted mine to a steel 20lt pail, and all issues now resolved.

Hi there

If you're in Brissie southside, try the Brisbane Drum Exchange at Murarrie. I just picked up a brand-new metal drum about half the size of a regular 44 gallon, in a fetching red colour with a yellow lid (am guessing Shell had some surplus)

About $40 - but will easily outlast my lifetime - works a treat with the Dust Deputy

By the way - thanks for all the tips

Dave

Here is my version, I put both the vac and the Dust Deputy on one stand for easy mobility. I use a steel can and have never had any problems with it sucking in.

Thank you BigDBigD, exactly the idea I have been looking for. Saw some side by side which I did not like, only due to lack of room. So an upstairs/downstairs set up is the logical way to go.

Nice work.

I tried the Bunnings plastic bucket and it is rubbish. It crushes as soon as pressure is put on it. I am going to get an old wet and dry vacuum cleaner drum (type that was on wheels) and use that instead linked up with the Aldi shop vac. Made of steel it won't crush.

I have exactly this problem. The bucket was almost $20. Then I laminated plastic and wood to support the lid. Say another $10 in materials. It worked fine when testing but on first use the hose sucked a tarp over itself and the bucket collapsed.
Since I can get an entire vac for less than $100 I am even thinking of buying one just to strip it down to the metal drum and to get additional hose that I need for my setup plus a spare filter. (And I guess a spare motor if I ever needed it).
I would still need to engineer a lid so I'm still thinking this one through.
I do have a 20L paint pail but it could be up to a year before I finish using that paint.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

PM bushmiller to see where he got his lot from. I have one of his (bought it at the Blue Mountains get-to-gether) and it's great.

I had better update the set up I have. The picture at the start of this thread is about 5 years old.

I have had the original DD attached to a Fein vacuum cleaner for about 7 years in all. It does a reasonable job collecting possibly about 95% of the coarser chips, but stuff still sneaks through and eventually I have to dismantle the Fein and clean it out. You can tell when this occurs as the suction drops and stops.

BobL's interest in dust collection has had an affect on my awareness but I have not yet implemented the changes that are needed. We all know that he absolutely hates shop vacs as he has measured as much fine dust coming out of them as going in. In fact, he will strongly argue that dust control is strangled with less than a 3 hp machine and 6" pipes. Plus it must be vented directly outdoors - better still, place the dust extractor outside - as none of the filters prevents the fine dust circulating in the shop air. Air cleaners are of limited use as they can take some hours before the fine dust is removed.

This is one of the reasons I use handtools as much as possible. Still, I have all the big power equipment, and my dust control system is woeful at this time (2 hp Dust Extractor into 4" pipes). My saviour is all is in a double garage, and I can open the garage door and rear entry door, and blow out all the dust when the wind picks up.

I also cannot vent outdoors since the machines are noisy and I have neighbours.

The Fein finally blew up and I purchased a Festool CT26E about 2 years ago. This has more power and a better (?) HEPA filter. It was also time to look at an improved DD.

In my on-line searches I was horrified to read about static problems and Festool and the DD. It seems that the Festools are earthed differently and the standard DD is not recommended. DD brought out a second, antistatic version. This was not available in Oz. I came across the Dust Commander, which is available in anti-static construction (all anti-static items appear to be black). This is manufactured in France, and easily available on eBay. It was about the same price as the DD. Note that one needs antistatic hoses and connectors to go with this.

So far my experience with the Dust Commander has been good. It seems to create more suck than the DD, and control more dust.
The Dust Commander is attached to a 15lt screw-top storage container (for home brew), in turn attached to a Systainer, which clips onto the top of the CT26E. Why 15lt and not 25lt? I did try a 25lt container, but it just caved in with the suction. The smaller container is stiffer (owing to the reduced height), and copes better. I have struggled to find a steel container with an easily removable and well sealed lid.








Regards from Perth

Derek

This is probably a stupid question:
How fast does the 15L container fill up?

I am only a weekend warrior but I don't want to have to empty it after every use.
I don't have a wood lathe - so we are not talking mountains of dust in my case. On the other hand I don't have a dust collector so for now the vac has to deal with everything that I don't clean up with a broom. (Yes I know, I know. I'll save up for a real dust solution).

The reason for my question is that at some stage before that 15L is full it would start to be ineffective I suspect. I would think there needs to be a certain amount of empty space below the cyclone. Yes?

Dave, it depends on what you use the shop vac to do.

I am presently building a kitchen of doors, all solid wood and frame-and-panel. So far I have build about 16 or so. I have used a sander on the panels, a router for grooving, and a Domino for morticing. Over a period of 15 working days, the 15lt bin has been emptied once. It is about 1/3 full at present.

While only 15lt, I designed it to be easy to unclip from the machine, and chose a bin that would be easy to unscrew the sealable lid to empty. It is all done very speedily. Compared to the plastic bag of my dusty, which required taping on and then securing with a steel strap - all of which needs delicate hands and patience, neither which I own - it is a doddle.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Originally Posted by DaveVman

The reason for my question is that at some stage before that 15L is full it would start to be ineffective I suspect. I would think there needs to be a certain amount of empty space below the cyclone. Yes?

The way that the DD works it makes no difference how much dust is in the bucket. I have often filled mine to almost 100% with no overflow.

I've over flowed mine a couple a times and the vac just keeps on sucking till the cyclone vac and hoses are full, it's a lot a fun cleaning it all up. so I try very hard not to go there any more.
This would happen when I did a bunch a work in the shop then be away from it for a while and come back thinking all is well.

I don't know if you can get them there but the 7 gal. swinmming pool bucket with the screw on lids are heavy duty and work great so might pay to hit a pools store or ask those that own pools for a bucket.