Dust Deputy / Shop Vac Mod

[gee-dub]

First I should explain that I get a twisted sort of kick out of making things like these out of discarded IKEA furniture; a TV stand in this case .

Another small to-do I have been meaning to get to since . . . . well, its been a couple of YEARS since I bought this Ridgid vac at a Home Depot Black Friday sale!?!

I have one of these that I call version 1.  It was made on-the-fly out of some real crummy particle board as a prototype.  

It has worked fine and so still survives.  I will move this version 1 over to the drill press / small bandsaw area and version 2 will become the main shop vac / hand held power tool vacuum system.

Both version 1 and version 2 will use Ridgid’s vac that converts to a yard vac/blower.  This just makes the conversion easier.  The idea is to eliminate the massive barrel as when using the Dust Deputy, the barrel remains pretty much empty.

I learned on version 1 that reinforcing the bucket lid is a good idea.  Clogs or unexpected blocking of the vac nozzle can cause a reasonable amount of suction at the bucket and the stock Oneida bucket/top flexes a lot where the cone meets the bucket lid.

The overall design places the filter in a small chamber that can be cleaned out if required. 

I clean mine about twice a year and get a couple of teaspoons of stuff in the filter chamber.  I cut a hole to fit the neck of the filter.  I then use a round over bit at the router table to make the fit a bit more custom.

Rather than do a lot of measuring I use a piece of cardboard as a template to get the blower ingress hole the right size and in the right place.

Version 1 had a round access hole for the filter.  While this seemed cool, it gives very little room for your pinkies when trying to re-seat the filter after cleaning.  I went square on version 2.  I used a bead of silicone rubber and some wax paper to make a custom gasket on version 1. 

On version 2 I just use some thin foam that I came up with somewhere during my travels.  The green tape is just holding it in place while the glue dries.

The same threaded rod that secures the filter extends far enough to secure the door as well.

The blower on this vac has a soft rubber gasket on the blower itself.  Version 1 had the gasket on the barrel and so required that I make one.  This is much easier.  The blower literally just sets on the floor and pokes through the hole.  It sucks up tight when the vac is turned on.

It passed the alpha test.  

I'll slap some sort of sealer on it and I'm all set.

[Tom King]

Looks like the bucket could sit on top of the box, and save some floor space.   I don't understand the extra chamber between the vacuum, and the filter.  Why not just leave the filter on the motor, and just pull the whole thing out to change/check the filter?   There is an extra little, foamy ring filter inside the vacuum, under the grill around the intake.  If suction ever seems low, take out the screws that hold the grill on, and the foamy can be washed, and re-installed.

edited to add:   Sorry.  Super tired tonight.  I was a little slow, but I see now that it was for sealing.   I think the design has some good possibilities.  A vertical unit with wheels would be nice for my guys.

[gee-dub]

The filter does not connect directly to the blower on this vac.  The need to access the filter is so seldom that you could definitely do things differently and still have a workable model.  The intake to the filter chamber on this version is positioned so that the bucket can be stacked on top to reduce foot print.  In my little shop I can only take advantage of that by moving the vac away from the wall out into my current floor space.  My walls are covered with tool cabinets, lumber, clamps and what not. But, it is ready to stack if/when my shop layout allows.