Vac Blower, Filter Box, and Dust Deputy - Ver 3

[gee-dub]

I discarded the Shop Vac barrel in favor of a filter box years ago.  It has worked very well for me.  I had two vac 'stations' in the old shop and will have the same in the new layout.  I am between shops and in temporary digs that allow minimal work to be done.  Out of boredom I went ahead and built version-3.  It sets low in order to accommodate a large hose reel above it.  I haven't got bored enough to put that together yet but, getting something, anything, done felt good so who knows?

The plan included a gap between the filter box and the wall to store vac wands.

The filter access panel has PVC caps attached to hold my most often used accessories.

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If someone could re-orient those last two pics I would appreciate it.  I have been unable to get them to "stay" ;-)

 

The hose trailing off to the right would be replaced by a short, stiff hose to the reel that will be above this fixture. The two white topped plastic containers hold random vac related stuff.  As a test I brought the shop vac that we use outside into the "shop" and sucked up a gallon or so of dirt, leaves, twigs and the random debris one gets in a general use vac.

The filter compartment looked like this on the inside.

In the old shop I would empty the 5 gallon DD bucket a dozen times or more and only get a sprinkling of material in the filter box.  This one seems to do as well or better.  Time will tell.

 

[pkinneb]

gee-dub you come up with some of the coolest projects! Thanks for sharing.

[Mark J]

2 hours ago, gee-dub said:

If someone could re-orient those last two pics I would appreciate it.  I have been unable to get them to "stay" ;-)

It's a flaw with the last forum software update.  What I do is text the photo from my phone to my phone, then save it.  The saved version posts upside right.

[gee-dub]

1 hour ago, Mark J said:

It's a flaw with the last forum software update.  What I do is text the photo from my phone to my phone, then save it.  The saved version posts upside right.

Thanks Mark.  The funny thing is I had to resize these and strip the Exif data to make them orient correctly on another location.  In 'edit' mode when composing the thread they are correct.  Once saved they flip

[BillyJack]

Nice work, but I get a headache trying to figure it out. Too complicated for me. 

[wtnhighlander]

Two question, @gee-dub: Is there any added filter in the box, or only the original vac filter? And does this arrangement alter the vac noise in any way?  Looks like a really good way to improve the footprint of the two-stage vac setup. I bet emptying the collection tub is easier, too.

[gee-dub]

53 minutes ago, wtnhighlander said:

Two question, @gee-dub: Is there any added filter in the box, or only the original vac filter? And does this arrangement alter the vac noise in any way?  Looks like a really good way to improve the footprint of the two-stage vac setup. I bet emptying the collection tub is easier, too.

I switched over to Clean Stream filters back in 2005.  Still running the same three; one for each vac and one for swapping out.  If there is a noise difference without the plastic drum it may not be significant enough that I noticed it.  The Ridgid mufflers that I use do filter out some of the more annoying frequencies but, ear protection is still a must.  The footprint of the filter box itself is pretty small.  The fixture it is setting on allows me some storage in the footprint and yes, emptying is pretty easy.

P.s. I do have a nylon stocking stretched over the filter.  You may be seeing that in some of the pics.  No longer required with this setup.  I just failed to remove it.

2 hours ago, BillyJack said:

Nice work, but I get a headache trying to figure it out. Too complicated for me. 

  The basic pathway looks like this.

All the other gobble-dee-gook is to support the DD, spoil container and a little storage.

I went ahead and added the reel.  I have used the vac with 35' of hose for years.  I wanted to test the performance with part of the hose still on board.

Works fine and I'm happy with it.  It is a pain being between shops so I am just trying to take care of little things I can do prior to them breaking ground.

[BillyJack]

I'll just stick with the DC....less complicated .

[drzaius]

I have a 30 year old Craftsman shop vac that is donating its blower to a similar project. LIke yours, @gee-dub, it will have a Dust Deputy & dust bin, but the layout will be different & it will be mobile. My primary goals are to reduce the vacuum/DD foot print, make it more stable to move around, and make it quieter. Probably be a few months until I get to the project & I'll start a thread when I do.

[gee-dub]

I think you'll be happy Frank.  The concept has proven itself for me over the last several years.  I have a centralized DC and a small mobile one for odd tasks.  Some tools just collect better with a vac and of course there is always general clean up as well.  You already know this from owning a DD but, I clean the filter box a couple times a year and clean the filter every year whether it needs it or not .