# Portable Dust Collection Cart with Noise Reduction & Dust Separator using Shop Vac



## pbriggs8 (May 17, 2016)

*Portable Dust Collection Cart with Noise Reduction & Dust Separator using Shop Vac*

Attached are pics of a dust collection cart that I made for my small workshop that serves multiple purposes:

o It provides a handy portable working surface of various shop projects

o It serves as my primary means of vacuuming dust from the floor and work surfaces

o It includes a dust separator made from a Dust Deputy that separates out 95+% of the wood dust into an easily removable container (and allows the shop vac to continue to produce maximum suction)

o It includes a noise reduction system for the shop vac that significantly muffles the shop vac noise (-10 dB)

o It has power outlets on both sides of the cart (one is switched)

o It allows easy connection of a vacuum hose to various woodworking tools in the shop to suck up most of the dust at the source of dust generation, including:

- Radial arm saw

- Kreg pocket screw jig

- Circular saw

- Router table

All parts used are off-the-shelf parts. No specialty parts are needed.

I used a Ridgid WD1450 14-gallon 6 HP shop vac (available from Home Depot for $99). It has great reviews and provides excellent suction.

My source of inspiration for the noise reduction came from the following two posts by Mr. Schrunk:

How To Silence Your Shop Vac

Build a Simple Box to Muffle Your Shop Vac (be sure to view the video and listen to the difference the noise reduction system makes)

The acoustical noise reduction padding that Mr. Schrunk used is expensive, and I decided to use some egg crate foam padding that I had in storage. You really don’t have to have any padding in the box to get a significant noise reduction (I don’t think the egg crate foam padding added that much to the noise reduction). Note that I did not get anywhere near the noise reduction that Mr. Schrunk got, but it is still perfectly fine for my purposes.

More detail for this project can be found at an Instructable that I wrote for this project:

Portable-Dust-Collection-System-With-Noise-Reduction at Instructables.com


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Nicely done, Paul... 
And welcome, eh!


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Paul, I highly recommend that you buy both the large collection bag and the small bag that goes over the filter for your vac. This will reduce the fines that are pumped back into the shop with a normal filter and costs much less than a HEPA filter.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

I keep thinking about redoing my dust collection and this post suggests some possibilities for building something to house it attached to the outside of the shop, something like an exterior housing for a water heater. With all the money I've spent trying to avoid buying a commercial unit, I could have bought a Jet and be done with it. I think for convenience sake, that it is really nice to have a clear plastic bag to hold the majority of the sawdust. I keep my jointer and planer in the garage, and they produce a lot of fluffy waste, so I could use two systems. That's about $700 bucks, but, I am really tired of all the sawdust and would like a better system. 

The choices seem to be the Jet and the HF. Any opinions about which you'd choose, and why?


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## pbriggs8 (May 17, 2016)

Mike - I've been meaning to do this. I was a little concerned that it might reduce the airflow some and I want all the suction that I can get. I will add these bags at a future date and provide an update. I'd like to have as little floating dust in my garage as possible. Thanks for the suggestion.
Paul


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## pbriggs8 (May 17, 2016)

*Dedicated dust collector ...*

Tom - I'll let others comment on which dedicated dust collector to recommend, as I don't have one. But, if you are short on space in your shop, the self-contained dust collection cart is a really nice addition. I've been using mine for over 6 months now, and I really like the muffled noise, the easy access dust collection bin, the additional power outlets on each side (including a switched outlet), and especially the portable work surface - and it can be built to your dimensions for about $200-$250 (including the shop vac, $100 less if you already have one you want to use).



DesertRatTom said:


> I keep thinking about redoing my dust collection and this post suggests some possibilities for building something to house it attached to the outside of the shop, something like an exterior housing for a water heater. With all the money I've spent trying to avoid buying a commercial unit, I could have bought a Jet and be done with it. I think for convenience sake, that it is really nice to have a clear plastic bag to hold the majority of the sawdust. I keep my jointer and planer in the garage, and they produce a lot of fluffy waste, so I could use two systems. That's about $700 bucks, but, I am really tired of all the sawdust and would like a better system.
> 
> The choices seem to be the Jet and the HF. Any opinions about which you'd choose, and why?


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