# Dust Deputy + Ridgid vac.



## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

I have a Ridgid 6HP vac and the $99 Dust Deputy. I need more ideas on mounting the DD so it want take any extra floor space. I have looked on You tube so I am looking for more ideas. Help please!


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## tomp913 (Mar 7, 2014)

As floor space in my shop is limited too, I had the same concern when I got the Rockler separator and looked at hooking it up to my shop vac. The result isn't pretty, but it's functional and doesn't take up any extra space. Unfortunately, a similar design using the Dust Deputy would require a fairly high ceiling............


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## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

tomp913 said:


> As floor space in my shop is limited too, I had the same concern when I got the Rockler separator and looked at hooking it up to my shop vac. The result isn't pretty, but it's functional and doesn't take up any extra space. Unfortunately, a similar design using the Dust Deputy would require a fairly high ceiling............


Thanks Tom. The Dust Deputy on top of my Ridgid vac would be around 5' high.


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## tomp913 (Mar 7, 2014)

Actually then, it's not going to be too much different than my set-up - I'll measure it when I go out to the shop later. 

I wound up with the finished height based on being able to get the two hoses onto the fittings of the separator - and notched out the plywood ring to reduce the height. Looking at it now, maybe I could add 90° fittings at the separator as I have at the top of the vac. I'd bought 45° fittings and couldn't use them as there was an interface problem with the outlet/inlet on the separator and it would have taken more room to try to use them. I never bothered with it though as this set-up is working very well. I was a little concerned that it would be top-heavy and prone to tipping, but it just follows me around when I tug on the hose - but the separator has 5 wheels and seems to be pretty stable. Nothing is "attached", the three components just assemble and can easily be taken apart to empty the vac or separator barrel once the hoses are detached.


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

I switched from using my Dust Deputy with my Shop Vac to using it with a re-purposed and rebuilt whole house central vacuum unit given to me by a neighbor who was major renovating his house. I installed both this central vacuum unit and the Dust Deputy in the attic above my shop with vacuum inlet ports in my shop, the attic, and one outside for vacuuming my cars and trucks.

I have a small shop, so the high dust producers that generate the larger wood saw dust and chips don't get hooked to this vacuum. The Unisaw base just collects the sawdust from it until I shovel it out and I do my planning using my DeWalt 735 with the accessory dust hose/drum cover. My scroll saws, drill presses, Sand Flea type sander and my hand sanders all get connected to this central vacuum system one at a time as I need to use them. I also vacuum the shop floor with it. I started with a 5 gal. plastic bucket under the Dust Deputy, like I had when it was hooked to the Shop Vac. The Shop Vac never imploded the bucket, but the cental vac imploded it within the first minute or so of use. I then stacked three buckets of the plastic buckets together, to triple the wall thickness and get the reinforced top areas of the buckets to cover the full length of the top bucket. This solved the problem of imploding buckets, but I have since replaced these buckets with a steel 20 gallon grease barrel and a plywood top made from 2 layers of 3/4 cabinet birch plywood. I used the O ring seals from two of the 5 gallon bucket lids to seal this wood top to the metal barrel. 

This Dust Deputy and central vacuum combination has been in use in my shop for about 1 1/2 years now and I'm quite pleased with how well it's working out for me. I'm still amazed with how well the Dust Deputy separates out the sawdust and debris. Almost nothing visible ever seems to reach the central vacuum container and filter. I have the exhaust vented through the roof soffit, so anything micro fine that might make it through this system gets vented outside, and not back into my shop. I no longer have a Shop Vac in the shop at all as this attic vacuum system does everything that I would need a Shop vac for without consuming any shop space at all. This isn't a perfect solution for a wood shop dust collector, but it does well for my small shop.

Charley


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

Tom,

You posted while I was typing. 

Maybe you could just mount the Dust Deputy off center and get the Shop Vac to fit alongside of it on top of that collection barrel. Is it large enough for this? How do you plan to seal the plywood Dust Deputy and the fittings to this plywood top lid? Any leak here will significantly reduce the effectiveness of the vacuum. You should also try to eliminate as much of the flexible hose as possible between the vacuum, Dust Deputy, and barrel. I used two layers of plywood for my lid, with the lower piece cut to just fit into the end of the barrel and the upper piece larger in diameter to completely cover the end of the barrel. Then the O rings from the 5 gallon bucket lids were stretched over the smaller piece of plywood and up against the upper piece. The rolled top edge of the metal barrel sealed very well to this lid with these O rings installed. The two plywood layers of the lid were sealed together with screws and caulking, and the base of the Dust Deputy was bolted to the plywood lid, and also sealed with caulking between them. Gravity holds them together when the vacuum is not running. 

Charley


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## TenGees (Sep 12, 2012)

It might be kinda tippy to go vertically. I believe it was on the forum somewhere that I saw a post about a cart that holds everything. The vacuum was beside the drum and DD. On wheels it might not be too much in the way.


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## honesttjohn (Feb 17, 2015)

Don,

I got 2 Ridgid 14 gal vacs and 2 DD with the 5 gal buckets (Menards on sale for $74). One is hooked up to the CNC machine, but can be moved very easily. The other will be a mobile set up. I'm putting them one right behind another on a platform (scrap ply), and using the casters provided for the cart. A little lip around the edges and a 20' aftermarket hose from Amazon lets you reach out, move it where you need it, or push it out of the way.


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## tomp913 (Mar 7, 2014)

If this is the $99 Dust Deputy in question, I'd think that it would be pretty easy to mate vertically with the shop vac. 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Oneida-A...54565&wl11=online&wl12=47508874&wl13=&veh=sem

Replace the container lid with two layers of plywood, one sized to fit inside the barrel and the other sized to allow mounting of the shop vac on top. As suggested, glue/caulk the two layers of plywood and provide a gasket to the top of the barrel and mount the DD in the center of the plywood. I might look at a larger plywood disc on the bottom to give more stability, and a couple of bungee cords from top to bottom to hold them together. The top layer would have to be based on the configuration of the Rigid shop vac - I was pretty lucky with this old unit I have as it's small and round so only took a ring with a hole to suit the OD of the canister and the (3) 1" dowel stand-offs between it and the lower plywood layer on top of the separator.

I'd looked at the various examples where the vacuum and separator were mounted side-by-side but this didn't really work for me. I have only the one largish open area in my shop where the motorcycle sits until it's pushed outside when I want to work, otherwise have narrow aisles between the TS, workbench, etc. I don't usually pull it across the shop by the hose, but have never had a problem when I did, and it does quickly comes apart when I need to empty the lower container or check the vac filter.


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## DonkeyHody (Jan 22, 2015)

hawkeye10 said:


> I have a Ridgid 6HP vac and the $99 Dust Deputy. I need more ideas on mounting the DD so it want take any extra floor space. I have looked on You tube so I am looking for more ideas. Help please!


I have experience to share . . . 
I built a cart for my vacuum and Dust Deputy.
http://www.routerforums.com/show-n-tell/89578-i-kicked-bucket-man-sucks.html

It was ALWAYS in the way. I finally got tired of walking around the thing and moved it UNDER my shop. I'm blessed with 4.5 feet of crawl space on the back side. Put a "Y fitting in front of the Dust Deputy and piped to two 2" stubs in the floor. I just stop up whichever fitting I'm not using and hook flex hose to the other fitting. I still have plenty of suction despite the fairly long runs of pipe. 

I've found this setup to be WAY more convenient (and quieter) than having the vacuum in the shop. 

I realize that putting your vacuum outside may not be an option for you, but if you can, it's the path to happiness.


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## tomp913 (Mar 7, 2014)

hawkeye10 said:


> Thanks Tom. The Dust Deputy on top of my Ridgid vac would be around 5' high.


The height to the top of the 90° fitting on the shop vac is 54".


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

Just a thought about vertical stacking a Dust Deputy and Shop Vac. This would put the shop vac above the Dust Deputy, but minimize the length of hose between them.

Since the outlet of the Dust Deputy is on it's top center and the whole tank part of a shop vac is the vacuum inlet, it would seem like you could make a hole in the bottom of the shop vac to connect straight to the Dust Deputy outlet directly below it and plug the standard inlet on the side of the shop vac. This would almost totally eliminate most of one cumbersome vacuum hose from the system and make the profile smaller in diameter. Vacuum port fittings are available that should make connecting the hose to the bottom hole in the shop vac fairly easy to make leak free. A larger diameter wood platform under the 5 gallon bucket with good casters should make it easy to move it around your shop and the long vacuum hose from your tool would connect to the middle of this stack at the inlet to the Dust Deputy, making it less likely to tip it over if you should tug on the hose while using it.

If I decide to build another shop vac / Dust Deputy system for portable use I think I'm going to go this way. The only other problem is figuring out how to build a rigid support strucure to hold the shop vacuum above the Dust Deputy and Bucket. It might also be a little difficult to separate the bucket lid from the bucket with all of this rigidly stacked above it too, but I think maybe removing the snap edging of the lid and then using three strap down type box latches or similar might solve this

Hey, it's just an idea to build on that I'm throwing into the ring.. Maybe it will help us get started brainstorming it into a good working design. Anybody got anything to contribute?

Charley


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## tomp913 (Mar 7, 2014)

@CharleyL

That's a really good idea, and would knock probably 6" off the overall height, plus get rid of the hose sticking out the side, narrowing the profile down a little. I think that you'd need to put some kind of baffle over the inlet inside the vac tank to prevent the dust being pulled directly at the filter - mine has one that directs the air flow along the inside wall of the tank. It would be easy to make a removable plug to block off the vac inlet but still allow it to be used away from the assembly if required. I have the upper ring supported on dowels as shown, and that's proved to be pretty sturdy - but my vac is a lot smaller than some of the newer models. To disassemble, I have to remove both hoses. The shop vac then just lifts out of the upper ring, and the ring assembly lifts up off the separator. The dust inlet to the separator is on the top so puts the "pull point" relatively low as you suggested, never had a problem with the assembly trying to tip over if I'm pulling it closer with the hose. The bottom ring of the support structure just sits on the outer edge of the separator, but is held in place by the inlet/outlet stubs sticking out the top.

If/when I have some free time (and nothing else to do), I might take a look at the idea of making this modification.


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