Why a Cyclone Separator
A cyclone separator is essentially a bucket with a fancy lid. When connected to a vacuum source, the lid creates a cyclonic suction that collects large dust particles minimally, and the small dust particles at best. By adding one of these to a standard shop vac or dust extractor, you can collect much of the dust before it ever reaches your vac’s filter. So why would you want to do this? One reason is safety. Many times, a filter will get clogged with both large and small dust particles, eventually clogging up the system. This could lead to dust leaking through the system and being expelled back into the shop air. By removing the large particles and even some of the smaller particles, your vac filters don’t have to work as hard and are less likely to become clogged. At the very least, it will take a lot longer for a clog to occur.
The second reason is to save money. I never run my shop vac or dust extractors without a filter bag. Disposable filter bags wind up costing me a lot of money over time. By separating out the chips and dust BEFORE the vac, I can simply empty the bucket over and over and the fill rate on the disposable bags drops dramatically.
I’ll be reviewing the following cyclone separators: The Oneida Dust Deputy, The ClearVue Mini-CV06, and Rockler’s Dust Right Vortex.
Price
Oneida Dust Deputy Deluxe – $79
ClearVueMini CV06 – $149
Rockler Dust Right Vortex – $89
The ClearVue CV06 comes in at the highest price point of all three of these units at $149. The Dust Right Vortex is $89 but can often be found on sale for $69. The Dust Deputy Deluxe kit retails for $79. Oneida also carries other kits costing as much as $199 for the Ultimate model and as little as $39 for the DIY standalone cyclone body.
Winner: Dust Deputy
Connectivity
One of the greatest frustrations in dust collection is dealing with various port and hoses sizes. Fortunately, all three kits come with their own short length of hose for connecting the cyclone to the dust extractor. I had no trouble connecting all three units to both my Festool CT33 and my Rigid Shop Vac. The port for the tool connection was a bit of a different story. I had three hoses to test: my large Festool boom arm hose, my 36 mm Festool hose, and my standard Rigid shop vac hose.
Mini CV06 – All hoses connected with no problem.
Dust Right Vortex – All hoses connected with no problem.
Dust Deputy Deluxe – The large Festool boom arm hose and the Rigid shop vac hose both connected with no trouble. But I was not able to securely connect my 36 mm Festool hose. The diameter of the hose port would have worked just fine, but this particular one does not allow the Dust Deputy’s port to penetrate far enough for the friction fit to engage.
Winners: Dust Right Vortex & ClearVue Mini CV06
Portability
The one major drawback of a cyclone separator is that you now have one more thing to lug around the shop. Since it is essentially tethered to your vacuum source, the whole setup and be quite a pain in the neck. Many folks make custom carts specifically for this purpose. But the manufacturers of these units didn’t leave us hanging.
Dust Deputy – Includes casters for rolling around as well as an attachment kit for mounting to a dust extractor.
Mini CV06 – Does not come with casters but does come with an attachment kit for mounting to a dust extractor.
Dust Right Vortex – Includes easy to attach casters but does not include a mounting kit.
Winner: Dust Deputy
Build Quality
All of these units are plastic. Nothing really fancy about them, but there are some minor differences to consider.
Dust Right Vortex – Sturdy thick plastic with a twist-on lid. Only thing I don’t like about it is the crappy rigid plastic hose. This is the type of hose that will either kink or crack if stepped on. Since it also holds its shape, it will decrease mobility somewhat.
Mini CV06 – Initially seemed to have the highest build quality. The plastic cyclone was made from thicker plastic and the lower profile offers less of a chance of tipping. The lid is fantastic on this unit as it twists and threads onto the bucket. Once the threads are engaged, you have to pull a small lever to twist it back off. The kit included a high quality flexible connector hose too. Unfortunately, these positive aspects were overshadowed by the fact that the bucket collapsed under pressure. While this could be circumstantial or pure bad luck, it happened.
Dust Deputy – There really isn’t anything remarkable about the build quality. At the same time, there isn’t anything overly negative. The kit comes with nice flexible hose equal in quality to the Mini CV06. My one complaint about the Dust Deputy is the lid. The simple pop-on pop-off lid is very likely to detach at a very inconvenient time. But if one were to adopt the policy of never picking the unit up by the cyclone, this should never be an issue.
Winners: Dust Right Vortex & Dust Deputy
Performance
The performance test was very simple. I sanded a soft maple board with 80 grit paper for 5 minutes straight. I then made three cuts at the sliding compound miter saw. I figured this would be a decent mix of small and large dust. The sandpaper was changed between each test and I did my best to keep even pressure on the sander.
Dust Right Vortex – A moderate to heavy amount of fine dust found its way into the dust vac compartment.
Mini CV06 – A moderate amount of fine dust found its way into the dust vac compartment.
Dust Deputy – A minimal amount of dust found its way into the dust vac compartment.
Winner: Dust Deputy
Summary
To say I was surprised by these results would be an understatement. It isn’t often that the cheapest option in a tool test is also the best option. Both the Mini CV06 and the Dust Right Vortex will get the job done, but the combination of price, overall quality, and performance of the Dust Deputy make it the clear winner here.
Hi Mark,
I’m sure that the deformation of the CV06 bucket would adversely affect the performance of the cyclone & dramatically increase the pass through. Out of fairness, you should have replaced the bucket for the performance comparison & mentioned the deformation in the ‘build quality’ comparison.
Any cyclone should be capable of creating enough negative pressure to crush a container, especially when connected to a quality vacuum!!
My CV06 shows almost no dust after many hours of use on routers,sanders & the overhead guard on the table saw.
The Dust Deputy is a basic cyclone that could be fabricated at home, while the Mini is quite sophisticated, with a ramp & a very clever reverse cone that reduces the overall height. I hope that Clearvue seriously look at a full size version. Peter
Just bought Dust Right Vortex a week before seeing your your comparison. Dis get it $75 and love it. Saves time and filters and works just fine in my small shop. All of my tools and, storage cabinets, tool boxes, and power tools are on wheels and the addition of Vortex by Rockler joins the mobility clan. Thanks
I’ve used the ultimate dust deputy with my festool vac now for a couple years. I really like how it attaches to the festool vacs and I honestly have to say I still have yet to change a bag. It does a great job at separating everything from large chips to even dry wall dust. The BIG problem i have with the ULTIMATE dust deputy is the anti-static system. Living in southern california it is dry dry dry. Although they claim it to be anti-static it is not. It really comes down to the materials they use – they are not anti-static or even static dissipating from my experience. However, to date it is the best option I have found inertial dust separation…just keep in mind you may sacrifice your anti-static system unless you make modifications to the system. It may not be an issue unless you live in a dry climate like myself.
Thanks, Mark. This is just the info I needed.
In a smaller shop or I guess any size shop really for an over all dust collection system would a portable dust collector with a cyclone and say a 1-2hp motor that rolls around and can connect over a short run to the individual machine being used give a better performance than a bigger machine in the corner of the shop with a longer run of hose. I know it might not be as convenient but if it would be more effective (and cost less probably) I might just do it that way.
I purchased the Dust Right Vortex about 2 months ago to aid in removing the “big stuff” from my shop floor and have found it to be quite good at doing what it’s supposed to do. Online somewhere, I got the idea to build a vaccuum/separator cart on wheels which really does a job for keeping the vaccuum and the separator together without one or the other falling over. Real handy. The only problem I have had are the connections between the separator and my vac which is a Ridgid 12 gallon Wet/Dry Vac which has a 2.5 inch inner diameter port and 1.75 inch inner diameter floor tools. I got it to work and my problems are probably more to do with the vac than the separator, but combining the two items to use for my woodworking equipment has been frustrating to say the least and really shouldn’t be. Soon, I think I can open my own shop vac connector store with the connections I bought and have found not to work with my setup.
This is a great review… or really sucked… I’m not sure anymore. I’ve been contemplating the Rockler Vortex, but always thought I could build something similar for a lot less money. Seeing the various devices in detail has given me some new design ideas. I gotta stop watching these videos, my project lists keeps growing and growing….
Cool Review. I am very new to wood working and have an old shop vac that is suffering from all the dust. Today I was given a new one and thought that is would be a wise idea to get myself a separator so that I may preserve its run life. The review really helped me out.
Thanks,
Nick
Based on the review of dust separators I chose the Dust Deputy. I use it in conjunction with my Rigid Shop Vac. The filter was always clogging every time the unit required emptying.
Now after dumping the Oneida bucket 5 or 6 times, there still is almost zero dust in the shop vac or on the filter–and that was the matching performance feature reported by Marc on TWW.
Lads, you can build all that with a few bits and pieces. I’ve built mine out of a 90 l. rubbish bin (as we call it in Ireland) and 30cm long 115mm diameter PVC pipe acting as a cyclone separator and mounted on the top of the bin just like the Oneida guys. A cheap 1500W (that would be approx 2h.p. in US) supermarket brand vac is providing the suction, but hey, you can use any vac you want. The key is in airtight lid on the bin. All I spent was 15 euro on the bin as I already had the vac and a few more quid on a long hose for the tools. I’m moving the setup (meaning the hose) between my router table(home built) and my table saw (home improved). works fine and no mess. Make sure though that the hose to the tool is larger or equals the diameter between the vac and the separator or you’ll have a veeery squashed bin. A nice weekend project if anyone is up for the challenge.
Cheers lads and good luck with the build
I use a Dust Deputy with a 6.5 hp shop-vac, and the vac can collapse almost any vessel if you restrict the flow. Keep hoses short and as large as you can get them. I have a 2 1/4 to 4″ adapter on the dust deputy going to my hybrid table saw. A 90 degree elbow and a short adapter from the vac to the DD. The vac is propped up to align straight to the Dust deputy. It works very well. I wish they made a small 4″ version of the DD. 6.5hp vac makes the little DD scream so loud you can’t hear anything else. But it keeps the bottom of the saw cleaned out. A small diameter hose with a lot of power from a shop vac will quickly collapse a steel garbage can or any plastic bucket.
Great review, Marc!
I had purchased the DustDeputy as just the cyclone without anything else because it was cheapest. But I had always wondered if one of the other cyclones would have been better. Thanks for clearing that up!
There’s a couple of things I’ve learned about the DD since getting it.
I attached it to a standard 5 gallon bucket. At first I used it with a plain old Craftsman shop vac. Eventually I got a Festool CT 26, and the increased power caused the bucket to collapse, just as you saw with the CV06. I eventually figured out that the simplest fix was to put that bucket inside a second bucket. Problem solved.
I also found that the easiest way to connect the Festool 36 mm hose is with a tool end connector. It simply fits inside the port on the DD. I just purchased another connector and replaced the 50 mm end. If I need the 50 mm end, I can simply swap it out. Fortunately, I don’t have to do that very often.
Marc,
This was a great video to learn more about dust safety. This being said, it would also be a great ressource if you could put together a short dust collection 101 video explaining the difference between a vacuum, dust extractor, dust collector, cyclone, and any other product that I’m sure exist. Unfortunately, I haven’t found anything that explains the basics of dust safety (other than it’s nasty stuff to inhale). As many new woodworkers, it is always a challenge to figure out what is needed first (after the mask ;)
Thanks
Great review, thanks! I have both: saw similar results in performance, opposite results in quality. I bought the DD first. The lid (the top of the cyclone – not the bucket lid) separated from the cone, exactly 3 days after the warranty expired (90 days). I called Oneida and they would only suggest using glue to reattach. The lip on the bottom surface of the lid, where it attaches to the cone, is about 1/16″. The glue worked for exactly one use and now there is not enough lip to glue again. So, I bought a CV06. It has been working with the stock bucket for over 6 months (albeit with ShopVac, not CT33).
BTW, my intention is not to disparage Oneida (I have another Oneida product that I consider exceptional). Perhaps I just got one bad DD. Maybe you got a bad batch of CV buckets?
I have the Vortex and finding similar results with your test. It works great on large particles but fine stuff goes right through. Unfortunately I do a lot of sanding that creates a lot of fine particles. Mark, do you find that the filter agitator on the festool helps to increase suction when your filter is clogged? Obviously you didn’t clog it during the test, I mean in normal use, regardless of separator. I am thinking of buying a new vac and was thinking the filter cleaner might be away to not have to clean it out as much and keep up suction.
Actually i rarely use the feature. The reason is because i never run it without a bag. The bag catches pretty much everything .
I bought the Industrial Dust Deputy 2 years ago, it is basically the same thing as the plastic model but all steel construction, I made a roll around platform with a 12″ solo tube and plywood so I can move it around my small shop, it works like a champ. I was sold on it before your demonstration.
In my opinion the most important quality here is the actual efficiency of the vortex unit itself. I believe the CV06 was not adequately tested if the bucket was allowed to collapse in the test. But of course this was a test of the units as a whole and not solely focused on the vortex unit itself. I’m not faulting the tester, just making an observation. I would personally like to know which vortex works best and then I would take steps to fix any other weakness I found. So I would be curious what would have happened if you had reduced the suction enough to stop the collapse or reinforced the inside. Just to see if the dust in the CT was very different after the fix.
After talking with others in the industry, I’m afraid the results played out exactly as we saw here, regardless of bucket integrity.
Alrighty then, I guess the DD is the best cyclone of the bunch and hence the one to have. Thanks for the hard work sir ;-)