Voiceover:The Wood.Whisperer is sponsored by.Powermatic, the gold.standard since 1921, and by.Rockler Woodworking and.Hardware. Create with Confidence..Marc:I need to apologize ahead of time.because today's show is.really going to suck..(groovy jazz music).Today we're going to have.ourself an old-fashioned.shootout taking a look.at some of the popular.cyclone separators on the market..Separators have been around for a while..I remember when I first.started woodworking.seeing plans for them to make your own,.just using basic materials.from the home store..These days it seems like a lot of the dust.collection companies.are getting in the game,.and even Rockler has a unit.that's fairly inexpensive..Sometimes you just have.to weigh the cost versus.the amount of time you.would spend building it..All of these units I'll tell you straight.off are certainly capable.and they do the job,.but there is one clear winner and.we'll find out which one it is..The review that I'm going to do on these,.you know how I am with reviews..I'm not a professional reviewer..I'm just some dude in.a garage that likes to.play with tools and give.his opinion on them..I'm going to give you a.very empirical results..We're not really going.to measure anything,.we're not really going to weigh anything..I don't have a dust meter.that's going to detect.how much dust makes it.into the environment..I just don't have those capabilities,.but I can give you my opinion.and show you some things.so that you can make a.judgement call for yourself..Before we get started let's talk a.little bit about what these units are,.what they do and why you would.want one in the first place..Even though all of these.systems may look different.they all operate on the same principal..Essentially they're the middle man..They go between the dust.extractor and the tool..This way as you're pulling the dust in,.the wood chips are coming.in, this is another layer of.filtration that's separating out the dust,.fine and the coarse dust as well,.before it even gets to the.dust extractor, so that what.actually gets to the dust.extractor is very minimal..Why would you want to do that?.It seems like this should be.doing everything we need it to do..In most cases it does,.but there's a couple.things to think about..Number one is safety. The more.we can separate out before.it even gets to the dust extractor,.the less chance there is.that that stuff is going to.build up and wind up.exhausting out into the shop..It also extends the.life of the tool because.that fine dust tends to get everywhere..Especially if you let it build up.on the pleated filters and things,.sometimes it just winds.up burning out the motor..I've lost more than one shop-vac.that way before I learned.my lesson and started buying.the actual filter bags,.which is the second point..Filter bags are expensive.and it's something.that as long as you're a woodworker you're.going to have to continue.buying those things..This is one way to avoid.that because all this stuff.is being separated out first.it's going to take a really.long time before you fill.a bag in one of these..You're going to continuously.empty this container.and never really have to worry about it..I don't want to say never,.but you won't have to.worry about it nearly as.often and you won't go.through nearly as many.of those disposable bags..Interestingly enough, specifically Festool.offers a solution to.this, and it's something.that I bought into a while ago..That's a lifetime bag..Basically this is reusable.so I can empty it out.and it saves me from having.to buy the disposables..Here's the problem: This costs.200 dollars. None of these.systems we're looking at.today cost that much money..If you're looking at it purely.from a financial perspective.it makes a lot more sense.to do something like one of.these cyclones than it does.to go with a lifetime bag..Just a few things to think about..(swinging electric guitar).The Oneida Dust Deputy.retails for 79 dollars,.and that's for what they.call their deluxe kit..It contains the bucket,.of course you've got the cyclone here,.pretty much everything.you need to get started..You can buy the cyclone.independently if you.wanted to make your own custom solution,.and you can also buy some.of their higher-end units.for more industrial.applications and also one that.specifically attaches to.a Festool dust extractor..For 10 dollars more at 89 dollars,.you can get the Rockler Dust Right Vortex..This is something that you actually.can get on sale quite often,.so you could save 15 or 20 bucks on it,.but the regular retail price is 89.99..Now the most expensive.unit in our shootout.is the Clear Vue Mini CV.06. Retails for 149 dollars..We'll have to see if it's.worth that price tag..(swinging electric guitar).Now let's talk about connectivity..It's really important because.you want to know that when.you get this thing home you're.going to be able just to.put it together and go to.work and you don't necessarily.want to worry about.cobbling together ports.and making all of your hoses fit properly..The good news is across the.board every one of the units.has no problem connecting using.the hose that it comes with..That basically connects.to the cyclone unit.and into your dust extractor or shop-vac..All of those connections.were absolutely perfect..Where things are a little.bit more variable is.with the hose that connects to your tools..First let's look at the RIDGID.shop-vac. No problem at all,.slides right on, and it.catches because there's a.little bit of a taper at the back of this.port and you get a nice.friction fit there..No problem with the shop-vac..My Festool stuff, now I have two.hoses that I'm concerned about..This may not be the same.for everyone's situation,.even if you have the Festool gear because.they do make different sized hoses..This larger hose that's.part of my boom arm setup,.this actually connects perfectly..In fact you push it just far.enough and you'll feel it snap..That's a perfect connection,.very happy with that..The one I'm a little bit concerned.about is my 36 millimeter.connection. This is the.hose I use for my Kapex..This guy slides on and it.bottoms out inside the hose here,.and that's not really a good connection..Even using some of the things.that Oneida includes in the.kit to help you tighten.up a loosened hose,.it's not really going to do anything,.so I'm going to have to cobble.together a solution for that..Other than that everything works good.it looks like just the 36.millimeter hose is a problem..The Clear Vue CV06. No problem.with the larger Festool hose..No problem here with.the 36 millimeter hose..Here's the RIDGID shop-vac.hose, no problem there at all..All three of them work perfectly fine..Now the Dust Right Vortex..It looks like the larger.Festool hose, no problem..36 millimeter hose, no.problem there either..And our RIDGID shop-vac hose, no problem..This one is pretty much a tie between the.Dust Right Vortex and the Mini CV06..(swinging electric guitar).Now another really important.factor here is portability..Our dust extractors and.shop-vacs are already.big enough as it is, now.we have this secondary.thing that we're pulling along side of it..Some people cobble.together a custom solution.where both the vacuum and this are sitting.on a cart and you can push that around,.or you can consider some of the solutions.that the manufacturers provide for us..Number one is casters. The.Oneida unit actually does.come with casters but you have.to drill through the bucket.and attach it with the nuts.to make that system work..Cool thing about the dust.right vortex is there's already.holes there for the.casters that it comes with..You just pop them in and it's ready to go..Unfortunately the Clear Vue unit does.not come with casters and you would have.to go for a completely custom solution.if you want that one to roll around.with the actual dust extractor unit..But the Mini does have a.different sort of thought process..Instead of having it roll.around they're thinking that.you're going to essentially.attach it to your dust extractor..It includes hardware and a connection kit.to allow you to connect it permanently..Then this way you're moving.your dust extractor or your.shop-vac with this cyclone.connector as one unit..The Oneida system also comes with.the hardware for connectivity..Really when it comes down to it,.if you want rolling options.built in you're going to be.looking at either the Oneida.or the Dust Right Vortex,.and if you want attachment.options you're going to be.looking at either the Oneida.or the CV06 from Clear Vue..Really because it has.both options I think the.Oneida is going to be the.winner in this category..(swinging electric guitar).Now let's take a look at the.overall build quality of these units..We'll start with the Dust Right Vortex..It's all plastic construction,.there's really nothing to complain about,.it's fairly durable plastic..I think this thing would.take a beating pretty well..The casters on it,.they're kind of cheap but.really I wouldn't expect.them to be super high quality.casters and I don't really.think that they need to be..This thing isn't going to have.a whole lot of weight to it.so that's really not too much of an issue..Overall, a really well-built unit..The only complaint I have.about this one is the hose..The hose is that permanent flex crap,.and it's a fairly rigid plastic..This is something that if this hose.were stepped on you would kink it,.and you could possibly.split it and break it..It's not the most durable.hose in the world,.it certainly gets the job done,.and if you have a setup.where this is somehow.immobilized with reference to your actual.dust collector it may not be an issue.because nothing will ever move..But if you are rolling this thing around.you're going to have.this moving constantly,.so this is just not my.favorite hose material..Otherwise a pretty well-built unit..Now the Clear Vue CV06 at.first glance I thought was.the best of all three in terms.of durability. It's got nice,.thick plastic for the.cyclone unit at the top..It's not real high so there's.not much of a tip risk,.it's a fairly low profile cyclone..The lid is great. It's a twist on lid.that has a nice little locking mechanism,.and it kind of makes.that ratcheting noise..(clicking).That lets you know that you're.tightening it up and it's.very clear and obvious when.the lid is fully seated,.so there's no question there at all..Some thing some people might.be concerned about is the fact.that the hardware that holds.the cyclone to the lid is nylon.hardware instead of actual.metal bolts and nuts there..For something like this I.don't know how much of a.concern that is but I.figured I would bring it up..The one thing that just really,.really disappointed me with.this was as I was using this.unit it wound up buckling in..The actual bucket itself sucked in.because the pressure was too great..I'm not 100 percent sure.exactly why it happened,.could just be a defect in.this particular bucket,.but that was a bad thing..We'll see it later when we.do the performance tests,.you'll actually see what it looks like,.but I was really disappointed.because everything else.about this unit is.really top notch quality..It is what it is..The Dust Deputy, honestly.there's really nothing.overly remarkable about it to say that its.quality is any better than the other two..It's all plastic, you've.got a plastic bin here,.plastic cyclone, and I.can't really tell you.what the difference.between this plastic versus.the other two types of.plastic, but it certainly.looks durable enough for the job..I will say that there is metal hardware on.this instead of nylon, so there's a plus..The only thing that I think.I could really consider a.negative about the overall.build quality is the lid..What I really like about.the other two units,.both the Dust Right Vortex, and the CV06,.is they both have a twist on.lid so you really know when.that sucker is on there,.there's no debating it at all,.and it's not going to pop.off, even if you lift up.from the lid and the cyclone unit itself..Which of course the.instructions are going to tell.you not to do that, but how.many of you are going to do it?.You're going to move.this thing at one point,.even if you just forget that.you're not supposed to do it,.and you're going to wind up.pulling this lid right off and.you could very well get all that.dust thrown onto your floor..That's definitely something to consider..When I look at all three.of these they all have some.sort of flaw that I'm not.completely happy with,.You might say it's a three way tie.but the fact that the bucket.on the CV06 collapsed on me,.I've really got to take a.few more points off for that..I'm going to say this one.is a two way tie between.the Dust Right Vortex and the Dust Deputy..(swinging electric guitar).Now the final attribute that we're.going to test today is performance..Really, this is the most.important thing. We want to know.how much dust is caught by.the cyclone separator and how.much makes it through.into our dust extractor..Normally in my dust extractor I.use a bag to collect the fine dust..In this case I'm going to remove the bag,.clean out the compartment.and then we'll be able to see.how much dust makes it into.that plastic compartment..We won't necessarily.be weighing it or doing.any sort of real scientific measurement,.we'll just look at it and.compare between the three.units to see if one has.more dust than another..The other thing is, how am.I going to make the dust?.I've got a soft maple board here,.just leftover scrap from.the workbench project,.and I'm going to use my.Festool rotex sander..In rotex mode this thing can.chew up some serious material..I'm going to run that for.five minutes straight for each.one of the units to produce.a decent amount of dust..Then I'm going to go over and make.three cuts at my sliding.compound miter saw,.which also generates a lot of dust,.but it's a little bit larger in term of.the actual size of the dust particles..This way we'll have a.nice mix and hopefully.enough material that.we can get a good judge.of how well these things are working..Let's get started..Let's see how we did with the Dust Deputy..There really isn't a whole.lot of accumulation here,.just got that little bit right there..That's really pretty darn good..Inside the can, that's.where all the dust went..You can see we've got the.mixture of larger dust particles.and the smaller dust particles.are in there as well..Let's see how much dust made.it through the Mini CV06..You can see we've got quite.a bit more buildup here.that made it through the.cyclone and into the actual.dustbin of our dust.collector. Quite a bit more..Let's take a look inside the.can, but before we do that,.one interesting thing here.that was unexpected was the can.on the CV06 just collapsed.under the pressure from the vac..Take that for what it is.That actually may be.making it difficult to get.this lid off until we get.it back to shape here..Of course, quite a bit.of dust in there but.this collapsing here,.that's kind of a problem..Now we're going to look at the.results from the Dust Right Vortex..As you can see, pretty good.accumulation of small dust in here..Let's take a look at the bin..No real surprises here, pretty.good accumulation inside..You can see that..Let's start the elimination.ceremony. Dust Right Vortex,.you are well built, reasonably priced..You have a high capacity but unfortunately.you're just a little pitchy, dog..CV06, you're attractive,.no doubt about it,.but you're a little bit.expensive for my taste..Going to have to let you go..Dust Deputy, at 79 dollars you were the.cheapest unit in our entire test here..One might think of you.initially as the underdog,.but your performance speaks for itself..You're going to Hollywood..In all seriousness, if.you're in the market.for a cyclone separator, any.of these will get the job done..But if you really want to get the best and.the best buy for your.money, the choice is clear..In this case,.which is odd when you look.at shootouts like this,.the cheapest one was the.highest performing one..The Dust Deputy without.a doubt was better at.separating the fine dust.and making sure that.fewer dust particles got.to the dust extractor..Both of these units were.comparable in terms of performance,.but the Clear Vue unit is 150 bucks..You're looking at 89.retail for the Vortex..Even between these two I would say the.Vortex is probably the better buy,.especially when this sucker is on.sale you can get it for like 65 bucks..Unfortunately, I love Clear Vue,.I own one of their cyclones,.it's an absolutely awesome unit,.but I don't think that.this one performance wise.justifies its retail price, unfortunately..In this case, just was really surprised,.I did not think that.the cheapest unit here.would actually be the.highest performing one..The clear winner for.me is the Dust Deputy..(plucked acoustic guitar).(quenched fire).
