Rockytime Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 I have been using the Dust Stopper for some time now and had been wondering how effective it is. Today I cut a piece of Cedar. It produces a red sawdust. I had put a new filter in my vacuum and so this was a perfect time for a test. Photo 1: Small piece I cut Photo 2: Filter Queen Vacuum Photo 3: Dust Stopper Photo 4: Filter after cutting the small plaque. The last photo does not show the pink sawdust very well but actually has quite a bit of the dust on the entire filter. I am disappointed on that amount of sawdust. The plaque could not cause very much sawdust with a #3 Pegas MG blade. I have not opened the five gallon bucket to see how much sawdust is in there but will do so tomorrow. I am having my doubts about the efficiency of the Dust Stopper. I would expect some dust on the filter but nearly as much as there was. As an aside, I use a furnace filter with a 20" fan to trap some of the sawdust from the top of the saw. I am impressed. The filter is pink. scrollingforsanity, new2woodwrk and OCtoolguy 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 I'm not sure how well any of these dust separator things work.. You have to figure that the dust from a scroll saw is very fine dust and not much weight to it.. easily blown around or sucked up.... Maybe just me but I would think it'd take a decent filter to stop that dust from passing through the hoses and separators.. I'd be curious how much is in your bucket.. I only ran my new separator a few minutes.. only half as much work as you have done.. Only hooked up the vac to the dust port on the excalibur and I had a far amount of dust in the corners of the bucket on only just a few cuts.. On a more positive note.. at least the vacuum filter caught the dust rather than send it back into the air like many of them do... I use a shop vac.. and use a higher end filter for fine dust.. I also use bags.. rather than filling up the filter and the vac canister.... OCtoolguy and Wizard of Oz 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockytime Posted January 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 I may be expecting too much but I'll open the bucket tomorrow and check. OCtoolguy and kmmcrafts 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCtoolguy Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 Just for the heck of it, I decided to clean out my DD. It had quite a bit of fine dust in the bottom of it. Tomorrow I'll open up my Fein vac and see what it looks like. It has a thick hepa filter in it. The bucket on my Dustopper appears to be catching quite a bit of my table saw sawdust. I use it for that primarily. I have hooked it up to my Ridgid spindle sander and it works great on it. kmmcrafts and scrollingforsanity 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 I do imagine there are some systems maybe better air flow design etc that some may work better than others.. I didn't really consider that thought in my last reply... . The ore expensive dust deputy funnel shaped units maybe a better design than the basic design like mine has.. Yours looks to have one hose going into one side of the lid and the other in the center of the top? I think most all of them systems would work descent with larger chips but that fine scroll saw dust maybe needs a better system.. This will be an interesting topic.. I need to check my canister and my vac bag etc.. i just replaced the bag.. so maybe I'll run a test on how much my system is catching.. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new2woodwrk Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 (edited) My DD is incredible! I don't have a filter in my vacuum - I removed it once I got the DD. The way the DD works as I understand it is: The DD traps all the small particle dust and the larger pieces are sucked through to the vacuum it self. I have removed the DD and yes indeed there is an incredible amount of dust and the larger particle matter is inside the vacuum. I only use the vacuum for the smaller power tools like the scroll saw and drills I have a 2hp HF unit which I use as my main dust system hooked to the table saw and work bench for vacuuming up the shop and blow out pieces. I also have a fan with filter setup to "suck up" air borne particles but I can't use it at the moment since my garage is so packed with "stuff" Just my 2 cents worth. Edited January 5, 2020 by new2woodwrk OCtoolguy and GrampaJim 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jollyred Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 43 minutes ago, new2woodwrk said: My DD is incredible! I don't have a filter in my vacuum - I removed it once I got the DD. The way the DD works as I understand it is: The DD traps all the small particle dust and the larger pieces are sucked through to the vacuum it self. I have removed the DD and yes indeed there is an incredible amount of dust and the larger particle matter is inside the vacuum. I only use the vacuum for the smaller power tools like the scroll saw and drills I have a 2hp HF unit which I use as my main dust system hooked to the table saw and work bench for vacuuming up the shop and blow out pieces. I also have a fan with filter setup to "suck up" air borne particles but I can't use it at the moment since my garage is so packed with "stuff" Just my 2 cents worth. I always thought it was the larger pieces which settled into the DD while the finer particles went on to the vacuum? OCtoolguy, new2woodwrk and Wizard of Oz 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new2woodwrk Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 1 hour ago, jollyred said: I always thought it was the larger pieces which settled into the DD while the finer particles went on to the vacuum? It could be - I may have it in reverse as you say - I haven't studied this stuff in over a year LOL OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 9 hours ago, jollyred said: I always thought it was the larger pieces which settled into the DD while the finer particles went on to the vacuum? That sounds more logical.. since fine dust is so easily blown / moved around.. it seems like it'd go with the air flow... that is unless a filter of some sort stops / traps it... Just walking into a shop that has no collection or filter systems etc.. walking about a shop like that will stir up the fine dust.. This is why a filter / cleaner type system is important.. You should have some type of filter in your vac for this reason... The smaller the dust is.. the easier it is to just blow back out the vac.. and that fine dust is what gets past your sinus passages and into the lungs.. If you get a large piece in your lungs then you're trying to sniff sawdust and should check into a drug rehab OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 My DD collects all the fines, and the big pieces go in the shop vac. If the fines went in the shop vac the filter would plug up right away. kmmcrafts and OCtoolguy 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sycamore67 Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 (edited) The Dustopper is an interesting development. the guy, Tom Huntley, that invented it and brought it to market did a great job. I have read a number of reviews and watched comparison videos. They all say similar things that The Dust Deputy does a slightly better job with fines but quite a bit more expensive. There is a thread on Sawmillcreek where the author answers some questions. Edited January 5, 2020 by Sycamore67 kmmcrafts, OCtoolguy, GrampaJim and 1 other 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barb.j.enders Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 13 hours ago, Rockytime said: I have been using the Dust Stopper for some time now and had been wondering how effective it is. Today I cut a piece of Cedar. It produces a red sawdust. I had put a new filter in my vacuum and so this was a perfect time for a test. Photo 1: Small piece I cut Photo 2: Filter Queen Vacuum Photo 3: Dust Stopper Photo 4: Filter after cutting the small plaque. The last photo does not show the pink sawdust very well but actually has quite a bit of the dust on the entire filter. I am disappointed on that amount of sawdust. The plaque could not cause very much sawdust with a #3 Pegas MG blade. I have not opened the five gallon bucket to see how much sawdust is in there but will do so tomorrow. I am having my doubts about the efficiency of the Dust Stopper. I would expect some dust on the filter but nearly as much as there was. As an aside, I use a furnace filter with a 20" fan to trap some of the sawdust from the top of the saw. I am impressed. The filter is pink. How quiet is the filter queen? I have been looking to do a dust collection system at the scroll saw but can't stand the noise level of my shop vac. Yes I wear hearing protection all the time already! OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrollingforsanity Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 Les I have two Dust Toppers. The first one I have hooked up to a craftsman shop vac. I believe I cloud remove the filter and the Dust Topper would catch everything. The second one is hooked to a Home Depot vacuum. I hooked it up brand new to the new DS. I cut for a while and opened the vacuum and all the dust was in the vacuum filter very disappointed. I got in touch with Tom Huntly the inventor and we spent a couple phone calls working on it. Seems to work much better now. Maybe still a little fine dust in the vacuum. He sent me a new Dust Topper as they had a couple sneak through quality control that were not up to par. Also had me change my hook up system to minimize the 90's I had in the connection. Maybe give him a call, real nice fellow to talk with and very helpful. Good Luck. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockytime Posted January 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 7 hours ago, barb.j.enders said: How quiet is the filter queen? I have been looking to do a dust collection system at the scroll saw but can't stand the noise level of my shop vac. Yes I wear hearing protection all the time already! My Filter Queen runs at 62 db on high. Fairly quiet for a vacuum. barb.j.enders and OCtoolguy 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 As a kid growing up we had a Filter Queen.. I sure don't remember it being quiet... Mom always fired the thing up when my TV show came on.. ... Maybe it was quieter than a shop vac.. but I don't think it was... OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockytime Posted January 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 (edited) I just made a CROW sandwich for lunch. Then I proceeded to prostrate myself before my Duststopper, groveled and begged for forgiveness. I had removed the Duststopper from the bucket and amazed myself as to how much of the Cedar dust was collected. It made the dust on the vacuum filter seem minuscule. Photo is he bottom of the bucket. Edited January 5, 2020 by Rockytime Add text. OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockytime Posted January 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 8 minutes ago, kmmcrafts said: As a kid growing up we had a Filter Queen.. I sure don't remember it being quiet... Mom always fired the thing up when my TV show came on.. ... Maybe it was quieter than a shop vac.. but I don't think it was... My Filter Queen runs at 62 db which I think is about the same as the Fein or Festool as I remember. Been awhile since I looked up their specs. kmmcrafts and OCtoolguy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmmcrafts Posted January 5, 2020 Report Share Posted January 5, 2020 3 minutes ago, Rockytime said: My Filter Queen runs at 62 db which I think is about the same as the Fein or Festool as I remember. Been awhile since I looked up their specs. I looked not long ago The Festool runs 62db on low.. and the Fein is 66db.. Not bad I guess.. I measured the sound on my shop vac with a db app on my phone.. Showed me 78db.. For what it's worth.. I found a muffler / defuser thing at Ace hardware for my shop vac.. Honestly don't think it made a difference whatsoever.. I should run a test on it to see for sure.. but sure doesn't seem like it made any difference. OCtoolguy and Rockytime 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar Myer Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 Such a coincidence for this subject to come up now. I bought an air filtration system from Amazon and put it up last week. My shop is very small - 12' x 25' x 8' high. For years I have been working down there without any dust collection of any kind. It's only since I started scrolling in November that I noticed how much more dust was being created. I mean that it was always bad but seemed to get worse using the scroll saw. So I figured I would give the air filtration system a try. I am totally amazed at the difference it has made. I have been cutting plywood all day and there's virtually no dust around the shop. The machine just works. Sawdust is another thing. I have a dust collector that I hook up to my jointer or planner and that helps a lot. But no matter what I do there is still going to be sawdust on the floor. So I'll keep doing what I have been doing for years... sweep it up with a broom and then run the shop-vac over it. This doesn't take very long to do seeing as the shop is so small. The main thing is, there's no dust. /Oscar OCtoolguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCtoolguy Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 2 hours ago, Oscar Myer said: Such a coincidence for this subject to come up now. I bought an air filtration system from Amazon and put it up last week. My shop is very small - 12' x 25' x 8' high. For years I have been working down there without any dust collection of any kind. It's only since I started scrolling in November that I noticed how much more dust was being created. I mean that it was always bad but seemed to get worse using the scroll saw. So I figured I would give the air filtration system a try. I am totally amazed at the difference it has made. I have been cutting plywood all day and there's virtually no dust around the shop. The machine just works. Sawdust is another thing. I have a dust collector that I hook up to my jointer or planner and that helps a lot. But no matter what I do there is still going to be sawdust on the floor. So I'll keep doing what I have been doing for years... sweep it up with a broom and then run the shop-vac over it. This doesn't take very long to do seeing as the shop is so small. The main thing is, there's no dust. /Oscar That's the same one I have in my 9 x 13 shop. And yes it does work well. Oscar Myer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar Myer Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 9 hours ago, octoolguy said: That's the same one I have in my 9 x 13 shop. And yes it does work well. Yep... works very well for sure. My ritual when I go into the shop now, in this order is: Turn on the lights, turn on the dust infiltrator, turn on the radio, sit for an hour with 2 big cups of coffee and decide what I'm going to do on that day. /Oscar Gonzo, meflick, kmmcrafts and 2 others 1 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappile Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 After sitting and drinking 2 big cups of coffee,,,, time to take a little nap! OCtoolguy, meflick and Oscar Myer 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCtoolguy Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 3 hours ago, Oscar Myer said: Yep... works very well for sure. My ritual when I go into the shop now, in this order is: Turn on the lights, turn on the dust infiltrator, turn on the radio, sit for an hour with 2 big cups of coffee and decide what I'm going to do on that day. /Oscar I'd like to know how you drink coffee with your dust mask on. If you aren't wearing a mask, the other stuff doesn't matter. As has also been said, catching the dust at the source with a vac is the primary thing to do. If you are hanging over your saw cutting, you are breathing in a ton of dust. Once it gets into your lungs it never comes out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCtoolguy Posted January 6, 2020 Report Share Posted January 6, 2020 1 hour ago, Scrappile said: After sitting and drinking 2 big cups of coffee,,,, time to take a little nap! Or hit the head! Oscar Myer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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