Does Dust Deputy Make Outrageous Claims?

As you look at the advertising, Oneida seems to make a pretty outrageous claim concerning the efficiency of it's Dust Deputy, they claim it captures 99% of the dust. In case you don't know, the Dust Deputy is a mini cyclone that fits on a 5 gallon bucket lid which acts as a particle separator for your shopvac.

I have been interested in this claim, and cautious, because I am interested in good dust collection for my shop. I collect as much dust at the source as possible, this is one of the secrets to my shop being so clean even though it gets daily use.

What this leads to, is constantly emptying out the shopvac and cleaning the filter to maintain a high suction level. If I have to listen to the noise of the shopvac, it better be pulling the dust off of my sanders because I do a LOT of sanding.

I have long known about the Dust Deputy and had read good reviews about it from other woodworkers so I decided to buy one. I received it a week ago and have been using it with amazing results ever since.

Sanding cabinet panels.

The day I got it, I put it into service. I made sure to clean out the shopvac tub and filter as good as possible. Last night I took a look at the filter and was once again amazed. The shopvac only has a light coat of dust inside and on the filter after a solid week of use. Compare this to the four times that I have emptied the 5 gallon bucket which was half full each time.

Shopvac empty after using it for a week with the Dust Deputy.Filter is clean after using with the Dust Deputy for a week.

I purchased the cyclone by itself for $60 plus shipping from Rockler. I have extra hoses and shopvac attachments in the shop so I did not need the full kit. If you do not have extra hoses and connections laying around I would recommend the full kit at $100. You will end up spending close to that buying all of the parts separate anyway plus add your time and gas running around.

Dust Deputy in it's current setup.

I attached the cyclone to the bucket lid and cut a piece of 1/2" plywood as a backer to the inside of the lid as reinforcement. The bucket wants to fall over easily but I had a quick solution already sitting under the table next to the shopvac. I had a 5 gallon bucket about 1/3 full of 16 penny framing nails. I simply dropped the Dust Deputy bucket inside the bucket of nails for a solid anchor. This works quite well for now because I do not move this shopvac around, but I am sure that I will be building a cart to contain the two in the future.

Anti-tipping solution, a partial bucket of framing nails.

I highly recommend the Dust Deputy. The price is a bit on the high side and I have no doubt that they are selling it for what the market will bear because of what it does. But as a business I am already spending less time cleaning out my shopvac filter and that saves me money. It literally will pay for itself in my shop.

The Dust Deputy lives up to it's advertised claims and there is barely a drop in suction power with the extra length of hose. When I build a permanent home for the Dust Deputy and shopvac, I will most likely cut the hose between the two as short as possible to maintain maximum suction.

The Dust Deputy falls into my category of "things that really work" and I highly recommend it for any shop.

Your friend in the shop - Todd A. Clippinger

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Staining A Rustic Desk

Getting A Good Match

Today I was staining the desk. The stain had to be matched to the existing trim and so you may wonder how do I handle this?

Staining the desk.

As a professional I rely on other people around me to make my work successful. One group of people that I rely on quite heavily are my various suppliers and in particular the stores that match paint and stain for me.

I am quite partial to two paint and finish suppliers as they both serve me well and I am sure that both would like to be my exclusive dealer in all things regarding paints, stains, and finish. I use both the local Pittsburgh Paint dealer, which also carries Sikkens and M.L.Campbell products, and the pro Sherwin Williams store.

For this project I took in a piece of base trim and had Sherwin Williams do the color match. They nailed it pretty good as you can see here.

Comparing stain between trim sample and desk.

You have to develop an eye for understanding what a stained surface will look like once you add the finish. The finish will change the surface color a little bit. By working with color regularly, you will also develop a sense for the different tones that are often present in a nuanced fashion. This sense develops over time the more you deal with color and matching which is a regular exercise in my remodel business.

One brand of stain that I favor is Sherwin Williams' BAC Wiping Stain. This product dries to topcoat with solvent finishes in about 60 minutes, for a water base finish you must wait 24 hours. My shop is a little cool due to the winter weather so I give it a couple of hours before shooting a pre-cat lacquer. This by far beats something like Minwax or Behr stains which take 24 hours minimum to dry before topcoating with anything.

SherWood BAC wiping stain.

That is all for now. Be sure to stop back often.

Your friend in the shop - Todd A. Clippinger

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A Rustic Office

Difficult Material

The doug fir beams for this project have proven to be the most difficult material that I have ever used. They are 10"x10" beams that have been laying outside for 10 years.

Beams stored outside for 10 years.

The beams have been stacked and stickered but they are completely exposed to the elements. That may include desperately hot temps in the summer to subzero in the winter and all the snow or rain that the seasons bring.

I had the beams rough milled and have continually taken the material down in stages with lots of moisture meter readings to follow it's drying and acclimation process.

Beams rough milled, ready to stack and dry in the shop.

Some of the material has come down to the recommended 6%-8% moisture content but it is still more unstable than kiln dried stock. A good example of this is how the panels require a few days to settle down after being glued up. The moisture introduced during glue up causes them to get a little crazy but they will settle down as the moisture leaves them over the next 2 or 3 days and then they seem to be stabilized.

Panels in glue up.

To get an accurate moisture reading I have extra stock cut due to the anticipated high loss rate. I cut the twisting stock open to take readings on the inside to see how it compares with the outside. This process allows me to get the most accurate reading and sense of stability characteristics.

A Fitting Design

Fortunately the clients want a chunky hand hewn effect. The home is a timber frame with very heavy woodwork in it. The client described it as having a "Fred Flinstone chunkiness to it." That would be an accurate description and it looks good with the wood floors, plaster textured walls, and stone fireplace.

Fred Flinstone chunky interior.

The rough textures of the handwork and saw marks are clearly evident on the wood. To create the effect of milling marks on the desk top I used a belt sander with 50 grit and sanded it in two directions to create an "X" pattern with the scratch marks to create a milled effect. It worked pretty good.

Millwork effects on desk top.

The front edge of the desk was sanded to create a hand hewn effect. I was virtually using the belt sander to sculpt the surface and it worked quite well. The look is proportional to the project and is fitting to the decor.

Rustic front edge on desk.Rustic Desk

The rustic look is a perfect interpretation of this material. It allows me a little grace for the way the wood is behaving. For as challenging as the wood has been, I feel confident that I can get some stable stock for the doors (at least I hope so;)

That's all for now.

Your friend in the shop - Todd A. Clippinger

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