Studio vacuums

[RuthB]

I am considering a couple of options for dust removal and cleaning. 

Is anyone familiar with the Dustless wet/dry HEPA vacuum?   http://www.dustlesstools.com/dustlessvacuums/HEPAVacuums/hepa-vacuums.php. It’s advertised as being great for drywall dust.  It looks to have some nice features. It will vacuum wet and dry without changing the setup and has a longer than usual very flexible hose. However, I cannot find any independent reviews. 

The second option would be a central vacuum type system with the unit installed outside the studio. I have a small one in the house, but would need a heftier unit for the studio. Any recomendations as to brand?

Thanks,

Ruth

 

 

[Mark C.]

I wrote a piece on this a few years ago

http://community.ceramicartsdaily.org/topic/14523-clay-studio-hepa-vacuum-with-cyclonic-separator/?tab=comments#comment-114996

I Have  used this for a few years now and would suggest this over any portable system unless you have huge studio or are renting.

I also would spend some time looking for a central vac that passes air thru at least two filters before the motor .Mine does not and I had to retro fit that myself.

I also 1000% recommend the cyclonic separator before the vacuum as it get the big stuff and lots of fines before the bag in vac unit.

The noise and the dust is all outside as you know from your home unit. You can use a heap bag as well in the central vac units.I change them out every quarter but I'm a heavy user.

 

 

[RuthB]

Thanks,  Mark!

This looks like a great system. In the past, I’ve used a cheap shop vac placed outside with a long pool hose duct taped to the unit. Not surprisingly, it doesn’t last long and is a pain to set up.

Thanks for introducing me to cyclonic separators.  Is the cyclonic separator the $99 DIY Oneida kit or the $1000 one? 

Thanks, again  

Ruth

 

 

 

[Mark C.]

Neither -I bought the compost parts to make a dust deputy

https://www.oneida-air.com/inventoryD.asp?item_no=AXD000002&CatId={2C6BB449-99F9-4CB9-BC27-CAF1BB570002}

The drum is metal-thecyclonic collector sets on top of this drum-the drums are also sold as plastic.

Read up on this above link on how powerful a suction unit you will need for this to work.

You can use a shop vac and convert it to a central vac very easy or use a central vac-either way you will need some adaptors for the hoses-no big deal some came from onedia some from amazon.

I made my own system-and have it hooked to a switch  next to vac outlet in studio -I turn on the switch (controls low voltage on vac unit). I bought a long large diameter hose and a few basic attachments .The dust and clay trimming go into the metal tub 1st and then the fine dust goes into vac unit.You can PM me  for any details. I'm away from studio for one month doing a kiln conversion workshop so I'm working with memory  here.

You can buy the whole system from them as well-I just bought the component parts and built my own and hung it on the outer studio wall and added a door around it