# Shop Vac Enclosures - Experiences and Advice



## noveske (3 mo ago)

I have a tiny garage to tinker in and want to work on a small project on a budget. Randomly just do little projects. Learning and expanding.

I want to come up with a better dust collection solution. Currently, it's a Ridgid ShopVac to a Cyclone and Bucket.

Thinking about hard lining things with maybe 2 intakes while also reducing the noise with the garage door closed.

Has anyone placed a ShopVac into a sound dampening enclosure? Any negative effects? Heat? Overworked the ShopVac motor? Maybe redo the ShopVac to something like this: Building a Small Cyclone Dust Collector

Then build an enclosure just for the top? Looking for ideas, do's/dont's.

Dumb question: Is there a purpose to why a lot of ShopVac/Dust Collector Carts have the dust collectors above the ShopVac? Just convenience of the ShopVac having wheels?


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## BigCountry79 (Jun 2, 2021)

I think it's mostly because you empty the bucket, and its easier to reach when it's on top


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## Jim Frye (Aug 24, 2016)

I built something many years ago. Due to height restrictions in my small 12'x12' shop, the rig was on a cart made of 2x2 lumber with the vac at the rear and the cyclone in front. It worked ok, but since the footprint was twice the size of the vac, and my sawdust output volume was rather small, the rig was eventually disassembled and the vac got a pair of CleanStream filters. Fast forward thirty years and I'm still using a ShopVac (now a 16 gallon unit) as THE dust collector (aside from the large ambient air filter). I've found the larger vac tank with the washable pleated filters works as effectively as the old cyclone did. The ShopVac has an exhaust port with a short length of 2 1/2" hose terminated with a large wool sock and there is no dust in the sock. There is no enclosure around the vac and a pair of Peltor muffs work well to deaden the sound produced by the vac and any power tools connected to it. I use a tool triggered power cord with the vac so it shuts down 15 seconds after the connected tool stops. Having the vac start and stop automatically is pretty effective.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

noveske said:


> I have a tiny garage to tinker in and want to work on a small project on a budget. Randomly just do little projects. Learning and expanding.
> 
> I want to come up with a better dust collection solution.* Currently, it's a Ridgid ShopVac to a Cyclone and Bucket.*
> 
> ...


My shop vacs are all Rigid 16 gal and they are fairly quiet. Rigids are among the most quiet ones out there.
I assume you want to enclose yours because of the noise?
Is the "cyclone" shop built or a Dust Deputy or other commercial version?
Is it effective in keeping the fine dust out of the shop vac filter?
If you look on You Tube, there's a zillion shop vac carts with various cyclones stacked up.
There's shop built cyclones using two 5 gal Home Depot buckets as well.
I think there's a decibel app for your smart phone to determine how much noise it's making now and how much reduction you can get by enclosing it.


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## noveske (3 mo ago)

I'd like to enclose it because it is pretty loud. I'm not one to be sensitive to noise. But it does seem pretty loud. Might be because it's such a small garage and I run it late at night with the garage door closed. I'm an end unit in a row of townhouses. Main thing is organizing the workspace and making it more useable.

This is the one I have:









Old picture of the garage when I moved in. Corolla barely fit in there, since I couldn't get the new truck in I added more shelving and a tool chest on the left.









The first project was a king size bed. You can see how small the work area is. Even less now since I got more stuff and random junk.









Dust Cyclone thing is just a no-name one I got back in the day. When I was buying cheap crap to get buy and see if I wanted to pursue the hobby. Turned out to be a champ! After 2 years, there was a table spoon of black shavings from something and a 1/2 sheet of paper towel. I use it with tools and utilize it as a general vacuum.

Yeah, I watched a lot of videos and scoured the internet. I just didn't want to go that tall, also wanted to do the enclosure to try to suppress the noise and keep it space efficient. Hoping to see what I haven't come across. One of those, too good to be real type things. Would be ideal to keep the enclosure under 37" in total height, and blah blah. You know. I want that Wagyu performance from that Trader's Joes frozen meat.

Throwing ideas around, it's just starting to cost more to the point do I just try to throw together dust collection system. Still sort of in the getting my feet wet stage still since I won't be building a lot or frequently. I'm just one of those beer and impulsively throw something together for a sense of accomplishment and relaxation. A lot of the times, it's just finding solutions which is the hook for me.

This looks doable. But haven't come across any decent budget motor/fans. Have only seen the inflatable house rental inflators. Gonna keep an eye out for one if I come across one.









I wonder how well those tube mufflers work.
Maybe I'll just print this off and see what happens.





Printables







www.printables.com





Also have a lot of Dynamat and close cell dampening foam I could put on the panels. Then fill with high flow sound dampening fabrics/fibers. Maybe just try the muffler route with baffles and dampening materials like a suppressor. I'm overcomplicating something so simple. Better addiction than others. Lol.

This little guy definitely would save some space.









Now I'm just getting ridiculous. Gut it or find a new donor.









Maybe swap the cyclone thing for a Dust Sheriff for height savings.

Just to exhaust: 


http://www.aw-thinkbold.com/scripte/news/html/43/Exhaust_Muffler.pdf


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## noveske (3 mo ago)

I might just bite and snag a 660 cfm dust collector. Wen is going for $130. 
Finishing the enclosure would probably cost half of that. Then this way I can just mount it to the wall and won't take up floor space. Think that's the better route?


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## Jim Frye (Aug 24, 2016)

Dynamat does wonders. I used it inside the sheet metal cabinet of my universal motor powered tablesaw and it brought the decibel level down to equal my BIL's 3 hp PM66.

The central vacuum system I installed in our home vents outside and uses an inline muffler on the exhaust piping. The exhaust is virtually silent outside.


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## noveske (3 mo ago)

Jim Frye said:


> Dynamat does wonders. I used it inside the sheet metal cabinet of my universal motor powered tablesaw and it brought the decibel level down to equal my BIL's 3 hp PM66.
> 
> The central vacuum system I installed in our home vents outside and uses an inline muffler on the exhaust piping. The exhaust is virtually silent outside.


I know Dynamat-butyl or whatever is mainly used to remove vibrations from metal panels of vehicles. So not sure how effective it will be on wood, since the plywood is more a absorbent material and will be much thicker. I Dynamated my entire vehicle cab.
I'd assume the central vacuum system isn't as loud as a ShopVac. I guess the difference is venting outside, it goes out to a lot more area to spread the sound.

So I think I think I found something. Came across a post on Reddit which then also lead me to Under Dunn on YouTube. Reddit guy shared the files to 3D print.
So a little thinking I could make it work.

The idea: https://www.harveywoodworking.com/products/gyro-air-g700-dust-processor
UnderDunn did a video on this:









3D Printed version: 


















Video from before:


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## noveske (3 mo ago)

Delete.


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