# Teach me: Oneida Dust Cobra vs giant dust collectors



## Tom Hoppe (Dec 3, 2018)

Here is my scenario: I have a small garage based shop with mostly portable tools: 

1) Sawstop Jobsite saw
2) Cutech 8" jointer
3) Delta 14" bandsaw
4) Dewalt 735 planer
5) Ridgid Spindle Sander
6) Bosch table top router table
7) Hand tools (sanders, track saw, etc)

I am currently using a cheapo Ridgid shop vac with a DustStopper on top of a Home Depot bucket for everything except the planer, for which I use on of those fancy 5 micron dustright bags. This setup works "ok", but not "really well" and I want to upgrade. The only new "big" tool that I see myself getting at some point, is the Sawstop Contractor saw with a 36" table. Everything else is plenty for anything I will ever do. 

I have about a $1000 budget, give or take a few bucks and here are my requirements: 

1) Portable. My shop doubles as a bike shop, and storage for recreational gear/etc. Sometimes I work on a car in there. So everything is on casters and there are no dedicated drops. I want to be able to move the dust collection from tool to tool, or maybe sit it in a corner and have a 20 foot hose on it that I can move. I REALLY like being able to roll everything out of the way or move stuff around.

2) Multi use. I don't want a separate setup for my hand tools and for the big tools. Ideally I'd like to use the same dust collection for everything. The exception is the Dewalt 735. I'm 100% keeping on using the dustright bag on there as it's really dust free, even with that. 

3) Runs on 20 amp 110 circuit. I have 3 circuits in the garage. One for the lights, one that I will dedicate for dust collection, and the other for everything else. I don't have 220, which removes the high powered stuff off the list.

Having said all of this, the Oneida Dust Cobra seems to potentially fit the bill for what I need. It's a nice 2 stage collector and it seems to have quite a bit of power (250 cfm with a 25ft hose). I would get the 17 gallon container which would continue to make it portable. I also have the choice of moving it close to my tool, or keeping it and having a hose, as it can take a 25ft hose. It's way more than what I have now. 

BUT, it is basically a glorified shop vac, and not "a true big dust collection system". 

Will I be better served with a "full dust collection system" like the 1.5HP systems from Grizzly? G0860 or G0703 (https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-1-1-2-HP-Portable-Cyclone-Dust-Collector/G0860 or https://www.grizzly.com/products/Grizzly-1-1-2-HP-2-Stage-Cyclone-Dust-Collector/G0703)

While it seems less portable, since it's quite a bit more footprint, I could still move it around if I needed to. But it seems I would more have a 25ft hose that I just move from tool to tool. That's ok with me. 

With 800CFM though, what do I do for my hand tools? I don't want a separate system. Could I just hook a 1.5" hose with a reducer up to it and run that to my sander? Will that be enough of a reduction on power to not mess anything up? 

Thanks for any help.


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## Tom Hoppe (Dec 3, 2018)

So did a lot more research and got my answers, which leads me into starting another thread :lol:

I realized that the "full size" dust collection systems will not run enough suction with a 1.5" hose in order to suck up anything from sanders or similar. I still have to keep my shop vac setup for that. So my dust collection system will be 2 fold: 

- Harbor Freight 2hp DC with a 5" SDD and a HEPA filter to run the: 
- Dewalt 735 (4" port)
- 8" jointer (4" port)
- Table saw (2.5" port with 1.5" port for blade collection)
- Spindle Sander (2.5" port with a 2.5" splitter for above collection)
- Bosch router table (2, 2.5" ports)

- Current Ridgid Shop vac with Dustopper to run: 
- Hand sanders 
- Track saw

I learned I can cobble together a really nice system based on the HF DC for about $700 and if I need more power, I can spend another $100 to upgrade the impeller to 12" to get even moar power out of it.


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## ChiknNutz (Apr 22, 2011)

For years I used a Ridgid shop vac, then cobbled together a homemade Thien baffle, first on a 5 gallon bucket then on a 50 gallon drum. It worked "ok", but never great. I then moved up to a proper cyclone, it was a Grizzly prototype I got at their scratch and dent sale a few years back. Massive improvement. I ended up selling the DC along with most of my bigger tools to one guy for a specific project and also to move across the country earlier this year. I recently picked up the Jet DC-1100VX-CK "Dust Collector, 1.5 HP 1PH 115/230 V, 2-Micron Canister Kit" and am quite happy with it. I think it works better than the cyclone I had, and it is quieter too which is great. It does in fact work on 120VAC or 240VAC. I am using it on 120. It is a little wobbly as many reviews have said but it is very mobile. I got it for $675 shipped. Along with the cyclone I bought into the Rockler Dust Right components and like those pretty well. I have kept those on the tools I moved and added more as needed for the new stuff.


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