Separators Reviews

Unlike the other Dust Separators, which have a ton of overhang, this one fits the standard 30 gallon trash can PERFECTLY. I returned the first one I ordered, which was from Jet. This one is the real deal.

It's a good idea and works fairly well. Would not fit snug on the pails I had but it did fit well on the cover of the pail so I left the cover on the pail and cut out the inside of the cover with a jigsaw. Once the pail was approximately 1/2 to 3/4 full the chips and dust start to go into the shop vac. The suction loss seemed to be minimal.

With the hoses positioned correctly, the separator and pail stayed put but they needed to be held down with something when I went to vaccum the floor otherwise they'd just topple over.

All in all it's a decent product but pricey considering that it does not fit snug on a standard size pail or the hoses I used with my craftsman shop vac. Maybe I should have given it three stars...?

It isn't a monster, but it does a good job on the heavier particles. The fine dust still ends up in the vacuum on the filter. I can usually get several buckets of sawdust without emptying the vacuum itself.
Where it REALLY worked well was in sucking up water. All the water ended up in the bucket, and none in the vacuum. Much easier to handle.

If you use a 5 gallon bucket that has a handle, the handle will hold the top snugly. I also mounted the bucket to two 2x4s for more stability, and have not had any problems with it tipping over. I can even tug on the hose when I need to move it, with no problems.

This works really well, and I have not noticed any loss of suction with my ridgid shop vac (8hp). Very happy.

I got this about a month ago and took it with me to HD and L's to find a matching trash can. The jet unit seems to be better made and more rigid then other dust separator units I had looked at. It has 2 foam gaskets, one on the outer edge and one about 2 1/2 to 3 inches from the edge. I found that the inner gasket fit the 30 gallon Rubbermaid Brute plastic container with about 3 inches of overhang all around. I tried the 44 gallon Brute container and voila! It fit perfectly on the outer gasket with no overhang. I bought the 44 gallon container with the optional wheeled dolly, connected it to my Delta 50-760 1 micron collector and now have what I think is the perfect 2-stage home-shop dust collection system.

A couple of other things:
- You need to use a good quality 4" hose to thread into this to get an airtight seal. The thinner collapsable hose will leak. No clamps are needed with good hose and you'll get a good airtight fit.

- It's easy to bump this off of the trash container when the system is off. I used a cheap c-clamp to hold it in place on the trash container, hence the 4 stars. Jet should include something to keep this centered on the trash container.

- It's amazing how well this thing works! I had to open it up a couple times to look because there was no dust in my collectors bag!

- Much easier to empty (especially with the wheeled dolly) than the usual fight with the dust collector bag.

Upon opening the box, I thought the bare bones design was a little lame. No connection fittings or adaptors, no hold down straps or mechanism, but it was simple enough to connect my hoses with some basic parts and ingenuity.( I made a connector with a piece of rolled up coil stock and duct tape) This thing works amazingly well! The sawdust that it doesnt filter out is so fine that I just point the dust collector outside and it floats away in the breeze. This has turned dust collection from a big shop luxury to a garage shop convenience. One recommendation:
Use it on a metal garbage can. a plastic can will cave in on itself from the suction, especially if the intake hose is smaller than the exhaust hose.

Every single dust collector should use one of these. Very inexpensive way to improve the performance of the system.

I give it a star for price as I purchased on sale at a local Woodcraft store for $16. However, I will be returning it. Woodcraft's website says this fits 2-1/2" shop vac hoses. Wrong. A standard 2-1/2" vacume hose is too small to fit over the connector and too large to fit inside it. In fact, they are similar diameters. ONly the fact that the cyclone lids connectors are a thicker plastic that the vacume hose, make them somewhat different diameters both inside and out. I do not want to take time to force fit or search out adapters to make the connections work. It is also true the lid fits losely on 5-gallon buckets and you would also need to rig a way to strengthen the fit so dust did not escape and so the lid did not fall off when hoses are moved or the bucket bumped. A total dud in my opinion.

Mine did not fit the top of the bucket ,so I put the lid on and it fit nice and tight. I cut the lid , left a 1/12 inch lip around the top. works perfect now thanks FDR

I like it, received as Xmas present three years ago. Fits the top of all my 5gal plastic buckets. Ports fit all my misc collection of 2-1/2inch hoses and adaptors. Eliminates the heavy clean-up mess from my saw. Much easier to dump and clean than my wet-dry vac. Vac filters and dust bags last longer. A great start towards a more complete dust collection system.

It is a loose fit attachment, not a 'snap in place' gadget. It is easier to use with a short bungee stretched across the top to hold it on the top of the bucket. Hose ends go in about an inch. If I'm concerned about them pulling out, I use a band clamp on the end.

It also fits and works well with a small, 10gal shipping barrel. "It's a shiny thing, and I like it."

First of all: If this is all you can find, still get it! Mine works fine. However, there are some models out there that I think would be easier to hook up (google trash dust separator).

I couldn't find a trash can that fit exactly (it fits a 21 inch external dia. can and I could only find a 20 inch dia. can). I put some air conditioner foam around the edge of the trash can and this sealed it fine, however. I thought I'd have to strap it on the trash can but you don't...it sits on fine.

There is no clear fit of the hose to the openings, so I did this: I drilled a hole in the top of each hose entry point and ran a 8 gauge 10-32 bolt through the top and into the 4 inch hose where it entered the top. I put a washer on the outside on top of this unit and a washer and nut inside the hose and thus bolted the hose to the separator. The hoses now fit snuggly and securely. The system works quite well.

This might be worth it for 1/4 the price, but not worth the $$ as priced now. Not only that, you must cut it to fit your particular saw. The back casing doesn't really cover as much as I expected. And I had to cut it myself with their template. Sorry, but I expected for this price to have something custom for my saw - or at least semi-custom.

Do yourself a favor and buy a piece of plastic and cut it yourself. You'll save around $30.

I installed the Dust Monkey on a Jet contractor saw and I am satisfied with the finished product. That said, the directions provided with the kit are ponderous, confusing and in some cases not that well thought out. I totally ignored the directions for installing the hopper on the bottom of my saw. The directions for cutting the back panel and the foam ramps are convoluted (especially considering that it's all pretty simple). The manufacturer would do well to hire a technical writer and use illustrations (a picture is worth .... ). If you are mechanically inclined you can figure out how to install the Dust Monkey on your saw but take some time to study your saw, the parts at hand and the directions (with a suspicious eye).

Once you get done with the installation you'll be pleased with the performance of the product.

Despite all the negative reviews, I pitched and bought this product for my Craftsman Professional Table Saw. First of all, ignore the lousy instructions. I separated the table saw from the base and slipped the collector plate between the saw and the base. You can use the existing bolt holes to anchor the collector plate to the base. Forget the roll of sealing tape. You will still have holes in the saw to leak air. I reversed the plate so the collector hole was in the back of the saw where most of the dust comes off the blade. I then followed the template that came with the kit and luckily, I was able to use my band saw to make a number of modifications to the template to fit my saw. That still does not seal the back of the saw. I had to cut a couple pieces of plywood to come up with an acceptable template. I ended up using a 1/4" piece of plywood which I bolted to the saw cabinet and didn't use the piece of plastic that came with the kit. In order to properly seal the back of the saw, I used pieces of heavy cardboard and bolted them to the template. I used the piece of AC foam sealer on the front of the saw to cover the space for the adjusting wheel. The plastic dust ramps needed to be modified to fit over the bolt obtructions in my saw cabinet. My table saw had a dust collector kit built into it which I removed as the Delta 50-850 dust collector creates enough vacuum to collect the saw dust. This also kept the blade from kicking up dust.
The end product I produced looks as neat and tidy as the pictures you download with this kit.
Despite the many modifications the kit needed, I am happy with the results and my shop is now dust free.

This item, for it's price, was a big disappointment. For me the issue was not finding a suitable trashcan. (Found one at my local home improvement warehouse). My issue was the total lack of design consideration as far as vacuum leaks were concerned. The basic principal of this thing, I guess, was just to drop this thing on a trashcan stick two hoses IN the holes on the lid and just hope all the air leaks would not drop the efficiency of the system to the point that it would still move some dust.

After one look I decided that this thing needed some rework. The first thing I did was went to my local home improvement warehouse and picked up some PVC fittings that I could cut, grind, epoxy, and basically fabricate into 2 solid nipples that I could attach to the lid and clamp my 4" dust hoses onto. Then it was a simple matter of taking some black 3/8" weather stripping and applying it to the out side of the trashcan just under the rolled lip at the top. This provided a pretty good seal. All told all this stuff added an additional $20 to the cost of this product.

When my rework was complete the system works very well. 99% of the dust is trapped in the can making dumping the collector bag a very rare event. The vacuum efficiency is very good. To the point that if all my blast gates are closed it will actually start to collapse the sides of the steel can. Not a big deal but it might be a little worrisome if the dust collector and can are in the other room and you start to hear noises like a depth charge starting to implode.

There are other products out there for similar money that require no rework, Looks like woodcraft has a nice offering (Part #143290), but I have not been able to locate it on Amazon yet.

Hope this was useful.

I purchased two cyclone seperators, one for each dust collector,so far,I cannot find a 30 gal or any other garbage can for which to get a snug fit. I worked so hard to get my dust collection system air tight that I can't see using a device where the 4"hoses fit so loosely that you can see light around the connections and the lid is totally loose around the all the cans I tried. There are no instructions or tips to seal this device and if you try to return it you incur a restocking fee.

I am dissapointed. My experience with Grizzly and Wood Stock has been pleasant until today. The issue is quality and price. This particular item has been a free gift from Grizzly in the past when you purchase a Dust Collector. It appeared to be a good idea, and it still is. I would not pay anymore than the bargain price. This is truely a "You get what you pay for situation." The lid is flimsy and I expected a male or female connector for hose attachment as with a shop vacuum. I tire of having to modify and improve upon a manufacturers product.

To me durability is important and I buy quality products from various manufacturers. I would not pay full price for this. I will modify it and make it fit. The problem is when I have to remove debris from the separator can. My experience with other products that are this flimsy is they must soon be replaced.

When I have more time I will make my own. Two accurate circular cuts in a "solid" lid and two adaptors.