Home Depot Dustopper High Efficiency Dust Separator

Looks like Home Depot now sells a dust separator for wet/dry vacs.

Shout out to Will Adams for originally posting this in another forum!

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Dustopper-High-Efficiency-Dust-Separator-12-in-dia-with-2-5-in-hose-36-in-long-HD12/302643445

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Don’t thank me! I found it on the Unofficial Shapeoko Facebook group. Shapeoko and Nomad Users Group (Unofficial) | Facebook

(Still a bit miffed that it wasn’t in stock when I got started on that sort of thing — I went through a lot more than it costs in parts and so forth trying to do this as inexpensively as possible)

I will note that the far more expensive Ultimate Dust Deputy Retrofit Cyclone for Festool is simply amazing (and wonderfully quiet compared to my previous setup, and very convenient as an all-in-one thing which can be rolled around, or picked up and carried up the basement steps quite handily).

It appears that way.

The shape reminds me of a turbocharger.

Hi Folks. Glad to see Dustopper is getting some play here. Saying a Dustopper is a “simple” Thein Baffle is, well…an oversimplification. (If you’ll pardon the pun.) Like most of you, I am a wood-aholic, and have owned and/or made a number of different types of dust separators. I also own and love my Dust Deputy. What I needed in my shop was an efficient separator that would also fit under my bench, so, after 3 years of putsing around and reading everything I could find on flow dynamics, I ended up with Dustopper. My career has been finish trim work and built-ins in mostly upscale homes, so mobility was another reason I wanted a low-profile design. Separation-wise, the DD and the Dustopper are about equal. People like the ease of putting a Dustopper into service. (plug and play) You be your own judge. The reviews on HD’s product information page have been very good. Let me know if you have any specific questions. I’ll do my best to give you the straight scoop. Best to all! Tom

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Hi Phil. Thanks for your comment. A collapsing bucket is a bucket problem, not a separator problem, and it only happens when there’s a clog in the hose, or the end of the tool is completely closed off. Letica makes a food grade 5 gal bucket with .100" walls of a higher durometer (stiffer) plastic that does not collapse. Also, you can take a tomato plant holder, and modify it to fit inside the bucket. No more collapsing. Dustopper was designed for great separation, easy implementation (plug and play), and low profile (placement and mobility). Lots of people are using and liking them.

LOL. Hope I didn’t sound snarky. Separating 98% of saw dust is reasonably easy; Separating 99+% is hugely challenging. The shape of Dustopper…rounded at upper chamber, inverted frustum, unique separator slot, and more (top secret) are all the result of about 150 design iterations. Yes, it’s patented.

One more word on separation with air flow separators… they behave like paper filters in this regard: The higher the separation efficiency (at a given cut point) the more restrictive the become. Dustopper has been optimized for woodworkers, and does a great job with nearly all dust made in that environment. And, it has great throughput. I have a prototype designed specifically for fines that may end up becoming a dedicated product for abatement of mortar, concrete, silica, and other powdery forms of dust. It’s a bit more restrictive, and probably would not be something to use with a high-output device like a planer. Dustopper handles planers pretty well when used with 120 CFM and larger vacs.

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After reading reviews of this product on the Home Depot website and viewing several YouTube videos, I decided to give the Dustopper a try. I am impressed to say the least.

I ran two different projects, one using MDF and the other in walnut. Attached are two photos. The first bucket is with the Dustopper and the second is my DYI system that was attached in series between my dust collector (portable Harbor Freight) and the Dustopper. The second was for a visual on what type of material was not separated.

The amount of material in the first bucket is about three inches deep. A very small percentage of very fine dust got to the second bucket and less than a teaspoon got to my dust collector filter bag. Exactly the type of material that Tom Huntley says! is difficult to separate.

All in all it is a very good product and the fact that it is low profile (less prone to tipping over) makes it even better.

Put the homer bucket into another homer bucket… no more collapse.

@PhilJohnson Want to adopt a son so he can play with your toys?

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Yeah, but you could put me to work and not get in trouble with child labor laws!

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that works too :slight_smile: but for those less inclined to do that, a 2nd bucket does keep it from collapsing

I just purchased this guy, completely solved the collapsing dust bucket problem.

It comes with 16 gallons steel barrel and heavy duty cyclone.

Good thing is that it has the wheels and little window to see how much tank is full. All the pros.

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