Customer Reviews

Woodstock W1049 Large Dust Collection Separator

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

If you are doing any dust collection, particularly from stationary machines, you've got to get one of these. It lets the large chips from planers, jointers, lathes, table saws and floor sweeps drop into a 30 gallon galvanized trash can (that you supply). This is so much easier than endlessly dumping the bag on a dust collector.

Another great reason to have one of these; how many times have you accidentally sucked up an important piece of hardware and spent hours sifting through a dust bag trying to find it? Metal parts will drop to the bottom of the barrel where they are easily found. This also saves the impeller blades of your dust collector from damaging impacts. I always empty it before sweeping the floor, just in case I encounter a stray chunk I want to recover.

You should keep the barrel dumped fairly often, as this will increase efficency. The only thing better would be a cyclone system, but they are more costly and take up more space. This unit is also quite portable, which is handy in a one-hose shop.

I don't think you'll be disappointed if you put one of these to work in your shop. You'll wonder how you ever worked without it.

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.

If your starting out or a seasoned fully equipped woodworker, this is one piece of equipment, that you will wonder how you ever did without. At first I was disappointed like so many others that their wasn't even a tube mount on the head to hook up your hoses to. It is really nothing more than a stamped out piece of plastic that will accept your 4" hoses. After going through the duct tape, and band clamps, with less than stellar results, I came to the conclusion (duh) that the coiling action of a 4" hose is the right size to wind it into the opening. Thereby creating a screw the hose in, effect. I also used the 4" Jet wire clamps on the inside, just to make sure it would not gradually slip out. The fit is rather tight, and leaks very little air. No tape or anything else is neccessary. Makes for a clean professional looking fit. Wish they had put that in the instructions to begin with. It seems so obvious now, but who would know then?
The real benefit to this unit, is that it takes a nightmare problem, and makes it a piece of cake. It works great with a standard 4" dust collection system. Myself personally, I already had a 6HP Sears 16 gallon shop vac. To the shop vac which has a 2 1/2" hose, I hook up the Jet adapter bringing it up to 4". I also use a Y adapter, and gates, to enable me to hook it up to two pieces of equipment at a time. I have a lot of equipment in a small shop, with everything mounted on universal bases. So I roll out what I need, hook it up to the dust collection. Cramped for space, my shop vac sits under my lathe table.
The nightmare before getting the Woodstock unit, is that with a 16 gallon shop vac, and using the planer, it loads up with chips after one good size board. Then I have to remove the lid, and dump, and comb the filter and start over. Makes planing boards a hassle. With the Woodstock unit. I plane several boards, before it is even half full. My friends are amazed when I show them the half full Woodstock unit, and the shop vac has less than a cup, of material in it. The filter does collect the fine airborne powder.
The ease of dumping the 32 gallon galvanized trash can (not included but super cheap available locally) can't be overstated. A quick flip, into a larger plastic trash can, lined with a large trash bag, and right back on the unit.
Another thing worth mentioning, is that this Woodstock W1049 is so light, that it is a good idea to weigh the top down. I use a 10 pound lifting weight. It is round and fits neatly into the center, is easy to grab when unloading the chips, and more than adequately secures the top down to the can without lifting, or allowing any leaks.
I tried lining the can with a trash bag, but it does not work. The vacuum brings the trash bag/liner up to the vac hole and clogs it. Without the trash bag, the smooth sides of the galvanized can allow the large chips to slide easily out and into the bag lined, larger can.
This unit could be built with more sophisticated methods for securing it to the can, and outlet tubes for securing the pipe, but then the price of the unit would rise. I like it just the way it is. After using it, if for any reason you lost it, you would climb mountains to obtain another one. Can't live without it, it is just that beneficial.

I thought the dust collection system was the best thing a ever got, but after adding this to the system, the Woodstock Dust Collection Separator is the best thing I got. The bag in the DC machine is not the easiest thing to change, not impossible to change, just not easy. The Woodstock DC Separator lets you collect and empty in a 30 gallon garbage can, very easy to remove the lid and empty the can.

The Separator will collect the large particles and some dust, allowing the smaller dust to be collected in the DC bag. But don't wait for the garbage can to fill up before emptying it. The fuller the can gets, the less area for the particles to drop, so empty the can about at half full. When running my lathe or planer, that could be quite often. BUT, it is easier than emptying the bag, OR sweeping them off the floor without a DC system.

No Dust Collection System is complete without this product.

The chip separator from Woodstock is a necessary addition toyour dust collection system. I was contemplating building or buyingan (...) cyclone separator but have found that this piece of plastic is perfectly adequate for the home shop. The metal can only costs an extra ... and together, they work great. I ran a test by running some boards through the jointer, including some particle-board (which produces very small chips) with brand new dust bags on the collector. Afterwards, there was a pile of chips and dust in the can, and only a fine coating of dust on the inside of the bags. If your dust bags are as hard to change as mine, it's worth buying it just to avoid changing them once. I recon I'll only have to empty my bags once a year now.

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.

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.

First off let me say that it works and that it does so pretty well. However.....the item is certainly not as pictured. The way it fits my 30 gal metal trash can reminds me of a little kid trying to walk in his/her parents shoes! Waaaay too big, overhanging each side by probably 6" or so. I finally had to bungee it on the can so that it would stay in place. As an earlier review noted, connection of the hoses is not that easy either. If you have the clear, wire-reinforced hoses you can thread them in like a screw. Otherwise you may need to add some sort of connector.

I think the separator is a great product and adds life to vacuum motors/fan blades and makes chip disposal a snap. The only disappointing feature was that when it arrived there were no hose connections. However I also ordered the 50 foot hose sold by the same manufacturer. It has a spiral wire in it with a web of soft plastic between the spirals. By turning the hose a few reverse turns you can then screw it into the collector nozzels (no clamp required). Having a soft web between the spiral wire allows the supple plastic web to be drawn up against the nozzel edge to form a seal.

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.