Official Luthiers Forum!

Merry Christmas to you all! I hope you are able to take some time and be with people you love.

My wife and I are moving from our large house to the smaller house she grew up in (full price offer on our house that we couldn’t pass up—long story). We have to pack up our workshops and put together new workshop space at the new (old) house. We will eventually move several hours away to be closer to our daughter, so we will most likely be in this shop space for no more than a few years.

This has given me an opportunity to re-focus how I handle dust collection, at least for now. I’m selling my beloved ClearVue cyclone system to a friend, because the new shop space has 7’ 8” ceilings (an installation hassle with a ClearVue), and I don’t want to run duct work in a shop we will vacate in a few years. For now, a “flex hose straight to the tool” approach seems best.

Anyway, I have been looking at machines that will fit this situation, and the Record Power Camvac seems to be a really good choice. The closest thing to it is an Oneida Supercell. It’s high pressure, low volume, but through the use of multiple motors, it can move enough CFM to handle 4” pipe or hose to the tool. It has pretty good filtration as-is, but you can buy MERV15 filters for it, which is what I use on the ClearVue now. There are ways of making them much quieter than a Supercell, and they are much, MUCH less expensive.

Does anyone here on the OLF own a Record Power Camvac, and if so, can you share your experience? Thanks for your help.

Hi Don, I don’t have one of those machines but your description of “straight to the tool” makes me think that these Lightning Lock magnetic connectors may be of interest.

https://carbonmethod.com/lightning-lock-flex-hose-fittings

I haven’t yet tried them myself but they would suit my portable Grizzly cyclone well I think.

Thanks, Leo! I will definitely need to think through what type of quick connect fitting I want to use. I’ve seen a few that interest me; I’ll take a closer look at the lightning Lock ones.