How a bucket and a donut changed my dust collector 

Canister filters for dust collectors► wynnenv.com/woodworking-filters/ Clamps► amzn.to/3pOFBin (Affiliate link may give us a commission) Video about common dust collection mistakes► ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qjI5l4nF9AM.html (This video was sponsored by Wynn Environmental)

Had this setup for a while now with the Wynn filter and bucket and have been really happy with it. Today was the first time I had the dust collector rather than the shopvac connected to the thickness planer. That was amazing to watch it easily keep up with the chips. Like your recent video mentioned, it makes it a safer and more pleasurable environment to work in when I don’t have chips all over the floor and the time saved not having to clean up that big of a mess. A benefit of that clear bottom bag is being able to see how much dust is falling back down when I use the air compressor to clean the Wynn filter.

Just collected my dust using your idea.. systems been working like a charm for three years. Thank you !

My 9 year old grandson recently started coming over to learn some woodworking in my shop. I am thrilled with the opportunity to teach him, build on his interest in woodworking and just spend time with him. Two problems keep this from being perfect. One is my single stage dust collector and the second is he suffers from asthma. My dust collector leaks fine dust through the filter bag so I insisted he wear a face mask but that also inhibits his breathing. I watched your video and used the link to the filter supplier. I reached out to Dick with some photos of my collector and some questions. He was amazingly helpful and recommended the filter that best suited my equipment. He even recommended your video. After explaining that is how I found him, I ordered my filter today. Thanks to you and Dick. Together you both have helped me and my grandson have a better in-shop experience.

just to save someone else the heartache : there are no donuts of the delicious variety in this video....

The bucket idea is brilliant

James - You’ve been on fire lately with the awesome DC info and advice. Another great video. Thanks! 👍🏼

This video is an outstanding example of why I spend SO much time watching Stumpy Nubs! I have a Jet DC and will start making these modifications today. Thank you, once again, for helping me to make my shop safer and cleaner!

I'm impressed at how much better your videos have become from your earlier comic days. I love your stuff. Some of the very best of it's type.

Perfect timing for this video! After watching some of your other dust collection videos, I ordered my Wynn Environmental filter, and it arrived today! Now I know exactly what to do next!

Stumpy Nubs does it again! Another fantastic video that will help all of us woodworkers out! Such a great idea. Thank you.

Very informative Mr. Hamilton. My HF dust collector has performed admirably for the past 2 years (collecting from 1 or 2 tools at a time thru 4" hose), but your recommendations are right in sync with my own observations. Thanks for putting it all together so well.

Great step by step guide for upgrading! This channel doesn't miss a beat and covers everything in great detail. Much appreciated! Also, this one time, at band clamp...

Just bought a Harbor Freight single stage and wanted to upgrade. Thanks for the filter link. That really help a lot. Loved the video. Very informative.

Genius! I've been scouring the interwebs for days for ideas and this pops up. Thanks!!

I will be implementing the bucket part of this immediately! I have a Laguna roll-around DC (good) with a canister filter (better), but a strap-on plastic collector bag that needs to be emptied (awful). And I have an old 8 gallon fermentation bucket left over from my winemaking days, which has been looking for a new occupation. BAM! One Stumpy Nubs video solves both problems!

I've got a Delta 50-850 that runs great but definitely needs a new bag and this video solved my discontinued problem. Your video on 11 dust collection mistakes was extremely helpful.

Thanks for all the info. I did exactly this canister and bucket mod to an old Electro-Beckum dust collector I had. It was okay, I thought, before. When the mod was complete, I was afraid something was wrong, because my lower collection bag was not bulging out like a balloon, like before. I now realize how much restriction my old filter bag was creating. The flow is now absolutely amazing. Thanks very much.

I switched to the Wynn Environmental filter last week. It is one of the best upgrades I have ever done for my shop and I got a SawStop last year....do it everyone!! I will do these next tips. Thank you so much!!

Thanks for sharing this info! I bought a Wynn Merv 15 filter from the website for my dust collector from Harbor Freight. The attachment is very simple, and the difference in fine dust around the collector is unbelievable - there is none with the Wynn filter!

Installed the Wynn 35A274BLOL canister filter on my Jet 1100 series dust collector. The quality of the canister is superb and super easy to mount. I have been upgrading my piping with drain and sewer pipe which improved suction but the Wynn canister filter doubled my CFM over the cloth filter. I've been using an anemometer to get readings of every change I make. The filter was the greatest improvement without question. Thank you for this excellent video.

Thanks a bunch, James. I got my HF dust collector today (same model as in the video), and just ordered a filter from Wynn plus a gamma seal thingy.

I don't have a woodshop, and this was a great video. You present your topics clearly and simply while showing lots of options and your reasons for what you are suggesting.

Excellent solution. I am right in the middle of putting together my 2HP Harbor Freight dust collector complete with Wynn filter. Your method of using a 5 gallon bucket and a gamma seal ring is just brilliant! Ingenious! Thanks for this idea. This video cost me a lot of money. I bought the dust collector, the Wynn filter and another 25 bucks on fasteners Harbor Freight forgot to include - plus the 15 bucks for the gamma seal lid all because of your video. So ...... uhmmm ....... thanks? Seriously, thanks.

I have the Harbor Freight 2HP Dust Collector you show. I bought the MERV 15 filter from Wynn a couple of months ago and easily installed it. What a DIFFERENCE! While the filter itself cost more than the Collector, it was more than worth the improved performance and cleaner air in my garage shop. I will try the 5 gal pail idea as well. Wynn also has a 10 pack of the clear plastic bags for a very reasonable price, which I picked up as well.

I was struggling trying to find a simple solution for dust collection. Your video was very helpful, thankyou

Thank you for taking the time to share this information. Great mods for improving dust collection on a budget.

One of the things that I appreciate about the dust bucket suggestion is that it will finally enable me separate out materials that I don’t want in with everything else.

stumpy as a newbie into the dust collecting thingy I appreciate all the information you put out. Nice job as ever very informative in all you do and I like your humour.

This channel is amazing, love the depth and detail of the commentary.

James, thanks so much for this tip! Super helpful system to clean up a previously nasty task.

Adding a Wynn canister filter to my single stage dust collector is just about the best upgrade I've made to my shop. Not only did I get better airflow, the air coming out of the filter was much cleaner than the air coming out of the filter bag.

I just finished setting this up without my second stage and it sucked my vacuum attachment to the floor! Looking forward to easier bag cleanups. Thanks so much and thanks for Wynn referral.

Thank you very much for sharing the tip about the bucket and dust bag. I think this is the route I’ll go with this modification for my shop!

So helpful!, Just ordered a Wynn and look forward to cutting the bottom off that wretched clear bag.

Great video!! Thank you for all your time and clear presenting style!

James, Great Job on this tip! Thanks for your help! This will get my 3hp. Penn State DC improved about 300%

This is fantastic! What a great way to keep the dust down in my shop!

Brilliant. You are the best, James. I am in Ontario. I have a low-end Craftex dust collector from Busy Bee Tools. Some months ago I replaced the bag filter with a cannister filter (manufactured to fit the collector, with some lithium grease required to push the seal on). This resulted in a big reduction of the amount of fine dust collecting on surfaces in my garage shop, so I expect that it improved air quality too. However, I have long been very frustrated at the brain-dead design of the plastic bag attachment system underneath the dust collector filter. About two weeks ago I did something stupid, and jointed a large amount of hard maple (for a Chris Schwarz style workbench). I rationalized that the jointer produces chips but not much dust. (Wrong.) I had the dust collector attached, but neglected to wear my excellent Elipse P100 respirator. (I did wear the respirator for ripping and thickness planing.) This had disastrous results - pretty serious lung inflammation the next day. (No, not covid-19.) My physician has prescribed an anti-inflammatory inhaler, and told me that I could expect the inflammation (with dry cough, fatigue, malaise) to go on for two weeks or more. I am still feeling the effects. I had previously been aware that I am allergic to birch, but maple dust did me no good, and I suppose all such dust is dangerous for me. I have learned a painful lesson here. Anyway, I have launched into a project of improving my air quality, based on James' earlier video on dust collection mistakes. Meanwhile, I have been sitting around trying to figure out how to improve the disposal problem for the dust collector. And...Stumpy Nubs to the rescue! For Canadian viewers, gamma seal lids are not quite so easy to find up here. They can be ordered from Uline or Amazon. This morning I picked one up at the local TSC Store. Cheap clamps coming from Amazon. Thanks again to my favourite Michigander.

James you always have good ideas that you share. This one is at the top of the list. Thank you for your videos.

As usual, a very informative video. I will be adding a canister filter to my Jet single stage "dust collector/dust pump". THANKS!

Thank you for all the information on dust collection James. Great video also.

Perfect timing, as I’ve been going down the DC rabbit hole as I get ready to build my shop next year. I’ve decided that instead of a fancy, name brand, underpowered 2 stage system, I’m better off doing a version of this with a properly powered blower, canister filter, and cyclone separator. The money saved can then be put toward an air purifier such as the Rabbit Air to remove that last 0.0001 percent of the super-fine but nastiest dust. Thanks for the video.

Great video with practical advice for small shop woodworker!

brilliant. The collection concept seems almost endlessly variable, limited essentially by bag ad bin sizes. Wahoo off to my supplier (Tasmania Australia) as soon as i can for the filter part. As always clear explanation and demonstration.

Thank you for all your information I really like the way you explain things.

Great info, James~! I've been meaning to upgrade my (Harbor Freight) filter bag to a canister. I'm also looking at purchasing a Super Dust Deputy or XL to do the common mod as seen on many RU-vid channels. I like the method of cutting off the bag and installing the bucket. Nothing better than having options~!

Thanks yet again for the information. This information will come in very handy when I purchase my next dust collection system.

I've been thinking about upgrading my Central Machinery collector and this looks like a great place to start. Thanks for sharing!

I've liked and enjoyed ALL of your little episodes! But, this one is tops in my book. I've been hoping you would tackle this one SOONER than later.............. Thanks tons!

I love your channel! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience with me. I'm learning a lot!

You always have such great tips, these being no exception. Thanks for sharing these and I'm going to do them in my shop.

Excellent video as always James. Very helpful topic.

I have a hepa cannister filter coming for my DC - can't wait to see the improvement over the bag.

Thanks for letting me know how to improve my dust collector!

Again i have to let you how much you help me .I purchased a canister filter for my single stage dust collector. But that did not solve the plastic bag in the bottom , now you have solved that also. I can' t thank you enough. Julien Lamarche

I just added a Wynn Enviro MERV 10 filter to replace the 30 micro bag on my Buck Tool 1.5 HP D/C. I can't believe the difference! The amount of fine dust in my shop is now near zero. What is still present seems to be coming mostly from my table saw at the blade as I don't have an "overhead" dust collector on it. It was a $200 "upgrade" on a $290 dust collector, but well worth it from a health and cleanliness improvement standpoint IMO. The only drawback is the D/C is now quite top-heavy with that heavy filter up top. It's quite easy to have it tip over when it rolls over a power cord. I need to add a concrete block to the base to make it more stable. Also, love your tip on adding the bucket and disposable garbage bag.

Excellent idea. Clean air is so important, thanks.

Very nice instructions. Thanks for your help.

Great ideas, simple and too the point presentation. Thanks.

Yes, this is the video I wanted to see a second time. Particularly the dust collection bag and bucket. I LOVE that idea. I will be doing the same with mine this afternoon. I have the cyclonic dust separator and the Wynn MERV10 filter. I have yet to upgrade my 3" ducting to 4", but that may be next year (2024). I just removed the disgusting filtration bag (a.k.a. dust pump). Had leaks around the rim of the metal separator, both the filter bag and the collection bag. As for the collection bag - I put a quarter inch thick weather stripping around the circumference. The bag now fits snug. HOWEVER, one situation I've encountered is the band clamp - it's almost too short to go all the way around. Nevertheless, with much persuasion I was able to get the clamp onto the first notch and flip the latch to hold it in place. I don't want to be messing with that again, so - - - the collection bucket with the trash bag in it is awesome. Like I said - I will be doing that shortly. BTW: I uploaded a video to RU-vid (4 min's long) showing my approach to sealing the leaks and installation of the canister filter.

i set this up on my grizzly single stage today. leaving only a couple of inches of the garbage bag draped on the outside to the five gallon pail didn't work. the cyclone effect sucked the bottom of the garbage bag up into the clear bag and spun it around. i reset the garbage bag and left only enough of the bag so it touched the bottom of the five gallon pail. that worked great and the garbage bag didn't get sucked up into the clear bag. very pleased with this modification. thanks for the video!

I used to work with a considerable amount of drywall, rehabs, &/or repairs of drywall, stucco, or other types of plastered surfaces, & yep, you are absotively correct, ... the finishing sanding operations always seemed to become extremely messy, what with the dust particles getting, going into even the smallest of crevices, ... but I did eventually find a good working solution, ... after years of repairing the cracks, & nail pops which come with the settling of a home over a roughly 20-25 year span, following it being built, ... it involves having even a small type of wet/dry bucket type vacuum, a bucket to fill about a 1/3rd of the way, with water, and a couple of hoses one running from your sanding block, to the bucket of water, then another hose, running from the top of the water bucket, to the vacuum, ... as the air pressure is drawn into the vacuum, it also pulls air through the sanding block hose, along with the dust, and the dust is pulled into the water, where it becomes too heavy to be pulled into the vacuum, much like a wet bath oil/air filter that was extremely effective in providing protection to the combustion engines in the desert arenas of North Africa, during WW2, ... I do know that these types of filtration, were used in US Army vehicles up through 1975, in the European theater, of post war occupation, ... I served a a line mech. for wheeled, & tracked vehicles, Armor, & Infantry, for 17 months in West Germany, & a subsequent 13 months, in West Berlin, so, I was able to effectively serve on both sides of the Soviet’s infamous Iron Curtain, ... during the era of the “Cold War”, ... of which, the Soviets, simply took their ball, & went home, ... not unlike, neighboring kids who vie against other neighborhoods, ... with the only difference being, that the adult version, is/was, ... far more deadly, and having a much greater realization of understanding that nowhere, is it, nor will it ever, be safe, without some nation from somewhere, giving a new meaning to the phrase, ... “Reach out & touch sometime one”, ... Life’s experiences, have taught us, that nothing is ever permanent, not even our own government, nor it’s peoples, ...

This is an excellent video with some fantastic ideas such as the bucket trick. I have seen the canisters and plan on buying one soon. I find many of your videos helpful and enjoy the humour in many of them. Thanks

Awesome idea... thank you sir!

A good workaround, thanks for another great video.

Thanks to this video when I recently got a DC I immediately implemented these changes instead of using it in the default state at all.

Set up my HF collector this week and was on my way to building a Thein Baffle. Maybe I’ll try this route first. Thanks!

Thank you for this video, it answered all my questions.

Wow! Simple & obvious - once you see it done. Thanks for the video.

What a bodge!!! I have a Delta SSDC that looks remarkably like this unit. I replaced the OEM top bag with a 1 micron bag from Powertec and measured no decrease in airflow with an anemometer. About a year later I replaced the plastic bag with another 1 micron bag from Powertec thus increasing my filter area. Time spent: 5 minutes. No leakage as shown in the first few minutes. Yes the bottom bag isn't transparent but when the unit is off, the cloth collapses enough to see the level of chips. I discipline myself to empty the bag at half full. There are two reasons: 1) the weight is easier to maneuver & 2) it's easier to control the dust when dumping it. I slip a 30 gal trash bag over the collection bag and invert. Minimal dust out. The CFM/ft^2 with one bag is within good design parameters for industrial dust collection. With 1-1/2 (I lose half the area of the lower bag) I have plenty of filtration area and suffered no decrease in performance. Canisters in this application are a waste of money since you don't have reverse pulse cleaning.

You just saved me a lot of time and money. Thank you sir

Hay Stumpy, I use to work in a custom woodshop. We had a setup similar to what you show here, for our old school 12" Dewalt Radial arm saw(we used it as a LARGE cut off saw). We also had our Bandsaw tied into it. The biggest difference is that we had a 2 blade paddle that was centered in the middle of the air filter with a handle coming out of the top. When the filter started to perform poorly, all we had to do was give the paddle handle on top a few turns. Doing this would cause the paddles inside of the filter to strike the inside of the ribs of the filter and knock the dust loose. Doing this every morning was a great way to prolong the life of the filter.

Thanks, you are always informative. I don't have a lot of room, but placing the shop vac outside and running hose to my work station has helped keep interior dust levels down. I now wear a mask religiously, even though years are numbered.

Like you, I cut off the bottom of the bag for my collector, but instead of using a bucket to catch the dust I used a small fiber barrel. The barrel has a metal ring at the top with a good sized recess on the outside face. I pull the bottomless bag over the barrel and seal it with a long bungee cord that fits in the barrel recess. I would have tried the snap ring that came with the barrel if I had it. I have still been emptying the barrel (outside). I love the disposable trash bag idea. Great video!

*OH Numpy Stubs your a breath of fresh air* 😉

Brilliant vid. Thanks heaps.

great idea dude. I never would have thought of it.

Wow! that bucket is an awesome idea, you're the man.

Awesome upgrades James! My new filter is on the way...and the bucket idea is slick!! :-) Great videos...keep them rolling!

Genius solutions, friend. Thanks for sharing.

Amazing simple idea that’s super effective

I just run a hose out the window and over to my neighbors yard. 🤣

Have the same harbor frieght collector thanks for the video

I have the same dust collection brand. Amazing upgrade for the chip collector bag. I need to do this. I will vouch that I have the same Wynn filter set up and YES IT DOES GREATLY INCREASE ITS SUCTION! 😁

some great ideas. our shop teacher in high school did something similar in the shop at school.

Finally, an explanation the makes sense. Thanks!

Very timely. I have an old Delta collector with canvas bags both top and bottom that I always said created more dust than it collected. Last month I spent about $35 on and bought a pack of the heavy-duty plastic collection bags for the bottom and a supposedly "1 micron" replacement bag for the upper. My cheap experiment gave me results beyond my hopes. The system doesn't seem to vent any dust at all compared to what it used to. I still have a home-made air filtration unit with a furnace blower and MERV filters that I'll continue to use as well as a 3/4 face-mask that gets put on the moment chips start flying. (Any other woodworkers out there allergic to sawdust? ) I was concerned about airflow reduction but, to my surprise, I have no noticeable loss of suction. (Though, I have no objective way to take a measurement so I can't say for sure.) My next step will be to go with your bucket idea (awesome) and then eventually upgrade to a cannister filter now that I'm confident I'll get my desired results.

Excellent ideas! Thanks!

Great video.... totally helpful. Thank you!

Thank you for the video!!! I am going to order a canister from Wynn but was concerned about the canister being 17.5 inches and my dust collector being 18.75 ID (19.25 OD). Also, I have been dreading emptying the bag and now I will empty it, replace it and use your hack-THANK YOU!

Thanks for sharing this

Thanks Stumpy.

I got a canister filter from NAPA. They have those for semi trucks. Works well. Good tip about the bucket. I was thinking about making a see through cylinder and then attach regular contractor black bag. I could still see through the cylinder to see how full the bag is.

Perfect timing. I'm going to be moving my Grizzly DC soon and this is a great opportunity to make these changes.

Seems Stumpy Nubs has stopped making new videos-so feels like I am arriving at a party after the host has gone to bed! Information is still great. After I get my garden in here in Seattle I must do this upgrade to my Steel City dust collector.

Good to know been looking at dust collecters that might make a difference in what I buy

Awesome James, thank you!

Thanks Dude - this was very comprehensive and I'll plan the mods

Brilliant Idea; thank-you.