A few months ago I posted a question asking for advice on dust collectors. As always the FOG members were there to help. I listed three I was considering and the replies I got back included the Oneida Mini Gorilla, which I did not have as a possibility. I continued my research and search for a possible used one. Sales came and went and never was Oneida on sale. I missed a used one for a killer price and had all but decided to go with a Laguna C Flux 1 during the current sale. Then a used Oneida Mini Gorilla came on the market and I got it. It is 2 years old and has a new filter.
I was upgrading from a HF dust collector (1.5 HP) which has served me well, but does not filter out the fine particles from getting into the air. I also looked at the thien baffle as well as wynn filter. With several very good PMs about the Mini Gorilla, it was at the top of my list. As I said before, I got it and I wanted to give you some measurements I just took in the event you are going through the same dilemma I was.
Not everything was apples to apples. I used each unit as it was configured. For the HF it was with a 4 inch 10 foot flexible hose. For the Mini Gorilla it was the 5 inch 10 foot flexible hose with a 4 inch reducer on the end. They were used as they were designed. The HF connection is a 4 inch connection and the Mini Gorilla is a 5 inch connection on the unit. I turned on each unit and let it stabilize for about 30 seconds before taking the average reading. Here is what I found:
HF - 3800 ft/min or 342 CFM
Mini Gorilla - 5200 ft/min or 468 CFM
For what I do this will be more than enough. I am working out of my garage (which I try to keep as a garage when I can) so portability and size was key to me. HEPA filtration was also high on the list of priorities. If I had more space, I would have gotten a 2 or 3 HP machine, but for what I need, this will work nicely. My CFM value was a bit below the Oneida published 'real world' CFM which is also at the end of a 10 foot hose, but it was much better than the HF unit. Not too much of a surprise there I suppose. Overall I a happy with the theoretical test. On my next project I will see how it does in real life.
I hope this helps some of you out there who might be considering which way to go. I did not find a lot of real word CFM data out there and while mine might not be perfect, it feel good about it and that it is directionally correct.
I was upgrading from a HF dust collector (1.5 HP) which has served me well, but does not filter out the fine particles from getting into the air. I also looked at the thien baffle as well as wynn filter. With several very good PMs about the Mini Gorilla, it was at the top of my list. As I said before, I got it and I wanted to give you some measurements I just took in the event you are going through the same dilemma I was.
Not everything was apples to apples. I used each unit as it was configured. For the HF it was with a 4 inch 10 foot flexible hose. For the Mini Gorilla it was the 5 inch 10 foot flexible hose with a 4 inch reducer on the end. They were used as they were designed. The HF connection is a 4 inch connection and the Mini Gorilla is a 5 inch connection on the unit. I turned on each unit and let it stabilize for about 30 seconds before taking the average reading. Here is what I found:
HF - 3800 ft/min or 342 CFM
Mini Gorilla - 5200 ft/min or 468 CFM
For what I do this will be more than enough. I am working out of my garage (which I try to keep as a garage when I can) so portability and size was key to me. HEPA filtration was also high on the list of priorities. If I had more space, I would have gotten a 2 or 3 HP machine, but for what I need, this will work nicely. My CFM value was a bit below the Oneida published 'real world' CFM which is also at the end of a 10 foot hose, but it was much better than the HF unit. Not too much of a surprise there I suppose. Overall I a happy with the theoretical test. On my next project I will see how it does in real life.
I hope this helps some of you out there who might be considering which way to go. I did not find a lot of real word CFM data out there and while mine might not be perfect, it feel good about it and that it is directionally correct.
