# Oneida Mini Gorilla



## PurpLev

congrats. hope you can edit this review once you experience more of the actual abilities and quality of the machine's performance.


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## steveosshop

Good luck with the new dust collector. You should do a follow up in a few months and let us know how the machine does for long-term use.


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## Woodchuck1957

A picture of it setup would be nice also. I see that the impeller is a composite material.


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## Knuckles

Thanks for posting, and to echo the others please let us know how this works out. I'm looking to upgrade from an inadequate shop vac myself.


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## a1Jim

Congrats on your new dust collector I hope it serves you well. I have 3 dust collectors all around $ 150 each from Harbor Freight They are rated at 1200 cfm . I have some under floor ducts and some over head .I use one just for my table saw,One for my Jointer, and one for everthing else . I have waited until there on sale but even when there not there somewhere from $199 to $ 229 . I usually buy high end tools if I can afford them but these cheepie dust collectors have served me well . If your wondering how I have room for three dust collectors ,two of them are out side were I like them for removal of sawdust and noise I have remotes for the two outside.


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## Al_PG

Hi Phil, now that you've had the dust collector for awhile just wonder if you had any more comments. I'm thinking about getting the same one. 
Thanks, Al


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## LucasinBC

Hi Phil,

I realize that you posted this well over two years ago, but if you still have this DC could you offer your current opinion? Still happy with it? I'm looking at some of the smaller cyclone DCs as well but there's not much review information available on how well they do in the shop.

Thanks,
Lucas


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## edz

Hi Phil,

I want to upgrade my 1 1/2 horse Grizzly with the Oneida Mini because to upgrade to the canister filter will cost me more than I paid for the Grizzly in the first place. I'd really like to hear if you still like the performance of the Mini. I primarily run a permanent connection to my Unisaw, 4" flex with quick connect to either my 14" bandsaw, 6" jointer or 12" planer. I also have a 2 1/2" flex that connects to either my drill press or one of my two ports on my router table. I'd really like some feedback prior to pulling the trigger. Thanks Phil or anyone else who has an Oneida Mini-Gorilla.


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## philF

Yes, 5 years later and I still love it. It was hard to roll around without tipping so I reconfigured my shop so I can get to all ports without rolling. I am still using the standard hose.


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## Bill_Steele

I have this same dust collector. Mine is about 2 years old. I have the HEPA filter and the remote. No problems at all with the machine. It has 10' of heavy duty 6" hose-I bought a 6"-4" reducer and installed on the end of the hose. I use it with my 12" portable planer, 6" jointer, 10" contractor's saw, and 14" bandsaw. It does a very good job of clearing the chips and saw dust from all of these machines. It's really well made and not difficult to assemble. It's quieter than my shop vac. The mobile base enables it to be easily moved around my shop. The remote works well and it also has a nice magnetic on/off switch on the machine. I did not get the collection drum level indicator.

This dust collector is more expensive than most (in this same range of DC's), but I do not regret my purchase. I thought about the Harbour Freight DC and have heard good things about how they perform after upgrading to a HEPA cartridge and perhaps a pre-separator and/or Thein baffle. I liked the cyclone functionality. I already had a Dust Deputy and was (still am) impressed with how well it works.

If I had to nitpick-I'd say that it's a sort of a pain to empty the collection drum (17 gallon steel drum) or monitor the level of the drum without the add-on collection drum level indicator. It would be nice if they built in a clear window on the side of the drum. The lid to the drum is "sprung" down by the short hose from the cyclone. I suppose I could trim the hose shorter, but I think the tight seal is a good thing. I just force a couple sticks between the lid and the can-and then slide the can out from under. It's fairly simple to clean out the filter, but it requires removing it to clean it. I just rest it on the floor and blow it with compressed air from the outside to get the fine dust to fall out on the floor. The only dust in the filter is the consistency of talcum powder so the cyclone is doing a very good job.


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## xrogers

Hi Phil,

I'm considering the current mini gorilla, and had a few questions regarding fine dust collection.

So how does the mini gorilla perform according to your Dylos meter? According to Bill Pentz, it shouldn't be acceptable for fine dust--your contractor saw needs about 1000 CFM, and the mini does about 600. If you've found a protocol (or compromise) that works for you, I'd love to hear about it.

Also, do you run a planer on the mini? How does that work (both subjectively and according to dylos)?

I'm really interested in hearing about anyone's experience with metered testing of physically smaller dust collectors in real shops. It would be fun to have a clearvue, but it would take up too much of my very limited space.

Thanks!


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