Meyer Woodworks Filter Shaker Review

Tool: Filter Shaker Shop Now 

Manufacturer: Meyer Woodworks

MSRP: $199+

I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: my dust collection system is one of my favorite things in my shop. It could be that I’m a neat freak who hates dust floating around, or perhaps it’s because I worked for so long without a good system. Recently, I came across a product designed to clean dust collector filters without needing to remove them from the unit. It had rave reviews, so I knew I had to try it.

The product, which you can see here, is the Filter Shaker from Cody Meyer at Meyer Woodworks. Cody manufactures these shakers to fit various filter sizes and also offers a universal version that straps around the filter. The concept is simple: the shaker comes mounted on a phenolic bracket, which is positioned between the sound chamber and the filter on my Oneida unit.

Once plugged in, a small motor starts vibrating at a remarkable rate (though it’s not violent, just very efficient). The effect is that the filter is shaken enough to dislodge all the fine dust that has accumulated. With this Oneida dust collector, you first remove the lower dust bin. As the shaker operates, it knocks dust out from the bottom of the filter.

I must admit, I underestimated how much debris was trapped in my filter the first time I plugged this in. I wanted to see how much material would come out (and thus assess its effectiveness) and it was a terrible mistake. The amount of fine dust that emerged from the filter was astonishing. For subsequent cleanings, I attached a trash bag below the filter, as recommended by the manufacturer.

So, does the shaker work to clean the filter? Absolutely. I thought I had cleaned my filter thoroughly in the past, but after using the Filter Shaker, I realized I hadn’t actually gotten it clean at all. The airflow through my system probably doubled. Suddenly, it felt like my dust collector was brand new again, efficiently capturing all the dust I needed it to. To me, that improvement is well worth the price of the shaker.