Oneida Mini Gorilla

Firstly, I bought this product directly from the manufacturer, so Amazon will tag me as not being a verified purchaser. Believe me, I did buy it, and very much wish I had not. Why am I so unhappy with this item? Let's start with the "instructions". While the "instruction manual" does include a parts list, it does not include helpful, actual sized pictures of the various nuts, bolts, etc, so you will have to measure them all yourself, so hope you enjoy that. It would have been nice if the various parts had been packaged separately and labelled, as other manufacturers (for example, Powermatic) do, but nope. Everything just comes in one big plastic bag. Have fun! Next, you'll have to drill holes in the side of the unit to mount the little window which is supposed to show you when the dust bin needs to be emptied. Careful! If you don't drill the holes right there will be an air leak. Spoiler alert: The little window is completely useless anyway, since after about 10 seconds of use there is so much dust coating the inside of it that you won't be able to see anything inside. So, you potentially can ruin your device by installing something that is of no value anyway. Next, let's talk about the "gasket" that is meant to seal the joint between the dust collection bin and the part of the unit that holds the motor. The ambiguous illustration in the "instructions" SUGGESTS that this part is, in fact, a circular gasket, which would be logically expected given its intended function. Surprise! It's really nothing but a 12 ft long piece of adhesive backed foam, pretty much like what they sell at Home Depot to weather strip the bottom of your garage door, which turns out to be a good thing, since you'll need to make lots of trips to Home Depot to buy weather stripping to replace this "gasket" because, amazingly enough, its pretty hard to make a straight piece of foam seal off a circular opening, especially since, given its location, it is exposed constantly to dust, which tends to make it come loose. My solution has been to wrap duct tape around the joint every time I put the dust bin back on after emptying it. Good old duct tape. Next let's talk about the dust collection bin itself. Next, let's talk about the assembly of the dust bin. The "instructions" actually tell you to cut three blocks of wood 2 1/4" thick to hold the dust collection bin up during assembly. That's right, do-it-yourselfers! Since their engineers couldn't think of a better way to do things, time for you to step up and make some support blocks to use to put your new, $1,600 machine together. I need to add at this point that, because the dust collection bin is made of such cheap, crappy, easily deformable plastic, if you don't have it lined up PERFECTLY with the unit above it before fastening the latches, it will permanently bend the plastic, preventing it from ever functioning properly without, again, duct tape. This is really true, better be careful. I had dust flying all over the place before I figured out what was wrong. Next, let's talk about cleaning the filter. Turns out this is impossible to do without an air compressor. Don't have one? Uh-oh. I didn't either. Seems that they neglected to mention that in their ad. But I've saved the best part for last. I bought this machine because they specifically state on their website that it will operate with ordinary 110 v household current, and that it pulls "about" 15 amps. Well, technically that is accurate. It pulls 16 amps, which is "about" 15 amps. But it isn't 15 amps, it's 16 amps, and because 16 is more than 15, they put a special plug on the device which WILL NOT FIT IN A STANDARD OUTLET! This utterly infuriates me. It's like buying something that has "about" 2 wheels for your kid, expecting a bicycle, and getting instead one of those giant tricycles that old people ride. It won't fit in your garage where it was supposed to go and your kid doesn't want it. So I hope you enjoy installing new electrical outlets in your shop because you'll need a special one just for this little beauty. I don't have that kind of competence and will need the help of my friendly neighborhood electrician, which will add a couple of hundred bucks to the cost of the machine. If you can't tell already I hate this thing. It is the most disappointing purchase, of any kind, that I have made in many years, and if I could give it negative stars I would. I bought it because it was reviewed favorably in Fine Woodworking magazine. I guess somebody probably got a nice fishing trip somewhere for writing that article. I have canceled my subscription to FW because of this experience. If you're the kind of person who enjoys fiddling with their equipment as much as you do actually USING your equipment to make things, then this machine will certainly make you happy. Otherwise, get something else. Dave Wenzel for Quasimodo.

I also did not purchase my Mini Gorilla from Amazon, but it is definitely worth leaving a review. Especially since my experience (and 99% of those I read while researching) is completely opposite of the 1 star review currently found here.I can't say enough good things about this dust collector. I researched for months and ended up going with this model for two primary reasons: The included filter is top rated where it really counts for lung health (0.2 micron) while the Oneida cyclone adds to insane power & efficiency regarding collection and filter life. Second, the entire unit is very portable with the ability to use a standard 20A breaker. Many of the units with desired HP / CFM required quite a bit of awareness of the power being utilized across your home circuit(s).... Laguna's option was what I originally had my eye on until the power requirements were assessed.I wanted something which could be wheeled around like my other equipment since our garage needs to be more than just a woodshop. I've invested in mobility across all of my power tools and cabinets vs stationary piping, gates, etc. This also allows me to keep efficiency across shorter hose runs. I grabbed some 5in hose to connect to the cabinets, and a reducer to a smaller hose for my mitre saw and router table. (Sanders and hand tools run off a HEPA converted shop vac since the Gorilla suction is too powerful). I like to look around each tool before use for safety (since it's a small shop), and simply take the 15 seconds to manually switch hosing to the next tool at the same time. I haven't noticed a slow down in the slightest. Regarding fast switching, the Rockler handled connector set is a game changer.I did purchase the recommended iVAC remote and it is also highly recommended. (Side note: The remote unit combined with the Gorilla only works on one of my 20A circuits without anything else plugged in. I almost purchased the recommended iVAC power distribution setup from the manufacturer, but was able to isolate & resolve the issue of the breaker frequently flipping. I am not sure how common the issue is, but you should know they do offer a solution if you're popping breakers a lot.)This collector works great for all my tools, but the one which stands out in just about any shop is the planer. With my Dewalt 735 Planer the Mini Gorilla doesn't even skip a beat! I am blown away every single time I use this combination. Literally no dust or chips around the area after use.This is by far one of the best purchases I've ever made in my shop, and I can definitely recommend it to anyone.