Vacuums / Cyclone Prefilters

The most widely used and often the only type of dust collection/cleanup equipment used in small shops. Often used as a cleanup device for dust, chips and any other material produced at a machine centre that was not collected by the primary collection equipment. Effective for dust collection using small hand tools such routers, hand sanders, etc. Some vacuums incorporate the ability to plug hand tools into them, allowing the vacuum to run (start/stop automatically) only while the hand tool is in operation. Portable and small these shop vacuums are an extremely flexible and useful tool. The downside of using vacuums as true dust collectors is that they operate with high pressure and low air volume and thus have a limited range for collecting fine dust particles.

Standard vacuum filters allow small dust particles collected to pass through them making it necessary to use a HEPA filter. However fine dust particles (MDF dust, drywall dust, etc) can quickly clog these filters and reduce the vacuum effectiveness. Some manufactures offer a small cyclone prefilter which when placed before and in line with the vacuum, removes the bulk of the fine dust particles thus extending the time between filter changes/cleaning. Some even offer a vacuum conversion lid which allows the cyclone/blower to be placed on top of the vacuum container.

- Festool, Fein Power Tools, Oneida Air Systems Inc., Clear Vue Cyclones Inc. images.