Chips, fines & air · review
The finest bag on the American half of this shelf at two microns — and the only auto-start outlet here that publishes its limit.
The end of it Two microns and a published outlet limit, on a page whose two power figures contradict each other.
Every figure below names its source. Each one is a manufacturer specification read off the listing itself. The judgments are ours.
The finest filtration rating published on the American half of this shelf.
Thirty microns on the Rockler here. Five on both WEN machines. Two on this one.
Chips on the floor are a nuisance. The dust that matters is the part that never lands.
Wood dust is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the IARC, and the particles that reach the deep lung are below about ten microns — which is to say, invisible in a shaft of sunlight through a workshop window.
So the number that decides what a collector is worth is not its airflow. It is what its filter stops. A machine that moves a great deal of air through a coarse bag is a machine that measures the room’s dust and puts it back.
Not a cartridge, and not a tested machine.
A cloth bag catches what its weave catches and leaks at the seams and the clamp as it loads. The published Metabo on the European half of this shelf is bought on a letter instead — class M, tested as a whole machine rather than as a filter medium, and its page calls the letter the specification.
Two microns is the right direction. It is not the same kind of claim.
The only tool-current limit on either half of this shelf.
Seven amps at 120 volts is about 840 watts: a random orbital sander, a router, a biscuit joiner, a small band saw. Not a table saw, which draws 13 to 15. Not a planer. Not a 2 HP router on startup.
So the auto-start outlet serves the small end of the shop, and the big machines switch the collector by hand.
The published Einhell on this shelf has tool-triggered start and does not say what it carries. Nor does the ECOMAX here. This page does.
Both numbers are on the page: 6.5 A full load at 120 V, and 1.2 HP.
Six and a half amps at 120 volts is about 780 watts drawn. One point two horsepower is about 895 watts delivered.
A motor of this size is perhaps seventy to eighty per cent efficient, so 780 in is 550 to 620 out — about 0.8 HP.
The two WEN collectors on this shelf publish amps and claim no horsepower. That is the position that cannot be contradicted by its own page.
The only safety certification published on either half of this shelf.
It is a third-party listing of the electrical construction, and on a 120 V machine with a switched outlet in it that is the part worth having certified.
The European machines here publish dust classes, which are a different kind of third-party number — and no machine on this shelf publishes both.
Read on the day this page was built: $269 at the American Amazon shop.
Read from Keepa on the day this page was last revised; stock and price both move without notice.
Prices quoted in this text were read on 2026-10-07. The live price is at the top of the page.
| Airflow | 750 CFM, published — about 1,275 m (4183 ft)³/h, and stated CSA listed |
|---|---|
| Motor | 1.2 HP at 120 V, 3,450 rpm, with a full load of 6.5 A published · 6.5 A at 120 V is about 780 W of input; 1.2 HP is about 895 W of output |
| Impeller | Not published by the maker. |
| Filtration rating | A 2 micron cloth upper bag — the finest rating on the American half of this shelf · No dust class is published |
| Inlets | One · Five reducers and a 5 ft by 4 in flexible hose are supplied |
| Capacity | 13 gallons — about 49 liters · A plastic lower bag and a cloth lower bag are both supplied |
| Auto-start | A power outlet for the connected tool, stated to take 7 A maximum — the only published tool-current limit on this shelf |
| Mobility | A portable base of 16-1/2 × 26-3/8 in on caster wheels |
| Also fitted | A PET bag clamp, stated soft so it will not cut the hand |
| Part number | DC50 |
| Amazon reference | B083HV6W1B |
| EAN | 0617748888748 |
Most of the machines a collector is bought for. Seven amps at 120 volts is about 840 watts — enough for a random orbital sander, a router, a biscuit joiner or a small band saw. A table saw draws 13 to 15 amps, a planer similar, a 2 HP router more than seven on startup. So the auto-start outlet serves the small end of the shop, and the big machines have to switch the collector separately. This is the only listing on either half of this shelf to publish the figure at all — the published Einhell and the ECOMAX here both have tool-triggered start and neither says what it will carry.
No. Six point five amps at 120 volts is about 780 watts drawn; 1.2 HP is about 895 watts delivered. A motor cannot deliver more than it draws, and a real induction motor of this size is perhaps 70 to 80 per cent efficient — so 780 watts in is 550 to 620 out, which is 0.75 to 0.85 HP. Both figures are published on this page and they do not agree. The two WEN collectors on this shelf publish amps only and claim no horsepower, which is the position that cannot be wrong.
It is the best rating on the American half of this shelf and it is still a bag, not a cartridge. Two microns catches a great deal more of the respirable fraction than the five microns of the two WEN machines here or the thirty of the Rockler, and the fine fraction continues below two. What a cloth bag also does is leak at the seams and the clamp as it loads up, which is why the published Metabo on the European half of this shelf is bought on a class letter instead — a class M machine is tested as a whole machine, not as a filter medium.
A sander, a router table or a band saw on auto-start, where the fine bag matters more than the volume
Specifications: the manufacturer sheet for woodworking machines and the matching Amazon product page. Prices and availability: Keepa. Every figure on this page names its source.
1,200 W · dust class L · semi-automatic filter clean
The professional L-class vacuum with semi-automatic filter cleaning — the feature that stops suction fading halfway through a job.
Best for: Site and workshop extraction where suction has to stay constant all day
HEPA · semi-automatic filter cleaning · tool-activated · anti-static hose · 6.5 HP claimed
HEPA filtration and semi-automatic filter cleaning on a shop vacuum — and six and a half horsepower claimed from a domestic socket.
Best for: A sander, a track saw or a router connected by hose, where the fine fraction is the whole point
≈ $130
Wet and dry · automatic start
A wet-and-dry workshop vacuum with tool-triggered start, at a third of the price of the professional machines here.
Best for: General workshop cleanup and light sanding extraction on a budget
≈ $450
