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Versatile Small Cyclone
By Brad Holden
When we polled woodworkers about which tool they were
likely to buy next year, the most common answer was,
“A dust collector!” If you’re in the hunt and have a shop
with limited space, here’s a new compact cyclone from
Oneida that’s well worth a closer look.
The Dust Cobra is only 20" in diameter and stands 4'
tall, but has a 17-gallon drum. You can use it as a stationary
machine or add casters to wheel it around the shop. It runs
on 120 volts and pulls a maximum of 15 amps.
The Dust Cobra is more versatile than a one or two bag
standard dust collector or a vacuum. A standard collector
works well with planers, jointers or tablesaws—tools
with large dust ports that require high air fl ow; a vacuum
works well with router tables, sanders or biscuit joiners—
tools with small dust ports that require high static pressure.
According to Oneida, the Dust Cobra can handle both. In
fact, it could serve as your entire dust collection system.
You’ll need a few adapters, though, to accommodate
the Dust Cobra’s 2-1/2" dust port. You should also count
on using separate circuits for the Dust Cobra and other
power tools.
Emptying the waste from the Dust Cobra is a mixed
bag. On the plus side—and it’s a very big plus—you can
line the drum with a plastic trash bag. You can’t use plastic
bags with many other cyclones, though. Unless you somehow
secure the bag on these machines, it gets sucked up
into the machine’s exhaust stack. The Dust Cobra has a
small vacuum hose connected to the drum in order to hold
the bag tight to the
drum.
On the downside,
there’s no easy way
to tell when the Dust
Cobra’s drum is full.
And you must lift off
the 35 lb. motor and
cyclone unit to empty
the drum.
The Dust Cobra
features a new system
for cleaning a
cyclone’s filter. While
the machine is running,
you just close the
blast gate and pull on
a lever to momentarily
reverse the airflow.
Clever!
The base model Dust Cobra includes a HEPA filter,
5 plastic bags and a nylon hose strap. A step-up version
includes a caster kit, Dust Sentry bin-level indicator, 10
plastic bags and 25' of 2-1/2" hose.
Source
Oneida Air Systems, oneida-air.com, 800-732-4065, The Dust Cobra,
#XCK010000A, $788; Vortex Dust Cobra Cyclonic Dust Containment
System, #XCK010000A-IND, $1124.
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