Central Machinery 2HP DC - Initial Impression Review

I don’t know what’s happened to my frugal wife (love ya, babe!), but my woodworking allowance has been generous of late. I went to the store a few weeks ago for a $300 Dust Collector and came home with a $800 Rikon Bandsaw I did a review for a while back. I still got to sleep in the bedroom, lucky break. I casually talked about the risks of airborne sawdust and “worried” her into telling me to get a Dust Collector before my lungs give out.

Anyways, My plan for dust collection in my 10’X18’ garage is a divide and conquer plan. I wanted a 1000CFM+ unit dedicated to my table saw w/ router insert and a future jointer that will be parked close. I have a large Shop Vac built into my full size router table. I have a 2 gallon “dinky” shop vac in my drill press cabinet. I am almost finished building an air filter out of an industrial blower and decent filters.

A buddy vouched for a DC he bought at Harbor Freight. I have had good and dreadful experience with their products so I’m wary of getting larger machinery but took a chance based on the opinion of a friend. They marked it down to $170 and I used a coupon to take it down to $145. It claims to pull 1200CFM. A trusted source tested it (don’t know how) at just under 1000CFM. After a weekend of sawdust, it has made a huge difference compared to shop vacs. If it lasts a two years, I think it would be a solid hobbyist machine. It was machined poorly and this was pretty noticeable. The mounting brackets were a little bent in a couple places. No big deal, but it shows a lack of quality control. The threaded parts were fairly jagged and it made assembly a bit of a hassle. The included bags are only 30micron. That was the biggest down-side. I was hoping to get under 10. They do have a 1 micron bag that can be ordered for additional cost. Bottom-line, I think it is worth the small investment. I normally stand by waiting to get machinery that you’ll be happy with 10 years from now, but so far this seems to be a decent low-end machine.

-- Jeff, South Carolina