We’re asking a lot more from our shop vacs these days. There was a time when they could earn their keep just by cleaning the floor, but now we’ve got them hooked up to just about every small machine in our shops. A popular way to hot rod a shop vac has been to add a small cyclone and collection barrel. The resulting two-stage collection system, though cumbersome, is highly effective at keeping the filter dust-free and operating at peak performance.

Oneida has taken the shop vac evolution one step further by creating a cyclone-based vacuum from the ground up. The Dust Cobra is a beast of a vac and is specifically designed to handle the rigors of small machine dust collection. The motor sits atop the cyclone and a 10 gallon barrel waits below to gather the chips. A .3 micron HEPA filter ensures that harmful dust stays inside the vac and not suspended in the air of your shop. A Filter Pulse Cleaning Bar cleans the filter by temporarily reversing the motor which drives the accumulated dust down into the barrel.

The Dust Cobra promises 260 CFM max airflow or 3 times the performance of most shop vacs. It’s available as a wall-mounted unit for $690, a rolling cart is $200 more. Available direct from www.oneida-air.com.

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