Dropped $400 on a Festool dust extractor and it clogs worse than my old Shop Vac

Everyone told me Festool was the holy grail for dust collection on my cabinet builds, but after 3 months of fighting with it on my CNC router, I'm going back to my old setup. Has anyone else found a brand that actually handles fine MDF dust without jamming every 20 minutes?

2 comments

2 Comments

haydenbutler1mo agoTop Commenter

Did you catch that video from the Wood Whisperer where he tested a bunch of these high-end extractors and found most of them choke on MDF? Sounds like you're not alone in this.

kelly_nelson951mo ago

Oh man, I feel your pain so hard. Idk what it is about these fancy dust extractors, but they just can't seem to handle fine MDF dust. Maybe it's just me but I had the exact same issue with a different brand, a big name that's supposed to be the best. It clogged up constantly on my CNC, and I was spending more time cleaning the filter than actually cutting. I ended up switching back to my old Shop Vac with a high-quality filter bag and a dust cyclone, and it's been night and day difference. Honestly, I think some of these companies just don't test their stuff on the really fine dust that MDF makes. It's frustrating when you spend that much money and it doesn't even work right.