Sherwood FM-150 Dust Extractor — and the Amazon Alternative

Sherwood is Timbecon’s machinery brand, sold direct in Australia through timbecon.com.au and not on Amazon. Before choosing a replacement, it is worth separating two machines that get the same name.

Chip collectors versus dust extractors

A chip collector — a single-stage bag unit, or a small portable like the FM-150 — moves a lot of air at low pressure. That is what a thicknesser, a table saw or a bandsaw needs, because they produce volume: shavings and chips through a 100 mm port. It will not capture the invisible fraction, and a bag-only unit passes much of the fine dust straight back into the room.

A dust extractor — a vacuum, essentially — moves less air at much higher pressure. That suits a 27 mm hose on a sander or a router, and with a HEPA filter it captures the fine dust that does the damage.

Owning one does not remove the need for the other. Buying the wrong one for the job is the most common dust collection mistake in a home shop.

What Amazon has

For the fine-dust side, the Festool CT 15 E HEPA, linked below, is a compact extractor with a tool-triggered outlet and whole-unit HEPA certification. It is expensive and it is very good at exactly the job it is designed for.

For the chip-collection side, Amazon’s range is thinner. Shop Fox, Grizzly, Jet and Laguna sell 1 to 2 HP collectors, mostly through their own dealers rather than Amazon, and shipping a machine of that size is often cheaper direct.

The practical advice

If you have one machine and one budget, work out which dust is actually bothering you. Chips on the floor are a nuisance; fine dust you cannot see is the health issue. Most home shops end up buying the extractor first and the collector later.