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Tool: M18 FUEL 9 Gallon Dual Battery Dust Extractor 0888-20 Shop Now
Manufacturer: Milwaukee Tool
MSRP: $1399 (kit with VACLINK, two 12ah batteries, and charger) $899 (bare tool with VACLINK)
Tool manufacturers are constantly benchmarking their competitors when developing new tools. So for years now, Milwaukee has been looking at the latest from, say, DeWalt and trying to make a tool that surpasses whatever they’ve cooked up. What’s so interesting to me about the new M18 Fuel Dust Extractor is that Milwaukee looked up a class and benchmarked Festool’s popular CT line of dust extractors instead.
Every step of the way, there’s a level of execution that suits an ultra-premium tool. Some of it is great design, like sealed buttons and an uncluttered interface. The hose storage is one of the best I’ve seen on any dust extractor or wet/dry vacuum, and the packout mounting point on top is a great idea. Other parts are engineering-focused, like the high continuous ariflow during filter cleaning and the VACLINK wireless tool connectivity (even the battery-less bare tool includes a remote.) There’s one trick though that bumps this tool from great to fantastic—dual power sources.
As you can see in the photos above, the M18 Fuel Dust Extractor can run on either a pair of M18 batteries or be simply plugged in to an extension cord without any battery installed. No special converter needed, no dangling cord to drag around, just an outlet neatly recessed into the body. So if I’m popping out into the shop for a bit of sanding, I’ll just leave it on battery power, which has up to 125 CFM. If I’m going to run the table saw or planer (and yes, this worked great hooked up to a 12“ planer) I’ll plug it in and take advantage of the full 175 CFM. This dual-power system also means that the bare tool version is functional right out of the box. If you have no interest in ever running it off of battery power, you can save $500 upfront.
All of these class-above features do come with a class-above price, but the cost is well worth it if you want a top performer in your shop.
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