Will,
I noticed that you have not gotten a response to your question posed yesterday from any CVMax users, but I thought I'd give you the benefit of my experience with my CV1800 and first-hand knowledge of the performance of a CVMax in the production shop of the original owners of ClearVue Cyclones in Pickens, SC.
First, a CV1800 and CVMax differ only in the size of their blowers and impellers (15" vs 16", respectively), their intake size (6" vs 8") and their airflow rating (1442 cfm vs 1935 cfm). They both have the same very efficient design and in my experience, very few fine dust particles get to the filters. Back in 2007, I spent an afternoon with Ed and Matt Morgano (founders of ClearVue) at their production facility outside Pickens, SC. They operated a CVMax connected to several machines, including a CNC machine cutting out blower components from industrial quality MDF. I was able to examine both their collection bin and the cleanout box below their filter bank and noted nearly no fine dust in the cleanout box below the filters. The operations in their shop product lots of very fine router sawdust and literally none was getting past the cyclone. Matt told me they might remove a cup full a month from the cleanout box, while emptying the bin dozens of times. Their secret was to avoid letting the bin overflow and making certain that the bin connections had no leaks. I bought a CV1800 shortly after that visit.
