Playing with my new anemometer, I measured 95 mph on a 1.5" hose attached to my my dyson vacuum, and 120mph (I am guessing because it went off the scale, but at the rate it was climbing, I am guessing it would have hit 120mph) on the 1.5 hose attached to my DC. That means the vacuum was drawing 90cfm, and the DC about 115.

So, a DC should be at least as good as vacuum for small tools. Am I understanding this properly? Of course it would be using 4x the electricity to do it, but that's besides the point.

I also measured a 1" hose off my vacuum at 100mph or 50cfm, so a narrower hose restricts air movement by 50%. Who knew! I didn't test the DC on a narrower hose, since I couldn't have accurately measured it anyhow.