Commercial Vacuum kit

[silverdog]

Ciao
I don't know if it's the right place ... what do you think ? it does not seems too bad.

http://www.m-powertools.com/products/mini-mach/mini-mach.htm
http://www.m-powertools.com/products/big-mach/big-mach.htm

[KenC]

Anyone who build a MM can make these easily...

[silverdog]

Yes Ken, I just like the idea of pressure ball (they sell them separately) ..... I don't know if they are effective ...

[KenC]

pardon my ignorant... pressure ball??

[sailfl]

It is like a switch. It only activates the area when there is weight on the pressure ball.

[KenC]

That is interesting...

[ramdan]

The Mac valves work well for me. I used the air compressor with the vacuum generator for my vacuum clamping needs.

[silverdog]

Dan, the one in the photo is your vacuum motor ? if so it's extremly small ! if it works well it would be a very interesting solution for some kind of work (smaller).

[Gerald D]

Ken, it is just a little ball (valve) held against a seat by a spring. Vacuum is not strong enough to suck the valve open, but a workpiece on top will push the ball down and open the valve.

[Robert M]

Sergio, no vacuum motors there, it’s a solenoid valve ( MAC is the makers name, see this Link (http://www.macvalves.com/products/Three_Way/Small/200/200.pdf)and go to page 33 for the one on Dan picture ).
This Vacuum system works with the assistance of a AIR COMPRESSOR ( see this link (http://www.joewoodworker.com/veneering/downloads.htm) then click on "B" )

See this link (http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showthread.php?p=27261&postcount=12)for some pic of my version !


Amiclaement, Robert ;)

[KenC]

This should work if we don't cut through the work piece.
I foresee jam or leaky valve due to saw dust finding their way between the ball & the seat,...
I believe in simple hole with rubber plug... KISS.
Actually we can turn our shop compressor into a vacuum pump with simple plimbing & a auto airconditioner vacuum switch... its been done & I did tried it out just for fun... works very well, the piston stays cooler then when it is used as a compressor.

[silverdog]

Humm, this could be a very nice solution for all the work where you don't cut through the piece ... carving, pocketing ecc. also very ecomomic, you don't need a continuous running 5kw or more motor. :)
Thanks!

[KenC]

That is if your work piece is non-porous. MDF is too porous for this application.

[ramdan]

The work piece can be a porous material but not the clamping jig.The clamping jig holds the work piece.

[Alan_c]

You can also make custom shaped vacuum pods if you are consistantly running the same shape or product. This pod will be shaped the same as your job, just a bit smaller with grooves for rubber cord to act as a seal - and because the pod is raised off the table the pieces cut off fall to the table away from the cutter. Where I worked before we used to do this for toilet seats and bathroom cabinet doors, the blanks for the toilet seats were rough cut on the bandsaw then placed on the pod and cut and profiled with the CNC (but then again we were doing about 400 seats a day). The cabinet doors came in cut a little over size, we used to run a cutter around the outside to ensure consistantcy and do the profiling or cut out on the front - this was way faster than doing the whole job with the cnc.

[bob76051]

Old school sign guy here.
We made our own vac table by building a box under our silk screen table and attaching the hose from a shop vac to it. The top of the table was perforated allowing the air to pass through and hold down our signs that were to be silk screened. If our signs were smaller than the perforated area we just blocked the extra holes with a piece of scrap sign material or tape. This should work fine for the MechMate table and not cost an arm and a leg to buy a really powerful vac create suction through MDO board.
I believe what you are trying to overcome is the force the cutting blade makes against the material being cut. This should do the job quite well if you use say 1/8" holes spaced about 1" apart. Using smaller holes through the table will offset the cutting bit having exposed some of the holes and loosing all vac hold down ability. If this is too little hold down force you could use two shop vacs instead of one. You could even create zones on your table with the use of several vac boxes between the girders supporting your table and use blast gates to cut off areas not needed.
just food for thought
chuck