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View Full Version : All acrylic gate valve for the vacuum hold down

paco
Sun 23 December 2007, 17:15
I thought I should post about something I recently made to resolve an issue I was having with plastic ball valves on my vacuum hold down system.

Check it out (http://pacosarea.blogspot.com/2007/12/all-acrylic-gate-valve-for-vacuum-hold.html). Critics, comments and questions are welcome... but it work very well!:cool:
sailfl
Sun 23 December 2007, 20:03
Very nice Paco.

Are those 2" pipes that you are using? Is that a Fein vacuum?
paco
Mon 24 December 2007, 08:53
Yes, schedule 40 PVC 2" piping and yes it's a Fein turbo III.
smreish
Mon 24 December 2007, 10:47
Paco.
I assume you cut the acrylic on your MM? If so, maybe you can publish the dxf cut file for all your fans to use :) It's a great idea and fantastic design. If I understand the principle, when no vacuum, the gate valve slides easily. It "sucks" closed when under vacuum.....Simple and Effective. I like it. Bravo.
Sean
paco
Mon 24 December 2007, 13:31
Sean,

unfortunately I don't own a MechMate... yet... I've cut the part on my ShopBot PRT Alpha.

The gate slide almost as easily when the vacuum is on or not. I guess that is I had a 15-30 HP vacuum, it would slide a bit less easily...
paco
Tue 25 December 2007, 08:43
I'm not sure it would help you much to have the 2D drawing but here's the SketchUp model (v6) (http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=98d37538b170250b75b7c4b3221edda5#). With it, you can study the relation between various part of it.

Let me know if you really need more.

Merry Xmas!
smreish
Wed 26 December 2007, 06:09
Paco,
Thank you for the link to the model. A note you may want to consider. If you fabricate the gate from Sintra (tm) or PVC extruded sheet, you will match the PVC pipe properties and able to glue and mount all together from the same primer and glue. I use PVC sheet often and is available from almost every sign or plastic supplier - in colors too! Thanks and Merry Christmas to you too.
Marc Shlaes
Wed 26 December 2007, 08:58
I was thinking that as well. I often use it for making templates for routing. It is incredibly tough and easy to machine. I often stop by a local plastics fabrication company and go through their scrap bin. I get it much cheaper that way It typically costs me about one dollar per pound which is a fraction of its cost if you just by it "retail".

I just stick it in my cutoff bin. It is very useful material also for jig making.