The more you can protocil router vacuum clamps protocol the leaks, the lower the CFM you can get by with. I purchased the basic model, and have router vacuum clamps protocol to over time. If it's made from plastic, this means you have a leak somewhere in the connections, assuming your pump is working correctly. If you made a quick jig from wood, you should not expect to get maximum vacuum. A good quality commercial pump can be had used for thousands vacuu dollars less than new. Image via Techno-CNC ….

No worries, there are a number of them commercially available. Clampusystems offers a variety of add-on vacuum tables, components, and accessories…. CNCStep vacuum table…. NEMI vacuum grid table…. Pierson vacuum chuck system…. Tormach Vacuum Chuck. Tormach has a variety of vacuum workholding solutions …. Be sure to think about how to minimize that loss. This is where specifying a built-in vacuum table when you buy your CNC Router Table can have an advantage.

Machined tables can be more accurate—flatter and more square. But a plenum-style table may be cheaper to build and less restrictive on vacuum passages. If the part is resting on a surface that is not permeable to air, then only the passages that pull vacuum are exerting force. On a machined aluminum vacuum table, you only get much vacuum from the surface area of the grid and not the whole surface area the part rests on.

If you try to create a cavity under the part to spread more vacuum, you run the risk of stressing the part so it is bowed in the unsupported areas if you let them get too large. The beauty of having your top surface be something like MDF is that it is permeable, and the vacuum can access the whole surface area of the bottom of the part. However, MDF is likely a less accurate support than aluminum and it will require a vacuum source that can pull more CFM of air out because there is a much larger area that leaks vacuum.

Here is a vacuum table that has a zoning system that is very convenient to change just by opening or closing some valves:. A typical MDF vacuum table has a plenum board with grooved passages and a bleeder board that allows vacuum to seep through its porous structure…. Easy to do by applying sealer…. The table was made from HDPE plastic. To stop leaks in areas not being used, just use a piece of posterboard cut to fit closely around your part or workpiece:.

Another view of the PIAB. The long can is a silencer. These are basically just nice venturi vacuum pumps. Hard to beat the price of a used one from eBay. The heart of any cnc vacuum table is the cnc vacuum pump. There are several kinds available.

At sea level, air pressure is A typical regenerative blower might generate say 4 to 5 lbs per square inch 8 to 10Hg versus one of the other types that can generate the full As you can see, given the same CFM capacity,. Or, looked at another way, they can apply the same force to much smaller parts.

Another way to think about it is the amount of vacuum Hg determines how hard the part is held down while the CFM capacity is used to deal with leaks. You either need enough CFM for all the leaks or you need to spend more time controlling the leaks. Other types of vacuum pump include rotary vane and liquid ring pumps, which can pull a stronger vacuum, but to get the large volume of air will cost more:. The strength of the vacuum determines how much of the air pressure is actually going to work to hold down your workpieces.

Less vacuum means less pressure. But you have to trade that off against the CFM capacity. If you are leaking a lot Router Vacuum Clamps 01 of the vacuum, more CFM capacity is needed to keep the vacuum low enough to do its job. Vacuum Tables face a trade off between the Router Vacuum Clamps Install amount of vacuum they can pull with their vacuum pump, leakage which is working to reduce the vacuum , and the surface area of the part that the vacuum can act on.

The smaller the surface area on the parts, the more vacuum is needed to keep them solidly in place. The bigger the table, the more pump. That rule of thumb leaves aside the issue of how much vacuum the pump can pull—a regenerative blower in that range is a lot cheaper than a rotary vane type. Are there tables with lower HP pumps? The thing is, too small a vacuum pump means extra work every time you run the CNC Router to deal with leaks, work around parts breaking loose, and possibly even engineering other workholding solutions.

A pump will be rated on two dimensions—how much vacuum can it pull i. The psi is multiplied by the 30 sq. This equals pounds of force holding the template to the tabletop and workpiece to the template. One nice feature of the vacuum is that it holds with even and uniform pressure unlike a mechanical clamp, which holds with a point force.

And here is the completed piece. Because we were able to rout completely around in one pass no mechanical clamps to interfere we get a very accurate reproduction. When several router pieces are needed to fit together, vacuum template routing is the best option.

Other vacuum jigs that are useful are Straight Edges and Tee Squares. They can be placed anywhere on a sheet and the vacuum sucks them down exactly where they are placed.

Another advantage of vacuum jigs is that they do not have to be at the edge of a sheet in order for the clamps to grip like with a mechanically clamped straight edge. Those with pin routers will find vacuum templates significantly improve production. When routing large pieces, the vacuum template will be lighter since the weight of mechanical clamps is eliminated. One user required 2 men to shape 3' and 4' diameter tabletops because the template was too heavy for one man to handle safely.

By switching to a vacuum template, one man is able to handle the job. You have a choice between air-powered or electric pumps. The air-powered units are good for hand template routing since they are reliable and less expensive than the equivalent electric unit. A small piece of tape is placed where it will hold the gate open. This same piece keeps the tape in place when it's closed as in the top gate. Picture 4 is a small vacuum table used for assembly and has a 6-jig manifold. This allows several jigs to be used at the same time.

It has a vacuum plate on the side for holding doors or stock on edge. It allows the user to set the work at the best height for him and makes cutting hinge slots or filing or planing a door easy and quick. This same set-up allows for one person to easily put large pieces together by themselves.

Types of vacuum pumps. Both electric and air-powered venturi pumps work with vacuum jigs. The air-powered are more suited because they run cool and do not have any moving parts to wear out. The Q. VAK Pump is guaranteed for life. Pumps are measured by vacuum level "Hg which relates to the force generated and vacuum flow which is how much vacuum air it can pull in.

Higher vacuum flow is important when working with porous material like MDF, particle board, etc. Electric pumps should be used with a pneumatic foot pedal. This allows the pump to run continuously and make and break vacuum to the jig with the pedal.

If you start and stop the motor every time you use the jig, this can cause an excessive amount of heat and the thermal overload protection, built into the pump, will shut the pump off and prevent the pump from burning itself out.

The foot pedal has two major advantages verses using a hand valve. It leaves your hands free to hold the work piece or cutting tool. For example, when using the side plate to hold a heavy piece, as in the pictures on the back page, both hands will be needed to lift and set it properly in place. The foot pedal is then stepped on to create vacuum.

It is also faster and less fatiguing when template routing many pieces in a day. The above vacuum clamping jig holds a piece of stock on end to drill a hole perpendicular to its length. The jig is bolted to the drill table and the stock is pushed into the jig which keeps it centered and perpendicular to the drill.

Pictures 5 and 6 Applications: There are many uses for vacuum clamping, it's a matter of need and creativity. One user had a job to rout and sand plaques.

The first time it took him 17 days to complete the job using mechanical clamping methods. Using vacuum to set glass in doors and windows is a unique application.

We have made special units for this application because they require low vacuum level with high vacuum flow. The normal way to set panes for one mid size shop was to apply the glaze, set the pane in place, then push the pane down with one hand and staple the frame in place. This was slow and dangerous as the pane would break on occasion. The solution was a vacuum table covered with gasket material where any size window could be assembled.

When all the panes were in place, a low vacuum 2 to 3" Hg was pulled. This pulled the panes down and the operator could use two hands to set and staple the frames in place without the need to press on the panes. Another variation on this was assembling large panes in entry doors. Here the door had a rubber gasket placed in the opening, a large pane up to 2" x 6" was set in and vacuum pulled. Here spacing was critical. They controlled the vacuum to center the pane to within.

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