Vacuum Clamp

[Loudspeakerboy]

Sure am having fun using my shark to built my vacuum clamp setup..

[Kryptik]

Come on, how's it going ??
I have an old air hockey table I'm keeping with this sort of thing in the back of my mind..


Marc

[Loudspeakerboy]

Almost there..

Installed the new 1030, 8020 aluminum deck tonight and should be done with the vacuum system tomorrow night.

The new deck is soooo much nicer than the old MDF garbage it came with. One note to those considering the 8020 deck.. You will need to make a slight modification to your Rockler hold-down clamps. The bolt diameter is a little bigger. A quick touch with a file, and you back in business!

Michael

[Loudspeakerboy]

The Venturi vacuum pump I just finished works perfectly! I'm able to pull 27 Inches of murcury easily.. That's about 14 psi. I'm able to hold a 3/8"x 2"x 6-1/2" piece of ebony rock solid! Can't wait to run the first part!

Yay!

[jeb2cav]

I hope you're going to post some details/information about how you did this....

I look forward to it (a lot).

[Loudspeakerboy]

As promised, here are some pictures of my vacuum clamp system. As you can see I've used HDPE for the fixture. I will be able to make multiple fixtures using just the one piece. I created a pocket tool path for the o-ring channel that is .20" wide and .19" deep. The o-ring stock is about .21". There is only about 6 square inches of vacuum surface area to hold the 1-3/4"x 7"x 3/8" ebony bridge blank in place, yet I can't budge it when under vacuum (That's about 75 psi @ 25 inches of mercury). I had turned the vacuum valve to the off position and couldn't get the bridge blank off the fixture without slipping my knife blade under the edge and prying it off, accidentally cutting the @$%# out of my left index finger (Whoops! got to quit sharpening my tools so well).

The Vacuum pump was easy to build. I opted to buy the parts from http://www.joewoodworker.com/veneering/v2-about.htm. He does a complete kit with full on-line instructions for about $150.00 All you do is add the PVC pipe, some wood scraps, your existing air compressor, and some time. The parts for the fixtures are also available on the same website. Next I will bolt the HDPE directly to my new 8020, 1030 aluminum deck (Do this.. you will never look back!) and mount the vacuum pump to the wall. I plan to run the first part later today.

So.. for those of you who worry about running into your little blue hold-down clamps, here is an answer..

Cheers! Michael

[Loudspeakerboy]

The system worked perfectly. Never budged!

[Kryptik]

Beautiful work.
Do you use much air with the venturi ? The Festo VAD's that I have worked with needed a great deal..although your setup looks very efficient.

[basecircle]

I like it.Want to build one.I have a Question.will a 2hp compressor work? I looked at the site and he has many kits.Is the one you bought the venturi kit? I was also thinking if I bought a vac pump from harbor fright thats 3cfm do you think it would work with his kit that you put the pump motor on the stand with the pvc tanks? I just want to hold a sign blank. let me know if you have time Basecircle

[Loudspeakerboy]

I was able to hold the system at 24 Hg without it cycling. The vacuum reservoir is about .16 ft/3, so it takes about 20 seconds to come to full vacuum with system at 0 Hg, running the compressor at 100 psi. The compressor didn't cycle during the initial vacuum charge. After thicknessing the piece of ebony in my timesaver, I smoothed the surface with 240 grit paper stuck to an iron table. This ensures that I get a good seal at the o-ring. The ebony is not at all porous, so it's easy to get a good seal.