Great video. Suggestion: fill the unused spoil board with scrap as directed in this video. Add a gasket under the project piece perimeter using door/window self adhesive weather stripping. It comes in 1/4” wide by 1/8” thick rolls and only cost a few bucks.
in my experience, while this works relatively well in a pinch, you really have to play a puzzle game trying to find the scraps that fit together to cover the rest of the table. sometimes it defeats the idea that you're saving time and hassle by using a vac table.
i built one for my 4x8 millright and one for one of my shapeoko 3XXLs and they work great. the bigger one is a lot of maintenende and has a lot of limits. the small one has one rule. use a board close to the size of the table and it wont budge
i enjoy your videos and if you are not an engineer you have a good head for anergy and material balances as well as mass transport and other physicvs phenomina. It took me a while to figure out what you were getting at while wondering is one could isolate thye vacuum to zones. . Zoning is easy to comprehend moreso than you think :-). you are a good person to explain things to people.a 9 x 4 CNC could be quitye rigid compared to 8 x 4. If one doesn't need 4 ' wide they could save a lot with even better rigidity! I may have a custom phantom made. You're very creduble. I'm a scientist, not an engineer but much the same
I have a question about pump size. My vacuum table is HDPE 41"x30" or 10.25 sq ft. I will be using ultra light fiberboard for the spoil board. What pump would you recommend? Or, can you give me pump specs I should look for? I have single phase 220 on a 30 amp breaker. Appreciate your reply.
Hi Nick, would you be able to share the specs of your vacuum? Power, CFM, vacuum pressure etc. I am struggling to find the best solution for my 4x8 table.
Just depends on the unit. Lots of single phase and 3 phase motors out there. Cfm can vary a lot and pressure has a lot to do with your table and how well sealed you have it as well as factors like elevation
Oops just got the part about All Star gasket. Seems like that foam tackiness would help with aluminum. Second question - is your vacuum pump inside your shop? Seems very quiet with the vac table running
The tile gasket makes a huge difference. It will greatly help with aluminum. My pumps are outside but you dont have to do that. They can go under your machine if needed.
You could but understand that those areas would have less air flow to them and could allow air to escape depending on where the cut throughs are after parts are cut.
This was very helpful. Thank you! Learned quite a bit, and I've been doing cabinet making for over 30 years. No CNC yet, but soon.
Glad it was helpful!
Awesome video! Excellent overview of how vacuum tables work!
Thanks for that. I hope it helped!
Great information! Thanks for the video
Glad it was helpful!
Very informative video. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much!
Great video. Suggestion: fill the unused spoil board with scrap as directed in this video. Add a gasket under the project piece perimeter using door/window self adhesive weather stripping. It comes in 1/4” wide by 1/8” thick rolls and only cost a few bucks.
Always great ideas.
in my experience, while this works relatively well in a pinch, you really have to play a puzzle game trying to find the scraps that fit together to cover the rest of the table. sometimes it defeats the idea that you're saving time and hassle by using a vac table.
Great video Nick! Everything was thoroughly explained, clear and concise! 👌🏾
Thanks Nolan. I appreciate that. I tried hard.
Awesome video! Great stuff 😎
Thanks so much
i built one for my 4x8 millright and one for one of my shapeoko 3XXLs and they work great. the bigger one is a lot of maintenende and has a lot of limits. the small one has one rule. use a board close to the size of the table and it wont budge
Yea exactly. Cover the whole table and problems usually go away. Thats awesome.
Great video Nick! Thanks for sharing your knowledge the CNC community.
Thanks. I love sharing.
i enjoy your videos and if you are not an engineer you have a good head for anergy and material balances as well as mass transport and other physicvs phenomina. It took me a while to figure out what you were getting at while wondering is one could isolate thye vacuum to zones. . Zoning is easy to comprehend moreso than you think :-). you are a good person to explain things to people.a 9 x 4 CNC could be quitye rigid compared to 8 x 4. If one doesn't need 4 ' wide they could save a lot with even better rigidity! I may have a custom phantom made. You're very creduble. I'm a scientist, not an engineer but much the same
Thanks for the kind words. Appreciate that
I have a question about pump size. My vacuum table is HDPE 41"x30" or 10.25 sq ft. I will be using ultra light fiberboard for the spoil board. What pump would you recommend? Or, can you give me pump specs I should look for? I have single phase 220 on a 30 amp breaker. Appreciate your reply.
I would get a 2.2 kw pump from Phantom CNC. Ton of power for only $750.
Hi Nick, would you be able to share the specs of your vacuum? Power, CFM, vacuum pressure etc. I am struggling to find the best solution for my 4x8 table.
Just depends on the unit. Lots of single phase and 3 phase motors out there. Cfm can vary a lot and pressure has a lot to do with your table and how well sealed you have it as well as factors like elevation
Any experience with aluminum sheet? The lower friction makes me worried
Oops just got the part about All Star gasket. Seems like that foam tackiness would help with aluminum.
Second question - is your vacuum pump inside your shop? Seems very quiet with the vac table running
The tile gasket makes a huge difference. It will greatly help with aluminum. My pumps are outside but you dont have to do that. They can go under your machine if needed.
Is there anyway to add dog holes to your spoilboard and still use the vac table? Thanks for the video
You could but understand that those areas would have less air flow to them and could allow air to escape depending on where the cut throughs are after parts are cut.
5 if you count a plasma CNC i have now too
AirWeights
WHICH ONE IS BETTER A VACCUME BED OR CLAMP SYSYTEM BED ?
Depends on your jobs. Sheet goods then vacuum. If small parts and small material then clamps work well. Depends on your situation