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Anyone use the debece vacuum tables?

I was at a buddy's shop over the weekend and they were using some vacuum tables from debece.net and having some issues.

From a quick look-see I saw the tables were hooked up to a vacuum cleaner (shop vac type) and the extra holes on the plate were either taped or sealed with some clear plastic material. They were not running anything that day but it had been running some type of flat plastic plates. Now this shop has nice Haas machines and this was a quick fix "I need it Friday" solution for one of the PIA customers. The problem was that the plates would loose suction and fly off the table causing excess scrap. I didn't see the finished product or process but apparently it was a PIA for the owner.

My question is: Has anyone used these debece plates before, with a vacuum cleaner setup or with a standard vac pump and what's your opinion of these vac tables for the money. The price is pretty cheap but something like this can be built for about 1/2 in material cost I would guess. I have less time that money sometimes and if the feedback is good I might pickup a 12X18 myself. My need is 1/4 - 3/8 lexan panels for display use (trade show pieces) so the finished edge is important.

Anyone care to share experiences specifically with the debece product?

Pedroman

BTW I have made small hockey puck vacuum holders with o-rings that have worked quite well using a small refrigerator pump and reservoir. This was used for both wood working and cnc work so I'm comfortable with the process (And I've searched the archives for other vacuum table posts)

Reply to
Pedroman
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That sounds interesting, can you elaborate? Or give me another search key: "hockey puck vacuum holders" didn't find it. Bob

Reply to
Bob Engelhardt

Pedroman,

I have a couple of vacuum tables that I made myself. They're built very heavy with the smallest possible volume under the top plate. I get less than .0001" deflection under full vacuum. I use a PIAB type vacuum generator with an accumulator tank, and a very "visible" gauge. This setup pulls about

27" inches of mercury on a tight seal. When I use it watch this gauge. Depending on the material, the square inches of area under vacuum, and a bunch of other touchy feely things, I'll duck, (or preferably stop the cycle) if I see this gauge start dropping.

You have to remember, with a perfect vacuum, you only get 14.5 lb per square inch of holding power at sea level (somewhat less if you live in Denver).

I honestly don't think you're going to get anywhere near enough vacuum with a vacuum cleaner. They aren't positive displacment air pumps. They're designed for flow and volume, this isn't what you need.

Mark

Reply to
MM

A good shop vac will pull 110-130 inches of water, or about 4 to 5 psi. If you need more grip, more area or a better pump. One advantage to the shop vac is that it is much more immune to debis.

MM wrote:

Reply to
RoyJ

Roy

PIAB's aren't that sensetive to debris, and have no moving parts.

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27 inches of mercury is 13.3 PSI. That's a heck of allot more than 5, and a heck of allot safer. Even then, you can't be too aggressive.

Mark

Reply to
Mark Mossberg

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