Vacuum Table

The Plenum Waffle

Cutting the 'waffle' pattern into the plenum which will provide an air channel once the spoilboard is glued on top.

T-Slots

Hard Maple inserts routered with a T-slot bit allow for mecahanical part hold-downs when vacuum hold-down is not possible (e.g: solid lumber).

Plumbing

View from underside of table showing valves & plumbing used to control vacuum in six separate zones on the table.

6 Vacuum Zones

Table plenum showing six independent vacuum zones. The ability to open & close mulitple zones with the plumbing valves allows smaller parts to be placed on the table without resulting in vacuum loss from the rest of the table that would remain open. The blue paint was used to seal the channels in the planum to reduce vacuum loss.

Finished Table

This shows the semi-porous spoilboard glued on top of the plenum with the T-slots cut through it & the air alignment pins mounted to the table edges.

Plan View

Looking through the table from the top insures that we cut the holes through the plenum in the correct locations.

Planning

Planning the location of the vacuum plumbing & zone valves.

X-ray View

This type of drawing provides a clearer understanding of how all the layers of the table will be assembled & function.