Re: Need a vacuum system for acrylic sheets

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "kdoney_63021"
<kdoney_63021@y...> wrote:

>
> Sorry, I should have been a little more specific.
>
> I'm actually not cutting the 1/8" acrylic plastic sheet. I am
> painting on it with dispensing valves and acrylic paint. I need to
> hold the sheet flat (+- .1") against the surface of the table. The
> sheets, as they come off the properly constructed storage racks,

are

> sometimes off by .5" by warping. I don't need high volume, except

to

> counteract the table leakage and I don't need high vacuum since I
> only have 12 of the 1/4" bullet catches which allow the vacuum to
> form inside of my multiple areas of
> "Poron Quick Recovery Foam Strip, 1/8" Thick X 1/2" Wide".

The vac pressures required are dead ended, so your main concern is to
stop any leaks.

With your non-contact application any vacume should work.

What it sounds like is that you do not have enough open area under
the part, or the leakage is too great.

Try laying a plastic cover over the part and establishing a good
vacume. check for leaks with smoke or some such.

Even a weak shop vac should hold the part to the point you cannot
move it.

Considder that the open space under the part will have some square
foot area to it. if the part is 24x12" and you have a 50% relief
for the vac, then you have a one sq foot area. at 1/4 a vacume, you
might get 3 psi times the 144 square inches is one heck of a lot of
pressure.

If you have a melanine sub-base, it may leak to the point of non-
working.

I would HIGHLY recommend you establish that with a sealed system you
can achieve a vacume before you start investing in more expensive
blowers and pumps and such.

a porous base is like mis-aligned rails. You don't just get a bigger
motor, you fix the underlying problem.

Dave