CAD CAM EDM DRO - Yahoo Group Archive

Using Vacuum to hold down sheet metal.

Posted by John Dammeyer
on 2007-04-29 12:03:54 UTC
I have some 0.050" thick sheet metal in which I want to drill/mill a
number of holes along with a rectangular cut-out. The G-Code is done.
Things look like they will end up in the right place.

I was thinking of building a vacuum assembly to hold the metal down
while milling. I've put in mechanical stops to prevent shifting but I
was thinking if I built a box and connected the shop vac that I'd be
able to use lots of little 1/8" holes through the MDF frame to suck down
the metal.

A bit of math tells me that the 7 square inches of a 3" diameter vacuum
hose translates into about 575 holes 0.125" in diameter.

But do I really need that many. I plan on only putting holes under the
metal where the mill does not do any cutting so no leaks.

Would this work? Is it better to use a vane type vacuum pump instead?
The milling cycle for all the holes is about 00:05:45 so that would mean
the shop vac would be straining for a fairly long time perhaps
overheating.

Suggestions?

Thanks,

John

Discussion Thread

John Dammeyer 2007-04-29 12:03:54 UTC Using Vacuum to hold down sheet metal. cncnovice 2007-04-29 13:24:34 UTC Re: Using Vacuum to hold down sheet metal. Ron Kline 2007-04-29 14:26:35 UTC Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: Using Vacuum to hold down sheet metal. ballendo 2007-04-29 15:35:51 UTC Re: Using Vacuum to hold down sheet metal. jesse Brennan 2007-04-29 16:29:14 UTC Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Using Vacuum to hold down sheet metal. David G. LeVine 2007-04-29 16:32:13 UTC Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Using Vacuum to hold down sheet metal. Keith Burton 2007-04-30 05:54:59 UTC RE: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Using Vacuum to hold down sheet metal. turbulatordude 2007-04-30 06:17:04 UTC Re: Using Vacuum to hold down sheet metal. biggranger@t... 2007-04-30 07:15:31 UTC Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: Using Vacuum to hold down sheet metal. turbulatordude 2007-04-30 07:25:16 UTC Re: Using Vacuum to hold down sheet metal. biggranger@t... 2007-04-30 07:32:36 UTC Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: Using Vacuum to hold down sheet metal. ballendo 2007-04-30 20:14:31 UTC Re: Using Vacuum to hold down sheet metal. Ron Ginger 2007-05-01 04:38:00 UTC Re: Using Vacuum to hold down sheet metal. Chris Horne 2007-05-01 07:29:06 UTC Re: Using Vacuum to hold down sheet metal.