I started a previous thread asking if anyone had tried using a Vac Sys clamp with a Venturi vacuum generator connected to a compressor. Eventually, I may invest in a Vac Sys clamp but for now I've come up with my own clamp. This was just a first proof of concept to test whether I could make it work or not. I'll be building a more flexible clamping mechanism in the future with a few different sized clamps. Here is what I've done
1) Cut a 10" square piece of 3/4" plywood.
2) routed a 1/2" wide by 3/16" deep circular channel in the plywood
3) Filled the channel with 1/2" wide x 3/8" deep foam, window, weather stripping from HD. The weather stripping is self stick so it glued itself to the bottom of the channel. I used some adhesive to glue the ends of the weather stripping together so air wouldn't leak.
4) Purchased a piece of 3/16" OD brass tubing from Amazon as that is the inside diameter of the flexible tube that came with my venturi vacuum generator (purchased at Woodcraft)
3) Drilled a 13/64" hole from the edge to the center of the plywood
4) Drilled a 1-1/2" hole in the center of the plywood to the depth where the hole from the edge came into the center of the plywood.
5) Used caulk to glue and seal the brass tube into the hole in the edge of the plywood
I hooked up my Rolair JC10 to the vacuum generator, clamped the vacuum clamp to the top of my MFT using a pair of clamping elements, and gave it a try. My setup generates enough force that I pulled the vacuum clamp free from the clamping elements clamps on the MFT before the vacuum clamp would release from the piece of plywood it was holding [thumbs up]
1) Cut a 10" square piece of 3/4" plywood.
2) routed a 1/2" wide by 3/16" deep circular channel in the plywood
3) Filled the channel with 1/2" wide x 3/8" deep foam, window, weather stripping from HD. The weather stripping is self stick so it glued itself to the bottom of the channel. I used some adhesive to glue the ends of the weather stripping together so air wouldn't leak.
4) Purchased a piece of 3/16" OD brass tubing from Amazon as that is the inside diameter of the flexible tube that came with my venturi vacuum generator (purchased at Woodcraft)
3) Drilled a 13/64" hole from the edge to the center of the plywood
4) Drilled a 1-1/2" hole in the center of the plywood to the depth where the hole from the edge came into the center of the plywood.
5) Used caulk to glue and seal the brass tube into the hole in the edge of the plywood
I hooked up my Rolair JC10 to the vacuum generator, clamped the vacuum clamp to the top of my MFT using a pair of clamping elements, and gave it a try. My setup generates enough force that I pulled the vacuum clamp free from the clamping elements clamps on the MFT before the vacuum clamp would release from the piece of plywood it was holding [thumbs up]
