Correct the manual pumps would be no good on wood. You can pull vacuum through some woods. You need a pump to keep up with the leaking. However, I did buy a vacuum cup for helping move sheets around and early on in my vacuum clamping journey I took it apart and found that once the handle is removed 6mm pneumatic tubing will plug into the nipple in the cup so it can be pretty easily converted from manual to pump. You would need to fabricate a mount for it but there are 6 threaded inserts molded into it so it shouldn't be to hard if thats the way you want to go. The one below that I purchased is a little different than the ones pictured above so I cant guarantee it will be as easy.
NEW: VCS-R vacuum clamping system for Festool guide rail
- Thread starter simonh
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Reminds me of this thing from Izzy Swan- I think it's cool as hell, just not sure I need one
https://www.izzyswan.com/Store/Grabo®-Portable-Electric-Vacuum-Lifter-p294389109
https://www.izzyswan.com/Store/Grabo®-Portable-Electric-Vacuum-Lifter-p294389109
Darryl Keil has a number of plans for making vacuum press driven clamps in his books. Bill Hylton has some as well.
Additionally, veneersupplies.com has materials and fittings for making 'pods' such as these. I have a few and they work well.
It seems like it wouldn't be a stretch for a company that makes 3d printed festool accessories to produce a correctly dimensioned adapter that could hook on to a guide rail and do what you're describing, [member=65062]DynaGlide[/member].
Additionally, veneersupplies.com has materials and fittings for making 'pods' such as these. I have a few and they work well.
It seems like it wouldn't be a stretch for a company that makes 3d printed festool accessories to produce a correctly dimensioned adapter that could hook on to a guide rail and do what you're describing, [member=65062]DynaGlide[/member].
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mrFinpgh said:
I was thinking the same, so I looked on Thingiverse.com but didn't find one already out there.
I am looking into designing and printing my own. I have a spool of silicone O-ring material that
is ~.250" diameter IIRC which should work. Time to get out the calipers and start drawing.
First need to track down the O-ring material and see what the actual diameter is and how much
I have left.
Packard said:
Sorry, I was rushing around yesterday and couldnt elaborate. The problem is the lever clamps work by pulliny the back of the cup to create suction. If you look at the picks of the the ones like I posted there is a small dot on the inside of the cup. This is a small port that works with the plunger button on the side of the handle and it actually evacuates or pulls air out of the cup. So as you pump the plunger on the side of the handle it is drawing air out of the cup. This is what a vacuum pump needs. On the unit I posted the manual pump is all in the handle and it has a small plastic nipple on the bottom that just press into a rubber socket molded into the rubber cup portion. There are 6 screws that secure the handle to the cup. Once you unscrew those the handle just comes off and the where the little rubber socket that the handles plastic nipple used to go into is where you plug in the pneumatic tubing. Its a snug fit. I had thought about going that route but in the end it was just cheaper to make my own out of scraps. There is literally nothing to making a vacuum pod. Its just a air tight substrate with some type of gasket and a air fitting of your choice. You will need a pump and a pneumatic valve thats it. The great thing about making your own vacuum pods it you can make them any size or shape you want.
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Another option for guide rail clamping that I've become aware of:
https://kouroscarpentry.com/vacpad/p/3in1vacpad
It's not readily apparent but I watched a story on IG where he says you can slide the unit onto the T-track channel on Festool style guide rails to clamp the guide rail in place.
https://kouroscarpentry.com/vacpad/p/3in1vacpad
It's not readily apparent but I watched a story on IG where he says you can slide the unit onto the T-track channel on Festool style guide rails to clamp the guide rail in place.
If you want to see various vacuum uses, check out Woods website. They make all sorts of hand activated vac setups for photo and the glass industry. I've used their hand vac circular pads for 42 years as a glazier. They make large systems for hauling glass up into the stratosphere for skyscrapers by crane and we have a wheeled unit with four hand activated cups that can be wheeled into place for 300+ lb units to set within a 10' height. Their 8 and 10" hand units are the industry standard and the innovators all other companies copy.
I think it is possible to devise vacuum clamping for FT rail similar to that of Mafell's Aerofix. There is 1.5 mm space under the rail between the strips where "vacuum" can be created using dust extractor. Or bottom t-slot space confined by two non-slip strips could be used with a vacuum pump.
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