Smaller Vacuum pad VAC SYS

[alex@kwarts.com]

When woodworking on smaller items, such as jewel boxes the vacuum pods for the VAC SYS are just too large. I would like to see pod's around 100x100mm, 75x75mm or even smaller. The smallest one today is 200x60mm.
Or did anybody made it's own pod? If so I am curious how.

 

[GarryMartin]

The easiest solution to this problem for you would be to create a jig yourself. Use a board that is "leaky" but that fits over your current VAC SYS pad. Seal the area you don't want to provide a clamping force, and then place the item you want to be clamped in the "leaky" area. MDF is pretty good for this purpose.

Hope this helps.

 

[MikeGE]

Garry's idea is great, and I did something similar when trying to sand a small box.  I used a piece of 18mm scrap from an old kitchen cabinet that extended over the standard vacuum head.  I glued a piece of non-slip matting used for tool drawer bottoms to one side of the board and then drilled six 10mm holes around where the green plunger would touch. 

The 10mm hole pattern was smaller than the box I was sanding and it worked great.  Unfortunately, it was a one-time event and I tossed the board when I was finished.

 

[DynaGlide]

I think another way to approach this that I saw Brian Sedgeley discuss in a YouTube is to do the larger board as discussed, then just cut a hole in the middle smaller than the piece you want to clamp but not so big that it'll interfere with the board clamping to the vac sys head. Put some adhesive backed weather stripping around the hole.

 

[GoingMyWay]

I think this is the video that DynaGlide was referring to:https://www.instagram.com/p/BVserCVFnWb/.

Sedge also mentioned that there's going to be an upcoming Festool Live covering the VAC SYS, which will include making custom pods/templates.

 

[tjbnwi]

I think another way to approach this that I saw Brian Sedgeley discuss in a YouTube is to do the larger board as discussed, then just cut a hole in the middle smaller than the piece you want to clamp but not so big that it'll interfere with the board clamping to the vac sys head. Put some adhesive backed weather stripping around the hole.

This is how we do it.

A piece of finished plywood larger then the head, a 3/8 or 1/2" hole in it, a block smaller than the item to be held with a hole in it hot glued to the plywood, adhesive weather strip around the perimeter of the block, place piece, problem solved.

Tom

 

[rst]

I've made dozens of specific jigs over the years exactly like DynaGlide and Tom describe, using two overlapping rows of closed cell weatherstrip.  One hole in the middle tapped for 1/4" pipe thread that I into which I  screw a standard Milton air fitting.  Larger patterns require shimming block to prevent the suction from drawing down the material, which in my case was usually plastics.