Vac Clamp dependability???

[Thunderbay]

I have a friend who carves (what i consider very expensive and detailed) wood figures approximately 6-12" in diameter and from 6-36" tall and weighing no more than 10 lbs.  The ease of the swivel and rotation capabilities are perfect for him, but must be guaranteed it will not come crashing down.  He could attach his piece work to a base of plywood if need be.
How secure is a piece once its sucked on to the clamp? 
Other than the operator braking the vacuum, how could the piece come loose??   
Is there a way to make a safety attachment?
Not sure if this is appropriate, but is there any other swivel /rotational platform to hold material. 
This is not about cost, its all about performance.  Thanks in advance

 

[ScotF]

I think that these are very strong as long as the seals are complete and you have the vacuum enclosure completely sealed against the wood.  Festool makes just such a unit -- VacSYs (although it is NAINA) for this purpose and I think it works extremely well.  There are other manufacturers in the US that offer vacuum clamping systems with different bases, etc...  Some users have made there own and IIRC, our own Peter Halle has some video on YouTube with a vacuum clamp that he made.

Scot 

 

[Thunderbay]

Thanks for the reply.  After talking with him, its the flexibility and ease of use of the swivel/rotate clamp is he is excited about. 

 

[peter halle]

Scot,

Thanks for remembering!  I have had parts here for almost a year to do something different that might interest Foggers, but haven't gotten to it yet.  Story of my life.

Thunder,

As Scot stated, the Festool system is not here yet, and based on what Festool has posted, it is not likely to get here.  You might want to visit Joewoodworker.com and look at available options.  If you look way down on the left side of the home page there will be a selection for vacuum chucking.  Although your friend is not using a lathe, the stuff Joe has allows for a home built rotating lazy Susan clamping system.

If I can possibly help you, please post here or send me a message.

Peter

 

[ScotF]

Schmalz is a company that has a presence in the US that makes vac assemblies similar to the VacSys -- it is a German company too and here is the web site -- http://us.schmalz.com/

It makes some vacuum heads that swivel and rotate and that can take interchangeable pads...they are spendy, though -- I priced out a system last year with two heads to accommodate doors and it would run over $2K.

Peter - maybe you could come up with a FOGvacclamp as the next FOG commemorative item  ;D.

Scot

 

[junk731]

Thunderbay

I built my own Vac Clamp with parts from Lee Valley that might help your friend. Check out this thread.

http://festoolownersgroup.com/other-tools-accessories/vac-sys-my-version/msg122188/#msg122188

John

 

[venk67]

I have both a vac-clamp and the vac sys.

The vac-clamp can clamp down a smaller piece of wood, but it use a lot of air, and my compressor even with a big tank is triggered into action frequently- it became annoying after some time.  Also the swivelling is nowhere near as smooth as the vac-sys.  I did create a foot switch release for the vac-clamp- which is helpful.

The vac sys by festool is more expensive, has excellent hold even with small thin pieces of ply wood.

Cannot say I have ever done any wood carving, but would guess that the vac-sys would be stronger.  Just my opinion//

V