“Vac Sys” knockoff

[mcfal12]

As the Vac Sys has always been out of my budget and discontinued for years, I never had the chance to use one. That said, I recently picked up the Dewalt Grabo and when I place it upside down in a bench vice and place my workpiece on top I have a suitable vacuum clamp! It’s not as robust and of course there’s a risk the battery dies and my piece falls off the bench. There are also limitations to how small of a piece can be clamped but it’s a decent hack in the right circumstances.

Some benefits are of course is availability and cheaper price. Also there are fewer hoses and parts to deal with than the Vac Sys. Finally it is much more compact than the Vac Sys pump, clamp and hoses combined.

 

[peter halle]

If you want to expand your system with a lower profile and a bit more complexity you might want to look at Vacuum adaptor and Vacuum pucks







Peter

 

[mcfal12]

Thanks Peter. I had not seen this from Izzy but I should not be surprised as he has some great solutions to improve workflows!

 

[rst]

I used two Virutex vac modules for years fabbing plastic parts for a supermarket chain as replacement for obsolete or ungodly expensive parts.

 

[Sam hall]

Ive been using a similar kit from a company named Schmalz, works great and Is very handy, I recently went down the Vac Sys rabbit hole and was disappointed, Im a late comer to the vacuum clamp game.

 

[rst]

I used and still have two Virutex vacuum pods, after making dedicated self made jigs for 30 some years. When Festool decided to make their Vac SYS available, I bought two pods and two sets of the available pods. I still use a $15.00 220v surplus HVAC pump in my shop and a 110v vac that I bought off Amazon on site. While there are other commercially available systems, they are all much more expensive.