Vac sys questions

[James Carriere]

Hello all,

I’m looking at the possibility of adding the Vac Sys system and am evaluating the possible project areas in which it can be incorporated.  I have two questions please:

Can it stand up to the shear forces associated with hand plane use? For example, with bottom support could I hand plane a door edge? Would I even need bottom support?  I saw a video  where Sedge is working on a door vertically held without under support.  I would plan on two vac modules for this type of work.

Secondly, does the pump run continuously when engaged or does it cycle on and off as needed?  I ask this with the idea of leaving something secured overnight. If it does cycle on and off does anyone have an idea of how frequently that happens?  I imagine the smoothness and weight of the workpiece contributes to the answer so let’s use 19mm pre-finished maple cabinet side panel held vertically as our reference.

Thanks in advance!
James

 

[jarbroen]

To your first question, it would depend on how hard you're planing.  If you're going whole hog with a spokeshave there's a good chance you'd pop the door off the vac clamps.
If you're using a block plane and taking reasonable slices it should work fine.

The pump runs continuously while it is switched 'On'.  It does not automatically cycle.

 

[James Carriere]

Thanks Jarbroen, that's very helpful.

 

[grbmds]

I use mine with the Domino, for sanding boards and other pieces, sometimes for template routing. I have even sanded all four sides of a drawer easily with it. For template routing you can mount a piece of plywood (the pattern) on the Vacsys head with a center hole drilled in it. Then mount some rubber weather stripping with adhesive on the back around the hole. The piece you're routing will suction down on the piece below because the weather strip creates a seal between the top and bottom piece. There are videos online, I think mostly from Festool about this (possibly one or more of the YouTube Festool Live videos). I have even used this method when I want to clamp down a piece to sand when it's too small to fit on one of the heads.

I don't plane on it, so am not sure whether that will work, but the suction bond is very strong. I would guess that, if you anchored the Vacsys to a solid bench it would work. The Vacsys will mount by using the base with built in suction or can be screwed to a mounting board which can, in turn, be clamped to a bench.

I have found that I use it a lot and was never sorry I bought it. I've seen videos of users clamping doors to the heads (usually with 2 Vacsys units), but it holds the doors securely.

 

[ThisVeteranVlog]

[member=63880]James Carriere[/member] , the holding strength of these is very strong. Sedge has an IG post from a few years ago showing this. He attached the VAC SYS to a door, then a board to the VAC head and then sat on it (he's already sitting on it and the camera backs away, revealing that he's sitting on it, feet off the ground). Depending on the length of the stock you are working, two heads may be required. I've had the system for a little over a year now, and I'm still amazed at how well it performs and could not recommend the system enough.

 

[James Carriere]

Thanks everyone for the guidance and feedback.  I pulled the trigger and am looking forward to improving my workflow.  My initial tests were very exciting for demonstrating how efficient things will become.

 

[DynaGlide]

Thanks everyone for the guidance and feedback.  I pulled the trigger and am looking forward to improving my workflow.  My initial tests were very exciting for demonstrating how efficient things will become.

I tell people out of all the Festool I own (which is a lot), the Vac Sys is the one tool I have zero regrets with. Just do yourself a favor and dedicate an always setup location for it.

https://www.festoolownersgroup.com/member-projects/vac-sys-mobile-cart/

 

[MikeGE]

I tell people out of all the Festool I own (which is a lot), the Vac Sys is the one tool I have zero regrets with. Just do yourself a favor and dedicate an always setup location for it.

https://www.festoolownersgroup.com/member-projects/vac-sys-mobile-cart/

I agree.  Now that I have the VAC SYS, I use it on almost every project and it has a permanent place in my worktable.  I modified the vacuum lines to fit the work space.

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