vacpad reviews?

[festal]

Hello all.  So its been a while since thevacpad came on to the scene with influencer compaign.  Wanted to see from those that used it if you had any issues with it, like it, don't like it. etc How it compares to vac-sys
I had mine for about 6 months or so and had few issues with it. Some were resolved by Dino. Some required replacement parts.
Wanted to see what others think

 

[Michael Kellough]

What is a vacpad?

 

[afish]

I dont own it but based on the photos and my experience with vacuum clamping I would not invest.  This really depends on what/how you plan on using it.  I can tell you that I do some stuff with my vacuum clamp pods that requires some robust clamping and this also means the pod needs to be very secure to the base/bench.  Putting a good amount of lateral load the bracket/angle system looks like a problem area.  Also the vacuum surface looks small to me I have a small pod that looks close to the same size and once again any decent lateral pressure will cause the part to move "not necessarily release" but it will move.  The vac sys is a much more robust system but it has its draw backs too.  Im not a fan of the suction cup style pods.  because as they clamp down the lip of the pod expands out to the sides growing in diameter this also happens while the cup is being drawn tighter together.  This can produce scuff marks on delicate and or high gloss surfaces. I have found that I do not need the infinitely variable positioning of the vac sys while Im sure it comes in handy for some 99% of my clamping takes place in the horizontal position and sometimes vertical.  A simple system of having pods that clamp to a workbench (I use the TSO anchor dogs which allows me to attach the pod anywhere there is a 20mm hole) which are rock steady too, either secure the pod flat or vertical is more than sufficient for 99.9% of what I do.  I had even built a similar pod to the vac sys that had 180° of tilt and 360° of rotation and never use it.  Some pods in some different sizes has really proven to be the best for me.  A simple (airtight) plate with a grove routed in it for some epdm cord works great and since the EPDM cord squishes down and not outwards when clamped it works great on delicate high gloss surfaces.  I have been clamping some high gloss surface with NO protection for the last week or so and have not gotten one scuff or mark from the vacuum pod.  My suggestion is by a good quality pump and keep the pods simple. I use starboard to make my pods only because I have some but even just some plywood with laminate on it works very well.  just route a grove about half the of the diameter of the EPDM cord ( I use .375 cord) and either coat the groove with tightbond 3 or some silicone. 

 

[Cheese]

What is a vacpad?

https://thevacpad.com/vacshop

Very similar in concept to the Grabo as far as having its own on-board vacuum pump. Does it run continuously or does it monitor the vacuum and turn on when necessary like the Grabo?

 

[festal]

What is a vacpad?

https://thevacpad.com/vacshop

Very similar in concept to the Grabo as far as having its own on-board vacuum pump. Does it run continuously or does it monitor the vacuum and turn on when necessary like the Grabo?

Yep that’s the one. The one I have runs continuously off 12v Milwaukee battery. It’s fairly quite . Battery usage is about an hour per 1A rating of the battery

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DynaGlide]

I followed it closely when it came out. Messaged Dino about its uses for a while. Ultimately I felt it's overpriced for what it is. The pump on that thing is only like $30 or so from what I could gather doing my own digging. Had he offered the portable unit at $150 or so I probably would've bit.

Cool product though.

 

[rvieceli]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member] there is also a shop based one that is more like a traditional vacuum pad system. Uses a regular vacuum pump and either double sided pads that self stick or ones you screw down from what I gather.
https://thevacpad.com/vacshop/woodshop-vacpad-system

Ron

 

[festal]

I followed it closely when it came out. Messaged Dino about its uses for a while. Ultimately I felt it's overpriced for what it is. The pump on that thing is only like $30 or so from what I could gather doing my own digging. Had he offered the portable unit at $150 or so I probably would've bit.

Cool product though.

I got it during black friday sale it was either 20% or 30% off.  He just had a 30% sale over the weekend.  His packaging and shipping fees are excessive though.  I just ordered few parts and shipping was $27 for 3 gaskets and foot pedal. 

So far I had to replace the pin,  his original pin was too short and new pin i had to buy for $16 and $16 for shipping.  It did fix the issue though.  I had a peice of plywood fall off during edgebanding and it ripped out a corner of the gasket.  Messaged him and his suggestion was order new gasket material as its better.  He did replace few parts before and sent few items free of charge.  His influencer compaign worked at least in my case.  lol not sure if I would buy it again though.

 

[Cheese]

Yep that’s the one. The one I have runs continuously off 12v Milwaukee battery. It’s fairly quite . Battery usage is about an hour per 1A rating of the battery

My original concern was the robustness of the little vacuum pump. There was a good reason we speced out Gast vacuum pumps, at $500 each, on capital equipment. With that small, inexpensive pump running constantly it'll be interesting to see how long it lasts.

That's the nice feature on the Grabo, the pump only runs when the vacuum level decreases to some predefined limit.

 

[afish]

I have been keeping an eye on the Grabo not so much for in the shop use but it looks like it could be handy for field work when you need a 3rd arm.  I like the looks of it for that. 

 

[festal]

Looks like there is a new version about to be released at the IWF.  Izzy posted about it