Anyone catch Modern Masters last night?

[Keith Starosta]

Last night's episode featured a spotlight on a Seattle area woodworker who specializes in Shaker-style furniture. He created really beautiful stuff work, but what really caught my eye was one of the jigs he was using on his HUGE router. It was a vacuum jig, which was essentially a hardboard template that had a thin vacuum hose attached to the top side. He placed the jig over a roughed-out piece of wood, flipped the switch on his vacuum pump, which in turn suctioned the workpiece to the jig. He was then able to run the piece through what seemed to be the largest straight-cutting router bit I have ever seen. The whole set-up was very impressive. Has anyone ever used, or even seen this type of jig?

Keith

[Jim Becker]

I didn't see the show (I always forget it's on...), but I have seen some vacuum clamping setups at woodworking shows, etc. They are fairly easy to build and useful for many things.

One example is with a trammel setup for cutting/edging circles without damaging the stock by drilling for a pin. MicroFence (http://www.microfence.com) has a vacuum "Center" for this kind of trammel work. A similar setup can be used for "dishing" a table top...all but the very center can be removed using a router that slides on the trammel supported by the edge of the piece and a small post in the middle that can be removed manually afterward.

Another example is a vacuum clamping table that uses small "ball valves". You turn on the vacuum first, and then press the workpiece onto the table. Any of the valves under the workpiece have the spring loaded balls pressed downward and opening the port, resulting in vacuum being applied to the workpiece's surface and thus, holding it down.

Lastly, I often use a vaccum chuck on my lathe to hold workpieces during much of the turning process and most of the final finishing, particularly when dressing the foot.

[Steve Roxberg]

Check out www.woodhaven.com , they have some details on their site. It would be the way to go if you were a production shop, or planning on making multiples of a single piece.

Vacuum pumps have lots of uses in the shop, veneering, on the lathe, pattern routing. I don't own one yet, but plan too someday.

[Mike Schwing]

Hmm! We had a different Modern Masters on last night over here on the right coast.

You've got me chuckling as I have an undesirable vacuum clamp situation that occurs on my router table. The Jessem lift I have has a hole in the top where the adjustment wrench inserts - with my dust enclosure for the router fully engaged it makes quite a vacuum that sometimes keeps me from being able to slide the workpiece across the table smoothly!

[Jim Becker]

The Jessem lift I have has a hole in the top where the adjustment wrench inserts - with my dust enclosure for the router fully engaged it makes quite a vacuum that sometimes keeps me from being able to slide the workpiece across the table smoothly!

Similar problem with my Rout-R-Lift, except with the air flow I get through the 4" port in the cabinet, that hex-shaped hole whistles louder than our Cocketiel does Yankee Doodle! I usually just plug it up with a small wad of paper towel during routing sessions.

You might need some additional air inlets to your enclosure to reduce SP a little.

[Mike Schwing]

Jim, I forgot - mine whistles Dixie too! If I open the sliding door in the enclosure it'll stop whistling, and it seems to create a vortex of some sort that actually helps suck more chips through the opening.

[Keith Starosta]

Hmm! We had a different Modern Masters on last night over here on the right coast.

That's strange, Mike. I'm only a stone's throw down the road from you in Virginia. Weird that they would run a different show in the same region......

Keith

[Jim Becker]

Jim, I forgot - mine whistles Dixie too! If I open the sliding door in the enclosure it'll stop whistling, and it seems to create a vortex of some sort that actually helps suck more chips through the opening.

When I built my table, I put a slot in the bottom of the door specifically to provide a "sweeping" action front to back in the router compartment. This was illustrated both in Bill Hylton's book and in other designs, such as the NYW tables. I calculated the area of all the "planned" openings to determine the correct size of that slot...they should all add up to approximately the same area as the DC port on the table. Using a fixed slot also helps keep more of the noise in the cabinet that opening a door might not.

[Kevin Post]

Hmm! We had a different Modern Masters on last night over here on the right coast.

I saw it... The guy was from Seattle,WA but he was making Arts & Crafts style furniture rather than Shaker style. They featured him making a handsome looking bed with some large curved peices he made using bent laminations.

The glass table top that lady sand-blasted and applied the gold leaf to was pretty cool too.

-Kevin

[Jim Becker]

I saw it... The guy was from Seattle,WA but he was making Arts & Crafts style furniture rather than Shaker style. They featured him making a handsome looking bed with some large curved peices he made using bent laminations.

More information about the show is available at http://hgtv.com/hgtv/crafting/article/0,1789,HGTV_3352_2216638,00.html

[Keith Starosta]

I saw it... The guy was from Seattle,WA but he was making Arts & Crafts style furniture rather than Shaker style. They featured him making a handsome looking bed with some large curved peices he made using bent laminations.

The glass table top that lady sand-blasted and applied the gold leaf to was pretty cool too.

-Kevin


Crap. You're right. Arts & Crafts it was indeed...

Still, the vacuum jig was cool, no? :D

Keith

[Kevin Post]

Still, the vacuum jig was cool, no? :D

Yeah but I've only found this type of jig useful when making lots of duplicate parts. Otherwise, I've found it isn't worth the hassle to set up a vaccuum jig when two-sided tape of hot-melt glue works just as well and with less hassle. I set up something similar to make curved stair parts and to make curved parts for cabinet doors.

It's surprisingly simple. The heart of the system is a venturi vacuum generator that connects to an air compressor. As I recall, the device cost about $15 from Harbor Freight. It can be used for a variety of jigs as well as for vacuum pressing veneer.

[Doug Littlejohn]

I have DISH TV with a PVR receiver so I record the shows when they are on. I caught part of the show last night but went to bed before the Woodworker got going. Have to check it out this weekend.

Most of the time, I find MM worth watching. Generally 2 out of the 3 vinettes are pretty cool.

Now I'll have to keep an eye out for the vacuum clamp jig not to mention an apparently LARGE router table.

[Bob Lasley]

Me thinks that LARGE router table was actually a shaper. It was a good program though. I always enjoy Modern Masters when I can remember to watch it.

Bob

[Ted Calver]

I saw it also. Had seen the vacuum jig before, but not the "big router". Seemed like a shaper table but the large cutter he was using didn't look like a normal shaper cutter. Anybody know what it was?

[Kevin Post]

Seemed like a shaper table but the large cutter he was using didn't look like a normal shaper cutter. Anybody know what it was?

The setup he was using was a straight shaper cutter with a bearing. I saw him use it in two configurations. With the vacuum jig, the bearing was on top. He also had another jig where the shaper cutter was set up with the bearing on the bottom.

It was really nothing more complicated than a flush-trim or a pattern cutting bit like you would use in a router. ...just bigger.