ShopSabre Vacuum Issues

Hey Everyone,
I run The IS 408 with a 10hp spindle. I run both 7-10 hrs a day 3-4 days a week.

We we have our frustrations... we have replaced all the switches factory said they had a bad lot come in.

We do however, experience less than desired performance. Out of a 35 to 40 sheet job, we will have 15-20 parts that move and require remake.
Not sure what else to do. Not sure if that is normal... I did google search to find feedback and find some help which is how I found this thread.

our Pump is about 6 feet from the machine, all joints properly glued.... factory support is great, but still issues..

thoughts, ideas?
thanka

Is the spoilboard dressed flat? Is ever speck of debris being cleaned off between sheets and any disruption from cut-through into the spoilboard being knocked down between sheets? Are you having issue with just smaller parts? (If so cut them first and consider onion skinning them to retain vacuum), etc.

What pump are you running (brand/model) ?

The vacuum gauge will tell you many things...like how much vacuum you have when all zones are open and nothing is on top of the bleeder/spoilboard...how much you have with a sheet of plywood or MDF on top and all zones open...starting vacuum, vacuum as you cut through & vacuum at the end of the job with all that open kerf. This is information you NEED to know in order to determine usable vacuum (how much you have with something on top - how much you have with nothing on top = usable vacuum. This will vary depending on bleeder material.)

Every job is different & in some cases requires a bit more than turning the vacuum on...as in - carefully thinking out the toolpath layout on jobs with a lot of open kerf to turn off zones that are done to save vacuum...or as Jim mentions, onion-skinning - or cutting 90% through everything then coming back and leisurely cutting through that last 10% to minimize part movement and maximize the usefulness of the vacuum.

Brady is right on the money. Too many unanswered variables to even come close to an answer. Material being cut, spoil board material, part size, Feeds and speeds, Onion skin? Full sheet onion skin or onion skin per part? and many many more. We run the pro408 and same spindle with an F4 and routinely hold parts down to 10" x 10" with good cut strategies. If your looking to simply be able to throw anything on the machine and cut it with a single cut strategy you will have to step up to the big boy world where many large shops are running 50HP of vacuum and still wanting more. When we have small parts in a nest we will either onion skin by part depending on how the nest comes out or we will onion skin the entire sheet. Depending on the parts we will ru one wide open pass leaving .008 and a stepover and one wide open onion skin cleanup which is for parts going into the bander or for standard cab parts (going into dados or behind face frames) we will skip the stepover.

You need to give a good bit more information and if your not running a monstrosity of vacuum (i.e. 20hp or more) you will likely have no choice but to implement some form cut strategie(s) for certain sheets. Its one or the other. Pour your money into vac HP and power consumption, or implement some cut strategies that allow you to operate with a smaller system.