Can't find the thread on how to build a Vacuum Table for the laser!!

[Al Mutairi]

I remember one of our members posting on this forum his/her experiences on how to build a Vacuum Table for the laser, this was maybe a year back , I tried to locate it but had no luck!

I am doing some paper cutting work & I am having a problem getting the paper to stay flat & because of the air assist some of the inner cut pieces fly over to yet to be cut areas causing poor cuts when the laser passes over those areas.

I did a web search & found this site http://debece.net/pages/propts.htm & it seems the tables they are offering are easy to duplicate only if I could figure out what the internals are ?

The cutting table I use is called the Laser Launch Pad , it's easily removable & I think there is enough room underneath to fit the vacuum table . I haven't figured out how to run the hoses out to the vacuum cleaner & by doing so wouldn't that suck the somke out & pollute the room ?

Help is sought on ideas & the most economical way to approach this project .

Regards to all,

Al

[Harlan Kilbourn]

Here is the one I found.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=38692

Harlan

[Mitchell Andrus]

I'll add to the original thread a bit. I'd like to add another fan to get just a bit more clamping pressure. A fan-based vac table will only draw so much so the boost will be incremental at best.

I had to replace the original screen. I originally used aluminum screen door mesh and it deteriorated pretty fast, not because the laser was cutting it, but because the hot outgasses from the wood being cut did. I found some stainless mesh at McMaster-Carr and it's holding up much better. There are a few areas that are showing signs of failure but it's lasting much longer. Now that I'm past the proof-of-concept phase, I'm considering having the whole shee-bang made out of sheet aluminum.

Be sure to make the table short enough so you can fit it and the materials under the lens with room to spare.

[Steve knight]

there is a simple way to do it the same system I use on my cnc router. it uses a shopvac and ultralight mdf. you pull a vacuum right through it. it is very strong far stronger then you need.
only real trick is you need to remove the surface off of the mdf on both sides so the vacuum will pull through.
then it is dirt easy to make it. this will hold anything you can cut with a laster flat with very little investment. I use a fien vacuum to keep the noise down.

[Mitchell Andrus]

A few bigger shots. Note that the box snuggs into the upper left corner at -2,0. The lid is exactly the size of the outside of the box. The rim around the lid hugs the outside of the box so the edge of the screen is at -2,0.

I found that Home Despot no longer carries the flat (3.5") stud space fan I used. Perhaps McMaster....

[Al Mutairi]

Thank you all for the informative/educational replies & I truly appreciate the extra effort exerted by our Magical Man (Mitch).

Al

[Mitchell Andrus]

Hey, hey, hey!! Only my wife gets to call me that!

[Al Mutairi]

Your avatar screams out that you want to be called that .
Or is that the hat & hand gesture are just flamboyancy .

[Mitchell Andrus]

I play in a Philadelphia style Mummer band in NJ:

www.denvillestringband.com

We marched this am in Mendham, NJ and NO, that's not a parrot on my head. Close though....