Pics of the vacuum hold down system.
Everything was made using the MechMate. The 1/2" plenum board has 4 quadrants (as per Brady's design on the Shopbot forum). Any combination of the quadrants is possible .... any 1, any 2, any 3, or all 4, may be opened, or closed, or the system can be opened to pull its air through the filter (small swimming pool filter). The 4 oblong recesses located on the slide act as the lock and hold it in place using a large ball catch.
We are still using tabs on any part smaller than 2 sq. ft. The good thing is no clamps are nessary if the material is larger than about 4 sq. ft.
The blower is rated at 175 cfm, 94" H2O.
I am satisfied with the hold down system. When we first turned it on I was disappointed, I wanted no tabs no clamps regardless how small the parts were, but then reality set in and I realized .... that ain't gone happen.

JR,

Very nice system. Can you provide more details about the vacuum unit you are using?

Thanks

JR.

Beautiful work. I love those slanted handles. Very elegant looking.

JR,
Your setup looks really good. You must be really proud of your machine. :)

Thanks everyone.

Nils, the vacuum is called a Hitachi Vortex Blower model # VB-022G-U. It is 3 ph, 230 volts, 8 amps. It's a lot quieter than I thought it would be, my 10 gal. HF shop vac makes twice as much noise. Even when the spoil board has some cuts in it one person can't move a 2' X 4' pc of mdf, so other non porous materials should be held down even better, jmho. I would like to ask the manufacturer if a VFD was added would it hurt the blower to rev it up a little :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::D if not then the RPMs could be adjusted up or down (I think I know the answer to that question already :().

JR

Did you buy it online or a local distributor?

Thanks

Nils I bought 4 of them from a guy in Washington state. They are new old stock in the original shipping crates. If anyone is interested I have 2 to sell and maybe 3. Remember they are 3 ph. 3 hp.

JR

I wouldn't sell the other 2 pumps - I would add them to the first one. Cheaper than a VFD :)

Gerald I'm not sure if adding another pump would increase vacuum ???

It definitely will when there is a movement of air because of leaks and seepages. Here is a graph on that pump:

http://www.ecompressedair.com/pdf/hi...B022GU_dwg.pdf

Attachment 1210

Let's say you had 120 cfm worth of leaks/seepages, therefore the vacuum "pressure" is 37" (water). If three pumps were pulling 40 cfm each, to give the 120 cfm for the leaks/seepages, the vacuum goes up to 85".

(Not exactly true, because the leaks at 85" are more than at 37" - but not that much more)

You might be tempted to put them in series, rather than parallel, but that is risky because the second one will be sucking hot air from the first.

Here is an attempt to explain it a bit further.

Gerald I had a copy of the sheet that graph came from, but I surly did not understand it :o .... thanks for the explanation. I speak every language except Greek and "that's Greek to me" (before someone puts up a challenge I will say it now, "that's Greek to me"):D:p

Plain english: Don't sell your "surplus" pumps!

The potential heat problem is no more. This is an inexpensive swimming pool filter and a 12 volt fan. Everything is running a lot cooler :). Dust is not a problem at all.

Cool! :cool:

That is a good fix,

I had the same idea, but instead of a swimming pool filter I found a Fram round air filter at wallmart that slides perfectly onto a 2-3/8" od tube. I already have my fan mounted on the inside of my box but I havent made my plate adapter yet for the filter. I have my computer in a seperate box, but will use the same setup you have there for my control board so my geckos stay cool.

It would be better to have positive pressure inside the cabinet. In other words, the fan should be between the filter and the cabinet. Then you don't have to worry so much about door seals.

JR , God might have taken lot of time to carve out your brains, good idea, I was thinking of a similar idea to fill our bedroom with dust free air as I have allergies to dust. and there you go applying it to the control panel for the mechmate

Cheers
Irfan

Marc and I have designed this 3 to 1 motor reduction. If time permits I will install one on the Z tomorrow and report how it does.

Now that is some sexy machinery....who has the vertical mill? Very nice work.

You are not kidding... sweet!

With something that nice, was it cheaper than purchasing the geared steppers from OM?

It is beeeeyooootiiiiiifuuuul!

Do you have the N.C.I.A.M.T.S.F. engraved into the plate? :D

Impressed by the parts quality, nice job. ... i'm waiting for your impression (quality of cut improvement) after first trials. Maybe, could we hope a PDF plan set to try the same ...

Bye,

Pierre.

Thanks everyone. We designed it so it works with the existing motor mounts therefore it works on all axis without any modifications. The picture is for Sean, it's a vertical mill attachment for my atlas lathe.

JR and Marc,

Very nice. Look forward to hearing how it works.

Now we know who to contact for parts.

Nice to have all the tools AND knowledge. Nice job.:)

Okay JR, what title do you want for this thread? .......

"Done! Setting up dust foot & table top"

........seems to be in the distant past already. :)

PS. like the inclinometer indexer!

You must be proud of this result. What gears specs did you guys use ?
Congratulation to you & Marc, verrryyy nice work.

jr. I thought you might have that attachment. I knew you had a lathe, but never heard mention of the mill. Bravo. By the way, I have the same wixey incline gauge, I couldn't live without now that I own it.

JR,
Great photos, cannot wait to hear how the gearing improves your cutting. Keep us informed and some more photos. :)

JR and Marc,

Y'all are amazing. That is some truly beautiful work.

Truly Professional work. Even OM guys will envy:D

J.R. and Marc,

Very impressive design and fabrication work.

Thanks guys! I can tell you this...

When I look at the work and 15 odd cuts in MDF to get it how we like it, I am more and more impressed with Gerald getting this whole machine designed.

Regarding the question of cheaper than buying geared motors... Hmmm. Probably not on a one-off basis. But, JR had the motors and wanted to use them.

In the end, this might work out better because of the ability to adjust resolution to suit one's needs by varying the ratios possible in the belt drive.

I am certainly no expert and until they have been cutting for a while, it is too soon to tell. Even though we designed it, Gerald is much more qualified to comment.

It still is simply toooo cool to draw something and then see the Mechmate cut it EXACTLY. I am sure that I will eventually get used to it but right now it is very exciting.

Thanks again Gerald!

Fabulous work folks! culmination of creativity engineering and beauty combined !

RGDS
Irfan

Robert,

The drive pulley is 15 tooth and the driven pulley is 45. They came from SDP-SI as did the belts. The belt width is .375 and the pitch of the components is .200.

If you need anything else, just ask.

Marc or JR,
I am interested as well as Gerald, as to the engraving on the motor plate in the picture that Gerald has posted. What is that? :confused:

Marc,
Can you put in the drawing for these with bearing mounts and the bearings you used on these. Think G can make this a standard option for people who want to go on with a reduction belt drive. also the SDP-SI part numbers.

Or is it very soon to ask for?
RGDS
IRfan

I love the enthusiasm here. (Gerald, I now feel a tiny, tiny bit of what motivates you.) However, before we publish anything, let us try it out first. It might look really nice and yet not perform at all. Hopefully not!

:rolleyes::eek::mad: