I had a little more time tonight, and was able to get the vacuum assembly finished. As of now, the vacuum table is completely ready to use. I am pretty happy with the way that things turned out. It’s compact, easy to maintain, and fairly cost effective. Of course, none of that matters if the table doesn’t perform as expected. Well, I’m happy to report that it performs even better than I had hoped. I know everyone is anxious to see how it turned out, so let me walk you through the rest of the setup process…

There are really only 3 major components needed in a vacuum table setup. The first is obviously the table itself which I covered in the last update. The second is the source of the vacuum itself. For this, I went to industrial parts supplier Grainger, and picked up a vacuum pump. I selected a two stage tangential unit capable of 97 CFM and 81.8 Hg vacuum. There were more powerful units available, but this one was an outstanding deal, and worth taking a chance. So, let’s take a look at the pump…

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I came home from work today to find a nice sized box on my front porch.  Inside was one of the last items I needed for setting up my Romaxx CNC machine.  It was a VT6040 vacuum table that I had purchased from ebay seller dcad100.  It measures 24.0”x16.5” x 0.8125″, and was the perfect size for my machine.  The vacuum table will allow me to hold parts in place without clamping.  Should I need to clamp things anyway, there are M6 holes on the table that should easily allow this.

So, should we take a look at the table?  Here it is as it arrived to me.

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While I know everyone is anxiously waiting to see the CNC running, I needed to take care of a few small details first. One of those details involved a custom misting solution for cutting aluminum. Why mist? Well, for the work I have to do it can be just as effective as flood, yet it’s so much easier. I should say it’s easier, only if you can find a workable and convenient way to implement it.

I have been doing some research into CNC misting techniques, and most of the options are geared towards commercial applications, and are quite expensive. I wasn’t really willing to spend $300 on something I was convinced I could do myself. Since I’m a modder, it only made sense to mod a homebrew solution. Many hours were spent Googling anything that misted, before I came across the mention of using an airbrush as an option. I tried to find where someone had actually followed through using this method, and came up with nothing. So, I figured I might as well be the first. Even if I’m not, I’m hoping my methods and documentation will make it easier for others to find and implement themselves.

Now, before any fabrication could begin, I needed an airbrush and dedicated on-demand compressor. Amazon came through with this nicely outfitted kit.

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