Vacuum Zone Layout

[ADAPT_Shop-Brady]

Here's an image of what I'm currently planning for my vac zones:
ShopBot Deck Layout.jpg
Our stock material sizes are 4x8 and 5x5 each of which end up being 3 zones in this layout. My kit includes PVC hardware for (6) zones.

Any comments or feedback on this design?

Looking at my table drawing, I'll have to shift my "port holes" to clear framing members, but I can finalize those once I have the table frame assembled.

[ntraub01]

We have an 8 zone 4x8 vacuum table and the only comment I have about our setup and probably something you should think about is...in a typical cut sheet layout, do you typically group most of your smaller pieces together in one area or do you distribute them around the layout? The smaller the pieces the more vacuum you need to maintain in order to keep those pieces from moving around. With that being said, if you group those pieces together it becomes even harder to keep them from moving. With our 8 zone system we can isolate zones and can dedicate the entire zone to one vacuum. Because we often don't have time for mechanical failures we also put in two vacuum pumps on the 4x8 table so each pump is only responsible for maintaining vacuum in a 2'x8' space.

Another significant question you should think about is what type of bit are you planning on using?? Upcut bits are going to make maintaining your vacuums much harder. Downcut bits maintain your vacuum but you rely on your spoilboard to maintain a clean bottom edge. We've gone to the combination bits which keeps us from having to cut as deeply into the spoilboard to get a good, clean top and bottom edge. Combination bits maintains your vacuum quite well without compacting the shavings sooooo much.

How are you planning on milling the top surface of your vacuum table??

Let us know how things turn out.