Pros and Cons of CNC Vacuum Tables | Hobby to Industrial

Curious if a CNC vacuum table is worth the investment? In this video, I break down the pros and cons of CNC vacuum tables for hobbyists and professionals, comparing everything from entry-level to industrial-grade setups.

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Our goal is to help aspiring craftsmen do what they love for a living! We hope to share our knowledge in the woodworking field and CNC routering through training videos, CNC router techniques, unique projects, and practical applications.

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Follow Cutting It Close on Social Media:

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About Cutting It Close:
Our goal is to help aspiring craftsmen do what they love for a living! We hope to share our knowledge in the woodworking field and CNC routering through training videos, CNC router techniques, unique projects, and practical applications.

[acerjuglans]

You can use 1/16" thick peel and stick rubber gasket, or neoprene gasket, on your large cnc spoilboard, and create zones, and increase the hold on small pieces of wood.
You can use 1/8" thick gasket in the same way to hold rough lumber, or slightly warped lumber too.

[JosephWerle-jeww]

Ryan. You hit the nail on the head with the Airweights. I have been using it for over 6 months now. It works great for me because I taught myself how use it and make it work for me. Your Bamx is a very good product for special projects. I cut out a project yesterday with it. Gonna do another one today. Thank you. Keep up the good work.

[FrostedImages]

I love, "a word from our sponsor". 😂 Ryan excellent video on vacuum systems.

[RobSandstromDesigns]

The best video I have seen to date on pros and cons of vacuum tables, both large and small ones. Great video.

[davidhittenberger]

Thank you for this video!
I’m on the fence about them. Just a hobby cutter!!

[stlwoodworking]

Good rundown. Using multiple banks on the larger ones also work well. Making sure each one is separated.

[bigdogmn]

Would love to see videos on those jigs for your vacuum tables. So cool!!

[larryrobinson]

I've thought about adding Vacuum to mine for quite some time but not sure it's really worth it to me so far since I have plenty of ways of holding down with threaded inserts, t tracks, tape with glue or double back, etc. I'm just a hobbyist that tries to find ways to help others figure stuff out so...I will probably add this system in the future. Thanks Ryan, you're a "Certified Nice Guy"

[stockcarbangertoytracks]

Great video! I would love to see more on how you design and use the jigs!

[JasonPeltier]

I just bought a 3D printer so I can make my own grid tiling system. Gonna be sweet! Thanks for this video.

[EcoMouseChannel]

A small crappy shop vac plugged into a torsion box, with skimmed top is actually a pretty effective and cheap way to get started with your own DIY vacuum table. Obviously, the vacuum cleaner won't last as long as a real pump, but they are only $40 and gets you productive sooner than later.

[darkspace]

It's much easier, cheaper, and faster to drill the material into the spoil board than worry about the air escaping. Plus, you save on the upfront cost of acquiring a vacuum bed.

[acerjuglans]

The Air Weights table is a true vacuum table, because it uses gasketing.
Every large cnc, using a vacuum pump to hold down an MDF spoilboard, has a downdraft table.
Two different things, but people just call them all vacuum tables.

[drich]

Hello, What computer stand are you using? thanks

[personalcontent]

Thank you for the great info.
If I may ask, relating to industrial machines.
What's the smallest piece the vacuum table holds before pieces start to move?
Do you onion skin for all the fast rough cuts and then cut through or keep tabs?
Your spoil board mdf? How thick is the spoil board before facing it?

[MickDuijf]

I run a ex industrial cnc machine at home with a vacuum pod system. Works really well for one of projects and smaller workpieces but not to small.
The major downside is i have to be really carefull about the placement of the pods because they are expensive to replace if i cut into them. And it is not optimal for big nesting projects.

[lelabodezaocreationdinstru]

Hi, Since 6 month i try to get my vacuum table working with mdf, and when I pout the pump on, the mdf and the part on it donest clamp...
Do you have some advices ?

[dominic]

vacuum tables are totally worth it but they don't solve every problem.

[STyo]

I have trouble wrapping my mind around this: so the vacuum will pull through the spoil board and pull down the workpiece? How is it sucking air through the spoil board? I never understood that

[alece]

One question you didn't address (i think) is whether it works for small parts like 50ish parts from a 4x8 sheet. Would it still be effective as all those profile cuts open up and leak air? That question has held me back from buying a vacuum pump for my cnc for years now....