DIY Vacuum Pallet for M&R

[mimosatexas]

This is an older project, but wanted to share since I think a few people are interested in these and the commercially available products are super pricey.  Total cost to me was around $40 and it took about 2 hours to build, though a lot of time was spent waiting for the contact cement and epoxy to dry a bit before moving to the next stage of the build.  Not sure how much you'd spend if you outright bought everything, but under $100 I think)

Parts:

• Bracket (had laying around from a warped pallet I got for free from another shop, but looks like they are around $40 from M&R)
• Sink Drain Adapter (landlord is a plumber and he has tons of these laying around, but I don't think they cost much new)
• 1/8"x18"x24" plexi/acrylic ($9x1) *I actually harvested the plexi for mine from a much larger table top I built years ago using the same method, but have since gotten clamshell presses that I use instead for larger work.  I was only able to get a 16" wide piece off of this surface due to a large scratch and still have enough for another project, so that determined the final width.  Building fresh I would have just made it 18x24 to limit the amount of cuts needed
• 1/4x24x24" plywood ($4x1)
• 1/4"x1/4"x36" wood pieces ($0.75ea x 10)
• 1"x1"x8' ($19 x 1)
• Some rubber cement, epoxy, and tape to hold the thing together

Drill holes on a 1" grid (use pegboard below to save time with measuring).  Cut everything to size.  My final size is 16x24, but 18x24 is "ideal" for doing as few cuts as possible.  Cut the hole for your vacuum in the plywood, then glue all the 1/4 wood to it and weigh it down until dry.  Epoxy the plexi to the base, flip over, weigh and let dry.  Add the bracket, adapter for the vacuum, and the bracing, weigh and dry.  Finished.  Whole thing comes it just under 5/8" thick, so you do have to adjust your off contact a touch on press, but I have printed thousands of transfers on this guy and it works excellently.

Tape is used on the edges to soften them up a bit. and the painters tape is just masking off holes that aren't used when printing 12.5x19" transfer sheets.  Guides on the side and bottom are just taped in place and are little squares of ultimate clean up cards I cut up.

[rusty]

This is great. I am about to build a vacuum table for flatstock printing. I have an old book that shows how to build so a switch activates when the screen cause up or down to activate the vacuum. I'll be using a vacuum motor from an old vaster exposure unit. I'll post progress pics when I'm done.

[Gilligan]

Might want a pump that moves more air.

Small shop vac might be better.

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[rusty]

Might want a pump that moves more air.

Small shop vac might be better.

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Good point. Was hoping to utilize the small vacuum I salvaged but might bot be strong enough.

[mimosatexas]

I use one of those $25 bucket shop vac's from home depot with a cheapo harbor freight foot pedal to start/stop.  Works really well.

[Gilligan]

It's probably stronger, just doesn't move the volume.

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[mimosatexas]

If you're making a true table vs just a pallet, I have a few suggestions that save time, money, and headaches. 

First, buy a sheet of 1" thick mdf for your surface, cut it in half or whatever dimensions you are planning to use and glue the two pieces together.  This will give you a really flat and really strong base to work with.  Then use a router with around a 1/4 or 3/8 bit and route out your chamber into the surface directly.  Just do a big long line that S's back and forth 1 inch apart across the whole vacuum bed.  When you finish that, just come back and route a few channels perpendicular to those to connect everything efficiently.  See attached.

For the actual printing surface, glue a piece of peg board directly to the mdf, making sure the holes line up with your routed channels.  Then epoxy the plexi directly to that.  Be liberal with the epoxy so nothing bubbles or detaches with use.  Then grab the smallest drill bit you can find and drill your holes.  Just aim for the center of each hole in the peg board.  No measuring and no need to be perfect.  Use a little tape around the edges just in case there are gaps in your glue anywhere.  I made a 3x5 surface this way and it was awesome while I needed it, but have since upgraded to clamshell presses and a much larger one armed bandit.

[mimosatexas]

It's probably stronger, just doesn't move the volume.

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this.  You need to be more concerned with the speed it sucks out the air, and not exactly how close to a true vacuum you can get.  A shop vac can move a lot of air fast but is actually pretty weak when it comes to holding vacuum.

[Frog]

Myself, I hate shop vacuums for the noise they produce, though they are usually the cheaper option.
Bad enough for an exposure unit, but on and off for possibly hours during a printing run would be more than I could handle without ear plugs.

[mimosatexas]

That is a major downside, but ear plugs are a quick and easy "fix".  I'm not sure I know of an option that is fast enough for production and quiet, regardless of price.

[Frog]

That is a major downside, but ear plugs are a quick and easy "fix".  I'm not sure I know of an option that is fast enough for production and quiet, regardless of price.

What do the commercial units use? When I ran a flatbed press years ago, I don't remember a deafening roar. In fact, I can't even imagine what it would have been like in my first shop with seven or eight presses running with big shop vacs!

[mimosatexas]

Both of my clamshells are pretty loud.  They aren't shopvac loud, but they are also enclosed in the base of the press.  You could build a box around the shopvac to dampen the noise.

[Gilligan]

Plumb it out somewhere else... Just like an air compressor.

Whole home vacuums put their unit in the garage and that is one of the reasons.

Some pvc and a relay and you've removed almost all the noise.

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[Inkworks]

Put it outside in an enclosure and plumb it in with rigid pvc or the like....or get out the chequebook,:

http://www.awtartstore.com/product.php?id=69&menu=2