vacuum platen

[screenxpress]

I'm thinking of making a vacuum platen for screening 2 (or more) color plastisol transfers.

I've got a pretty good idea of how to do it, but does anyone have a suggestion for where to pick up a vacuum pump to pull the air that is not too strong and not too weak?

[mimosatexas]

I have built three of these now.  One is 28x40, one is 40x60, and my most recent one is 5'x9'.  I tried two vacuum pumps like you would use for an exposure unit, with poor results.  I found the best option was a $20 bucket wet/dry vacuum from lowes or home depot.  They have a high cfm, but not the best power, which actually works great.  Next week I should have some free time for the first time in like 3 months to actually post some of my stuff in the diy section and I'll be sure to post these.  I learned a lot during each build.

[screenxpress]

I never even thought of hooking up a smaller wet/dry vac to it.  Cool

I've made quite a few platens over the years using 3/4 mdf and adding Formica top and bottom. 

My thought was to lay out a pattern (basic troughs that interconnect) and use a router to marginally dig out the groves in the mdf,

Then drill small holes in Formica that match up to the pattern, leaving some runners here and there for strength, glue it down with contact cement, smooth off the edges and hook up vacuum.  Sound like one you might have made?

[Frog]

I never even thought of hooking up a smaller wet/dry vac to it.  Cool

I've made quite a few platens over the years using 3/4 mdf and adding Formica top and bottom. 

My thought was to lay out a pattern (basic troughs that interconnect) and use a router to marginally dig out the groves in the mdf,

Then drill small holes in Formica that match up to the pattern, leaving some runners here and there for strength, glue it down with contact cement, smooth off the edges and hook up vacuum.  Sound like one you might have made?

My problem with Vacuum cleaners is their noise level is usually way higher than a real vacuum pump.

Some small airbrush type compressors can suck pretty well on their inlet side and sometimes have a threaded port to help adapt hardware fittings.

[mimosatexas]

The noise is definitely an issue for some.  For me, I just don't care and the cost can't be beat considering how well they work.

You are basically describing what I did for the 40x60 version.  For the smaller one I made a thin box with linear supports glued inside, but Routering is definitely the superior method.  I used mdf as the body and top it with peg board, then plexy/acrylic/etc, using contact cement or epoxy to adhere everything.  The peg board only serves to make it so you dont have to measure out all the holes/channels.  use a 1/16" bit for the holes and buy a pack of 5 or so because they will break on you when drilling through the plexi unless you go really slow so they dont overheat.  I used a 1 1/4" hole bit through the back to connect to the vacuum.  It works best if centered in the print area, and you can get fancy with routering both sides before drilling and putting a back on the body if youre worried about support, but I found the pegboard and plexi support a 1 1/4" gap just fine in the print area.

Depending on how large you are wanting to make it, like if you want to use it on a range from signs/posters down to things like invitations, I would route out disconnected zones and split and valve your vacuum hose with pvc so you can open or close areas based on the size of your substrate.  On my 40x60 I have 4 zones, and usually have two or 3 of them closed for printing transfers on 12.5x19.  It limits the amount of open holes you have to mask off for better suction, again saving setup time.

[starchild]

I posted on this before.. Quiet Shop Vac Noise Pollution..
A regular shop vac will work but operates at 85-90db.. That is not the kind of conditions you want to work under, you will find yourself doing less and less transfer printing..

Conversation levels are around 60db. I you are going to choose a shop vac then look at Fien, Attix, Makita VC or Alto these operate at between 57-60db. The fien is the vac of choice for many cnc shops that they hook up to their plumbing to hold their materials down.

[mimosatexas]

great info!  I'll have to look into that for my setup.  I find myself printing more and more transfers these days for whatever reason.

A vacuum platen operates basically exactly like a cnc table honestly.  When I was first researching I found myself on cnc forums over and over again when I had questions.

[Gilligan]

Couldn't you muffle the vac with some creative ingenuity?

[starchild]

I currently use a vastex vacuum pallet and a fien.. Consider if you use metal or aluminum for the pallet then you can keep the paper on press and flash between colors thus eliminating the need to send it down the dryer, jogging and placing in a hot box for every color plus not contend with paper instability.

It sure would be cool if M&R made a vacuum manifold for the kruzer like they do for the sidewinder and the autos, 4 pallets, coupled with their new fangled smart heat sensing red chilli's..

[starchild]

Couldn't you muffle the vac with some creative ingenuity?

Yea Kev, there are noise suppression boxes you can build/buy that would cut 20db

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKkbq1fcKz4

[Inkworks]

We did a lot of this at the Membrane Switch/Graphic overlay shop, all clam shell presses and 5 lamination stations with vacuum tops and silent vacs.

these are the ones you want, but they are pricey!

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

We had the canister ones in the middle of the picture



They could run all day every day without heating up, and were almost silent sitting at your feet.

Last I remember they were ~$500.

Okay, so for the rest of us cheapies:

What I'm doing is using a garage-sale built-in home vacuum system in a noise muffling box vented to the outside and the vacuum plumbed into the shop where I need it using PVC pipe. This works well, it's handy to have an adjustable dump valve to bleed off vacuum and set it how you want it, this also allows the vacuum to breath and not over-rev and overheat. My buddy has a similar set-up with just a cheap shop vac in a box outside plumbed into where he needs it and a switch on the wall that controls the outlet the vacuum is plugged into. It's a little loud outside, but nice and quiet inside.

[mimosatexas]

I currently use a vastex vacuum pallet and a fien.. Consider if you use metal or aluminum for the pallet then you can keep the paper on press and flash between colors thus eliminating the need to send it down the dryer, jogging and placing in a hot box for every color plus not contend with paper instability.

It sure would be cool if M&R made a vacuum manifold for the kruzer like they do for the sidewinder and the autos, 4 pallets, coupled with their new fangled smart heat sensing red chilli's..

I would buy this in a second.  I actually have a guy building me a couple custom metal vacuum pallets for doing stuff on my Kruzer (two sizes of coffee bags kind of like koozie pallets and a simple rectangle for one color transfers).  Would be AWESOME to be able to rotate the press while printing them for the multicolor stuff.  I honestly havent looking into a diy version though.

[mimosatexas]

o i forgot to mention, get a cheapo foot switch from harbor freight for turning the vacuum on and off.  Makes life so much easier

[tonypep]

Action Engineering has one that hooks up to a Shark