Gary H Phillips
Posts: 46
Joined: 2007-05-06
Location: Seekonk, MA
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Hi all,
Well, today was the day...sorta... we finished assembling the parts to the vacuum flip top system. I was thinking it would be a little more work than it was, but it wasn't. It all went together just fine and everything was made to very close tolerances. When done we clamped the flange system down with 14 clamps and snapped on the venturi system. Within something like 35 seconds the entire table was pumped down to 26 inches and during the test (10 minutes) it never came back on. Our vacuum table, as well as it was built, seems to hold vacuum perfectly. I am pleased.
We do have to take off the outermost line of tiles all around and cut them down a bit as we found that there wasn't enough room for the bag to sit on the table surface. Darryl had warned me about this...it pulled one little section free of the flange system. Before it's used again, we will make the table surfaces' plastic tiles the right size.
It was nice to see this project working after all this time, near 18 months. Yeah, we got really busy with stuff. I will say the table is just as useful as an assembly table as it is perfectly flat and huge, 5' x 12'. Taking the time to build a very well built table has made all the difference in the world!
I will finish up the Vacuum Table II paper soon and offer it to whomever might want to read it. Next week, it's gluing up a bunch of "shop made" lumber core plywood.
I will say here again, it's been great doing this project and dealing with Darryl and the Company. This product seems to be extremely well made and...well, this final note; when we assembled the aluminum flange system and I dumped out the parts to hold it together, I noticed an AMERICAN tool supplied, made by Armstrong. I must say, that simple thing impressed me; rather than send something junky they supply a very high grade tool! I know, it's a simple thing, but it means something to me.
Cheers
Gary Phillips
GHP Associates
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