Vacuum Table question

[Sandcat]

Anyone know if there's a problem hooking the vacuum hose to the bottom middle of a vacuum printing table. If it will have too much suction in the middle and not enough on the sides?

I see how its mostly done, on the side with a kind of serpentine configuration, but I would like to hook it up to the bottom, if possible.

Thanks to anyone who can help

[Switch]

Hook it up on the bottom directly in the middle, that way you will have equal distribution of the air all over.Make sure that the table is air tight to get the baffles to work correctly. Most vac tables have the air feed in the centre.

[Nicholas Wilson]

you can make channels in the table, but ours is 2" of open air, no channels, and the suction is all over.

no worries, it'll be fine.

[Sandcat]

sounds good, I'll go for the middle.
I've seen a drawing where the hose originates from the middle, four channels running diagonally from the center...would imagine that helps to distribute the suction. I've never seen a pic or plans of homemade one with it mounted in the middle

It was a blast drilling all the holes, so if I have to start over I have something to look forward to.

"no channels" sounds logical as well, but I think in my case its for stability too.

[Nicholas Wilson]

We don't have any channels in ours, 3/4" board for the top, and the vacuum hole is at the back, where the hinges are.

Never had any issues with hold down. If you are getting improper suction, make sure your paper is covering most, if not all, of the holes. The air is going to be sucked out through the easiest way possible, so cover all the holes depending on how big your paper is in relation to how large of a section you have holes drilled.

[Andymac]

we have central holes on all our big tables. the side hole on the manual table design is only for ease of access and use, if you are setting up and breaking down the table and it doesn't have a dedicated base.

If you think of it, if the vacuumsuction didn't self distribute itself over the whole table, the side hole type would work worse than a central hole in the bottom.

the channels inside are for support. skip them at your risk, as eventually your top will bow down with the constant suction/pressure.

tip on the uncovered holes - use loose paper with a small piece of tape to keep it in place. don't tape over holes with 2" packing tape or whatever or you will eventually have a mess stuck to your table top.

Never cut on a table top - the gouges will show on thin stock

[JustinHelton]

this is great seeing as I just built one this weekend (Using Andy's plans...yaaay Premium membership!). Nice things to know! Thanks guys

[mono_666]

don't tape over holes with 2" packing tape or whatever or you will eventually have a mess stuck to your table top.

True that... it takes forever to clean that residue off

[Sandcat]

yeah the "Andy's plan" is really good, only that I wanted to put the hose on the bottom. He mentions it, but no pretty pictures. I don't see how to mount it on the bottom (as he says you can) as it would intersect the spacers. Maybe I'm just daft!

[steve w]