Vacuum Bed and Wasteboard (AXYZ Innovator)

A powerful vacuum pump allows for a lot of flexibility when it comes to positioning work. The vacuum will suck through the MDF wasteboard allowing clamp-free workholding in wide range of circumstances.

The wasteboard is sacrificial material which you can lightly cut into to ensure you are cutting all the way through your part. It is bad manners to cut deeply into the wasteboard - you shouldn't need to cut any deeper than 0.25mm into the surface, and 0.1mm should work perfectly fine for most use cases.

Safety

Hearing Protection The vacuum pump is noisy. You must wear passive hearing protection when the vacuum pump is running to prevent irreversible damage to your hearing, even if the cutting process is quiet.

Selecting Vacuum Bed Zones

Zone selection illustration on the front of the router.

On the front of the machine (the side facing the exterior windows) there are four blue valves. Open the valves in accordance with the amount of the bed you are using and the diagram next to the ATC. At least two valves must be open at any one time - the two front, the two rear, or all four.

You cannot use only one vacuum zone as the wasteboard material will not be pulled flat across its whole width. This will lead to inaccurate parts and insecure workholding.

Turning On the Vacuum Pump

Zone selector valves on the front of the router. These are in the "open" or vacuum position, indicated by the handle being in line with the tubing.

• Set the blue vacuum selector valves as desired.
• Clean the wasteboard thoroughly to ensure no debris will be caught underneath your material. This will cause a loss of suction.
• Place your material in place on the wasteboard.
• Turn on the rotary isolator marked VAC PUMP.
• Press the green POWER ON button on the vacuum pump controller.

Turning Off the Vacuum Pump

• Press the red POWER OFF button on the vacuum pump controller.
• Wait for the pump to spin down. Once it has stopped your parts will be released from the table.