Vacuum forming setups and information

[befu]

OK, I know there are other forums for this type of things, but I was asked about my setup, so I will make a post here.

From another thread on my 18.5" mystic:

My vac table is at work, so i should be able to post pictures tomorrow.

I use two - 2 stage vacuums in series which gets me a little over 10 inches of mercury, actually about .35 Atm. together they pull about 17 amps. I use a vacuum pump and a 3 gallon storage tank for secondary vacuum using a modified sump pump valve. the pump only goes to 20" mercury and the 3 gallons is not enough volume, so I need to work on that.

the table has a series of 1/2" holes for the vacuum to come through in about a 2" by 6" area. The table size is about 20" x 15", but can be changed by placing a platen on top of that. For the 23" x 16" frames I am using right now, I use a piece of 1/4" pegboard that is about 21.5" x 14.5" as the platen. It has foam around the bottom to seal it to the main table. makes it very adaptable to other sizes.

My frames are made from 1/2" aluminum angle.