After pouring through some of the more popular Black Box vacuum box designs, including Gary Campbell's original thread and the SimpleBox from Josh Beckmann, I reached out to Ward at Lighthouse Enterprises who recommended using four Ametek 122178-18 8.4" 240v motors. While a bit bigger and more expensive than the Lighthouse brand LH-7123 motors that have been widely used for these applications, he markets the Ametek motors as having 3x the brush life.

Like many, I have found it difficult to find detailed plans for the box design. I'm setting out to create the box in parametric CAD and will be offering detailed DXFs and BOMs in the near future.

Below are some renderings of my early prototype--subject to much refinement. I'd like to solicit feedback on this design, identifying any issues with the design now, before I move on to designing a final box.

Some notes on this design:

  • The renderings below are not complete. They lack many electrical components such as contactors and a mains plug. That will come in my next iteration.
  • Overall size is about 41" long by 18" tall by 15" deep. Constrained by the size of the 8.4" motors. Cabinet made of 18mm baltic birch plywood because I have plenty on hand.
  • Four pair paths: one for vacuum inlet, which will be carefully sealed; one for the exhaust which runs above the vacuum inlet; cold air escape aided by push/pull fan configuration on the sides; and cold air inlet for each motor on the back of the box. Ametek requires cold air intake and exhaust be isolated. Fan grills and filters used throughout.
  • Motors will be controlled via a 3-position switch: OFF, 2 ON, 4 ON. The louvered door in the middle of the vacuum chamber opens only when all four motors are turned on, otherwise only the two vacuums closest to the inlet will be turned on in two-motor operation. I'm not certain if this louver will work; I might need to time the motor activation carefully so that the motors opening the louver start first. What do you think?
  • No plumbing modeled yet, but it will be the traditional 3" PVC manifold with 4 knife gate valves, reducing down to 2" PVC going to each of the 4 vacuum table zones.
  • Haven't added a vacuum gauge yet, but that will certainly be included in the final design.
  • There is very little noise reduction in this design. I may add acoustic sound dampening foam to the walls the exhaust port, TBD. I'm not too concerned about noise as I expect to be wearing hearing protection at all times when the CNC router is running.
  • The back panel is on a piano hinge and corner draw latches, designed to open backward in the event of service or motor replacement.


Ryans-Vacuum-Box-1.jpg

Ryans-Vacuum-Box-2.jpg

Ryans-Vacuum-Box-3.jpg

Ryans-Vacuum-Box-4.jpg

Ryans-Vacuum-Box-5.jpg