Bleeder board longevity

[eelnad]

i finally got my head around the vacuum hold down/bleeder board concept and how it works. it amazes me that the mdf or trupan is porous enough to allow the suction of the vacuum to hold parts in place while cutting. i will have to see it to believe it. i will be purchasing the prs 96-48-6 soon and was wondering how long does the bleeder board typically last since it is also the sacrifical board that the cutting material lays on top of. i understand that this all depends on how much cutting you do but if i am cutting several shapes from a single 4x8 sheet of plywood how often will i need to change out the bleeder board? after two sheets? after three sheets?

[bill.young]

Hi Daniel,

I just recently cut 500 sheets of ply and plastic on 2 tools without having to replace the 3/4" Trupan bleeder boards, so each one has done somewhere around 250 sheets. I always zero at the tabletop surface when I'm through-cutting and set the cut depth at -0.02", so the cut goes all the way through the material without tearing up the bleeder too bad. I resurfaced the bleeder board every couple of days when it got pretty chewed up, but just had to take off 0.03" or so to get rid of the cuts.

I'll probably replace the bleeder boards soon because they're getting less than 3/8" thick, and the vacuum doesn't seem like it's holding as well with the bleeder that thin.

As usual, your mileage may vary!

Bill

[eelnad]

wow, thats awesome. i can't wait! thanks.

[harryball]

The bleeder/spoil board currently on my bot has been there more than 6 months and has cut at least 75 sheets of parts from 1/2" ACX, 20 sheets of 3/4" ply, untold number of cedar 2x8x48" blanks as well as various foam projects, household projects and one chicken house. I'm not a high volume user but I keep the bot busy enough to say I use it.

The bleeder board on before this one lasted 2 weeks... that's what happens when you zero to the table and run a job when you should have zero'd to the material top and then proceed to not pay attention as the bot carves itself up.

I'm about due to change the current spoilboard.

/RB

[eelnad]

doh!

[rcnewcomb]

3278

[gabepari]

I use 1" Trupan. I average 6-9 months out of each one. I think the current one has had about 750 sheets run on it and is only 50% used up.

I go .010" into the table and surface at .020"

Gabe

[tkovacs]

Being rather new to this too I still smile in wonderment each time I turn on the vacuum and pull air through a piece of MDF - maybe I'm just easily surprised! Still everyone that I have shown it to seems to have the same reaction...