MiniMach Vacuum Woodworking Bench

"Vacuum device offers innovative clamping

Mini Mach handles a variety of big and small clamping chores with ease

The common shop truism that you can never have enough clamps usually comes to mind in the middle of complex glueups on custom work. But clamps are just as essential as holddown devices in benchwork and for machining or sanding small parts. In those, cases, frequently the extra clamp you need to securely hold the work gets in the way of the work

Now M.POWER Tools Ltd. has introduced an innovative vacuum clamp called the Mini Mach. Powered by a typical shop vacuum, the device not only holds a workpiece without clamps, but it secures itself to the workbench. The top of the tool offers a 12-inch-by-18-inch work surface with 12 vacuum cells. In the center of each cell is a spring-loaded ball valve. When work is placed on the surface, it depresses the ball valves in the cells the workpiece covers, thus opening the vacuum just where it's needed.

When I first saw this device at the IWF show in Atlanta, I was intrigued by the Mini Mach's potential for working with small parts. Now that I've had a chance to test it in the shop, I'm impressed by its capabilities in a wide variety of holddown situations. It can potentially eliminate clamps entirely in many situations. That not only speeds up production work, but it eliminates the potential for marring work.

One of the first jobs I did with the Mini Mach was a run of solid wood drawer fronts that required a router edge treatment. All I had to do was turn on the vacuum and place the boards on the Mini Mach. I could use a router to do all four edges in one operation without interruption. Releasing the board is a simple matter of turning a valve on the side of the unit.

When I use biscuits for box joinery, the Mini Mach holds the parts securely. It's about twice as fast as standard clamps. And sanding small parts is a lot easier on the vacuum unit without having clamps get in the way.

But small parts aren't the only jobs the Mini Mach can handle. By using a support block sized to the thickness of the unit, it will easily hold larger boards for cutting, sanding and joinery operations.

You do have to pay attention to a few rules when using the Mini Mach. It won't grip anything too small to cover at least one of its vacuum cells completely. The smallest of these cells is about 2 in by 4 inches. Similarly, you lose lots of suction power if you try to put a piece diagonally across the rectangular cells. The trick is to orient the piece so it covers as many, cells as completely as possible. The vacuum table works best on smooth workpieces. It won't grip rough-cut lumber with nearly the force that it grips melamine.

You also have to pay attention to the large vacuum cell that secures the Mini Mach to your work surface. If the work surface is uneven, the Mini Mach may not grip it. Always before machining, it's good to check the stability and security of the setup, just as you would any clamping setup.

With a street price of about $99, the Mini Mach would seem to quickly pay for itself by speeding up production in any process that requires holddown clamps.