A machined vacuum grid with a rubber seal and its own pump, made for the 3018 Pro Ultra and the Pro Max T-slot bed, that holds sheet stock down by suction instead of clamps.
Thin sheet is the hardest stock to clamp on a 3018. Press a 3 mm acrylic sheet down at the edges and it bows in the middle, and a V-bit engraving across it cuts deep in one place and barely touches another.
A vacuum table holds the whole sheet at once. Air is pulled out through a machined grid under the stock, and atmospheric pressure presses the sheet flat across its entire face. There are no clamps in the toolpath, nothing to mark the surface and nothing to move between jobs.
Fafeicy's table packs that idea into a unit for the 3018 Pro Ultra:
The materials Fafeicy names are wood, acrylic, aluminium and plastic, and the jobs are engraving, milling and cutting. That covers sign work in acrylic, nameplates in thin aluminium and small plastic parts, all of which benefit from a flat, unmarked hold.
The pump plugs into a US mains outlet, so the table needs power of its own beside the machine's supply.
| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Brand | Fafeicy |
| Model | Fafeicy2lbyco9ptw-11 |
| Workholding | Vacuum suction, no mechanical clamps |
| Vacuum pressure | -70 kPa |
| Pump | Built in |
| Work surface | Precision-machined vacuum grid |
| Seal | Rubber sealing ring |
| Primary fit | 3018 Pro Ultra |
| Pro Ultra mounting | Four M6 × 20 screws |
| Pro Max mounting | T-slot bed, M6 sliding nuts at two corners |
| Mains plug | US |
| Materials named | Wood, acrylic, aluminium, plastic |
| Jobs named | Engraving, milling, cutting |
| Pack | 1 set |
Vacuum hold-down force is simple arithmetic. The pressure difference multiplied by the sealed area of the stock gives the force pressing it down, before any leaks are counted.
At -70 kPa, a perfectly sealed part feels 70,000 newtons per square metre. Scaled to the sizes a 3018 cuts:
| Sealed area | Example | Theoretical hold |
|---|---|---|
| 50 × 50 mm | Small tag | About 175 N (18 kgf) |
| 100 × 100 mm | Coaster | About 700 N (71 kgf) |
| 150 × 100 mm | Name plate | About 1,050 N (107 kgf) |
Those are upper limits. Real hold is lower, and it drops for three reasons:
Even at a fraction of the theoretical figure, the hold is ample for engraving and shallow pocketing. The side force from a 1/8-inch bit taking light passes is small next to hundreds of newtons of downforce spread across the sheet.
Size is the catch. Small parts have little area, so their hold is small. A 20 mm disc has only about 22 N of theoretical hold, and a single aggressive pass can shift it. Keep small parts attached to the larger sheet with tabs until the job ends.
Stock that does not cover the whole grid is the everyday problem. Any open grid area outside the part is a leak. Cover the unused area with a scrap of acrylic or a strip of packing tape so the pump pulls only through the part, and the hold comes back up toward the figures above.
The table is made for the 3018 Pro Ultra, the LUNYEE 500W machine of that name, and bolts straight to its bed. The Pro Max route uses the T-slots instead of holes.
Two mounting routes:
Setting it up for a first job in acrylic:
The table adds height, and on these machines that is rarely a problem. The Pro Max and Pro Ultra have 80 mm of Z travel, so a table plus a 3 mm sheet leaves plenty of room for bits.
Switch the pump on before probing, not after. Suction can pull a slightly bowed sheet down by a fraction of a millimetre, and a zero set before the pump runs will be off by that amount.
Coolant and liquid lubricant are best avoided. The pump pulls air from under the stock, and any liquid that finds a leak path is pulled toward the pump too. For aluminium, keep passes light and clear chips with air.
The vacuum table is not a spoilboard and not a replacement for clamps on every job. It is a third tool that makes certain jobs much easier.
| Holding method | Best for | Weak at |
|---|---|---|
| Fafeicy vacuum table | Thin sheet, engraving, no clamp marks | Through-cuts, small parts, porous stock |
| LUNYEE MDF grid board | Through-cuts, cheap sacrificial surface | Thin sheet that bows between clamps |
| LUNYEE tiger claw clamps | Thick blanks, full top access | Very thin material |
Through-cuts are the vacuum table's main limit. The moment the bit cuts a part free, that part loses its seal and its hold. On a cutting job, leave tabs so the part stays connected to the sheet. Cutting straight into the grid would also damage the machined surface and the seal.
Choose the vacuum table if:
Choose the MDF board and clamps if most jobs cut all the way through wood. A Pro Ultra bench can use both: the board for cutting, the table for engraving.
The fit comes down to three checks: that the machine is a Pro Ultra or a Pro Max with a T-slot bed, that there is a US outlet for the pump, and that your stock is large and flat enough to seal. The Pro Ultra logbook covers the machine, and the Pro Max comparison covers the T-slot model.
No. The pump is built into the table and plugs into a US mains outlet.
It is rated at -70 kPa. On a fully sealed 100 × 100 mm part, that works out to about 700 N of hold-down force before leaks.
The 3018 Pro Ultra, fixed with four M6 × 20 screws, and the 3018 Pro Max T-slot bed, fixed with M6 sliding nuts at two corners.
Only with tabs. A part cut free loses its seal and its hold, and cutting into the grid damages the table.