Anybody tried this?

[ssutton]

This probably want work but here is the situation: I built my machine to cut 6061 T6 sheet aluminum no thicker than .050. I need a hold down system. My thoughts are to have a MDF sacrificial board that has vacuum applied under it. Then on top of that place "non-skid drawer liner" (you can get it in 4' wide sheets) and then the material to be cut. The router will just penetrate the aluminum and not get into the MDF. It will eventually eat up the liner and then I just have to lay down another sheet. I do not want to have to constantly be replacing the MDF.

Because the material is going to be so thin and I do not intend to cut fast, the cutting forces will be relatively low. Has anyone tried this before and if so please share your experiences or does anyone have any other cheap/fast ways to create a hold down so a low cut force application. I am looking for a low maintenance system that does not require constantly planing down MDF.

Thanks,
Scott

[dkirtley]

I don't think that there would be much thickness left of the fabric once it was compressed by the vacuum. I think I would just use pegboard. If the spacing on the vacuum table were the same, it would line up for the holes. When it starts getting icky, toss it out or figure out some way to reuse it.