Hey guys, you might have followed my build along in another thread, here is the resulting video:
Spoiler: I bought a side-channel blower which is going to arrive in a few days I hope (will have nearly the same specs as my Miele Vaccum, but will not break down as fast). I also tried it with 18mm MDF that I only planed down on one side and it also worked well. Further tests later. 
One of the challenges of using a vacuum cleaner for this sort of work is that they rely on exhausting the air around the motor to keep things cool. When the vacuum is blocked, things heat up in a hurry. You may want to add an additional ācooling airā source around the motor.
Thatās the problem with a vaccum.
If you have an air compressor you could also use that cheap and wonderfull device that create huge depression and is exactly made for that vaccum table use case :
https://a.aliexpress.com/_ExCQVor
Most modern shop vacs have their own motor cooling fan.
Those vacuum generators do work decently, but often require a fair sized compressor to work. Also the generator needs to be big enough to handle the worst leak, and they use the same amount of energy regardless of the amount of leaking. So not as simple as proper pump.
I didnāt know thisā¦ makes me appreciate how much more efficient older vacuums were in that regard, hehe.
they werenāt. They were pulling dirt and crap right through the motor. Newer vacs use the same motor, the cooling fan is outside the vac airflow so itās not filling the motor full of dirt.
Ditto on all your reasons! We had a few machines that used them. They worked well at first, then multiple issues with leaks, both on air supply and vacuum lines. All have been removed.
Intriguing. Does a vacuum hose leak more often than a pressurized one?
If you donāt use a vacuum pump but a side channel blower like I do (or a shop vac) it is never a ārealā vacuum. Should be called āSuction Tableāā¦ The blower and Vac need the air to cool and work. If there was no airflow, the vacuum would stop to work.
The āfailure modeā I experenced was that the plastic (nylon?) brush holders in the shop-vac motor got hot enough to deform and the brushes stopped making contact with the commutator.