Shop made vacuum chucks

[Burt Alcantara]

Any good websites with information on how-to make vacuum chucks? I've only got the 3" that came with my HoldFast. Need something bigger and smaller.

Any help appreciated.
Thanks,
Burt

[Tom Godley]

When I recently took my class with David Ellsworth - he had quite a few types to try out. But the type he uses he makes himself.

They are just cylinders made out of glued up walnut that he then taps. He uses a Beall tap to fit his lathe. That way he can make any size he wants.

He then coats the outside to seal any pores in the wood that would leak -- He also does not use any gasket - he said that he found it to be unnecessary.


The shape and style are the same as the Oneway Cylinders -- except Oneway uses aluminum.

I am waiting now for UPS to deliver my tap and lathe drill chuck .....to make some!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Burt - just an option for you: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=84279

The second half of the tutorial is how to build your own Vac chuck.

[Jim Kountz]

Heres what I did. I took a 4" and a 6" PVC coupler. I bought two of the Wood River chuck adapters for my lathe which happens to be 1.25"X8. Wood craft has these for less than $7 ea. I then drilled a hole in a piece of mdf to fit the spindle adapters which in my case an 1 3/8 worked great. Then epoxy the adapter in the hole. When dry install this on the lathe and turn the MDF round about an inch larger than the pvc coupler you want to use. Then using the parting tool cut a groove in the mdf to fit the pvc coupler. Epoxy the coupler in the groove and let it dry. Now if you look inside these pvc couplers there is a ledge right in the middle. Using he parting tool cut the pvc down to this ledge. This will make the rim wider. Glue on some foam and you're good to go. As soon as I get in the shop I will take some pics and post them here. I had $7 in the adapter and $6 in a 6" pvc coupler, the rest was all scraps I had left over.