vacuum pump question

[curtis rosche]

i am working on setting up my vacuum pump. do you really need the air filters?

i could see needing one on the side that air is sucked in, but why the outside?

so far i am getting a vacuum gauge, a silencer, hose plus fittings, a switch, and the parts needed for attaching to the lathe, is there anything i am missing?

[curtis rosche]

also, this says air filter / muffler will this work for a filter? http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=2009032417302562&item=4-1749

[Steve Schlumpf]

Curtis - I use an air filter on the output of the pump because the pump uses graphite vanes and could - I say again - could - emit graphite dust into the shop. As my shop is in the basement, I didn't want that stuff floating around. Is it a problem - probably not.

You could use the silencer instead of the output air filter and your system will work just fine. Do make sure you use a filter on the input side as you don't want to suck wood dust into your pump.

[Ken Glass]

Curtis,
I wholeheartedly agree with Steve. We all, already breath more contaminates than we should by just being in our shops. I can think of no quicker, cheaper way to eliminate one more source of irritant, than with an exit filter.

[Jason Clark2]

I have one of the 4-1565 air filters from Surplus Center on both the input and output sides of my vacuum pump. Is the potential health risk worth more than the $10 or so that it would cost for a filter and for the fittings required to attach it?

I'm also using one of those small brass mufflers that you listed on the exit port of my output filter. Don't forget to order the 1/4 to 1/8" bushing so it will fit the output side on the filter listed above.

Jason

[Ryan Baker]

Curtis, you need a ball valve in there so you can regulate the amount of vacuum.

[phil harold]

potential health risk of graphite???

better throw your pencils away,
stop using those electrical motors with brushes

The idea of the filter is not to have messy graphite dust pumped into the air and make things black, that should not be.

Curtis, if you bought that thomas piston or diaphram pump you could have lived with out the second filter on the pump and also used it for vacuum clamping and forming.

[curtis rosche]

i got that gast pump from surplus center, 4cfm