Speaking of vacuum pumps...

[Todd Burch]

I have two vacuum pumps. I had not considered using a vacuum pump to chuck a piece of wood.

My first vacuum pump is fairly small and is designed to suck down a car a/c system. I've used it several times for that. I guess it would suck down a house a/c system too, but take a while. It is a Robinair 15100 model, 1.2 CFM.

My second pump is a VP 100 Savant. It is very heavy duty. I bought it at auction from the City of Houston a few years ago - it came out of the Houston Police Department Crime Lab - right after they got busted for screwing up DNA evidence. I've never used it, but it seems to work just fine. Did I say it was heavy? Its a moose. Here's a picture http://www.lehmanscientific.com/p_7639.html Looks like a 3.5 CFM capacity.

So, how does one use a vacuum pump to chuck stock on a lathe? Would any lathe work with this? Would it only be used for final work, that has already been smoothed to some point? (I don't turn very much - but I have 3 lathes... :o )

Thanks, Todd

[Steve Schlumpf]

Todd, vacuum chuck systems are primarily used as a means to finish off the bottom of a bowl or hollow form. The nice thing about the vac system is that you have total access to the turning, unlike when using any other means of chucking. This allows you to blend in the foot, recess or what have you with the curve of the turning.

Requirements for the system to work would be a hollow spindle so that the vacuum can be applied through the headstock. There may be adapters that allow systems to use a vac without going through the headstock - but I am unaware of any. Other than that - you can buy or build your own system. The larger of the 2 pumps you listed would work fine should you decide to build.

There are a number of websites that list various means of building a vac chuck system and it would be advisable to check them all out and use a combination of what works best for you. Here is a tutorial that gives you one option but more importantly it shows a vac chuck mounted on the lathe. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=84279

[Ryan Baker]

Requirements for the system to work would be a hollow spindle so that the vacuum can be applied through the headstock. There may be adapters that allow systems to use a vac without going through the headstock - but I am unaware of any.

The vacuum chuck Bill Grumbine sells is made for lathes with solid headstock spindles and takes its vacuum supply through a rotating adapter between the chuck and spindle. But it is very expensive. Not the way to go if you have other options.