How did I ever live without a vacuum chuck?

[Paul Heely]

I finally joined the ranks of the vacuum chuckers. Bought everything I needed from JT Turning Tools and the last bits showed up today. Tom at JT Turning Tools was great to deal with. I thought I had a problem with the air filter and emailed him on Saturday evening. Within a a couple of hours he had called me to discuss my concerns and was able to solve the problem in about 5 minutes. Great guy to deal with.

These pictures are of the temporary installation until I can build a better cart. Notice the high tech zip tie holding the air filter to the back of the chair :)

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I already used it to re-sand a bowl that had sanding scratches around the rim that I managed to miss. I'm excited that I'll be able to re-chuck a HF that I botched the finish on. This has been sitting since '08 waiting for me to figure out what to do with with.
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Now I just have to build a better stand or more permanent mounting location.

[Jon Nuckles]

Looks good enough to provoke some envy here! Congrats.

[David Reed]

STAND!
You don't need no stinking stand!
I like it on the chair quite nicely. I need to get up to speed and build one now myself.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Paul,
I bought my adapter and manifold as well as one aluminum "chuck holder" from JT. I found it a pain to remove a plastic fitting from the aluminum adapter and install another. The set screws are tiny and the newly inserted piece is not easy to mount true. I bought a 1 1/4" acme tap from Bealle and began stacking baltic birch ply and tapping and making my own chucks. I have them up to 8" and will eventually make a 12". The process is easy and I will send you pix of mine if you wish. Just PM me your email address.
faust

[Steve Schlumpf]

Congrats on your new system Paul! Been using mine for a while now and still appreciate having total access to the bottom of bowls when removing the foot!

[Paul Heely]

The only thing I did not get from JT was the chuck holder. I bought the medium size Oneway chuck and a tap so that I can make some smaller ones for my little HFs.

[Gene Hintze]

Not that I want to pry into your finances Paul but could you share what all the bits and pieces for your vacuum chuck cost? I need to know how many Pesos I need to save before I can get one.

[Paul Heely]

I bought the pump, hardware kit and the vacuum adapter from http://www.jtturningtools.com/. The JT website has all the prices on it. I did look for a used pump, but not for very long as I tend to be an impatient type when I want something. Most of the use ones I was finding were quickly approaching the price of the one that JT is selling. I also looked at the HF ones, but they all appeared to not be oiless. For the hardware to hook it all up, you can definitely save some money by putting together a kit yourself. I found this webpage very helpful in figuring out what all the pieces and options were, http://carlford.info/pages/demos_classes/vaccum_chucks_demo/Vacuum_Chucks_Demo.pdf.

For chucks the cost starts at almost zero if you have a face plate and some PVC pipe on hand.

[Tony De Masi]

Congrats Paul. May it serve you well. Just finished mine last week and I'm already asking myself the obvious question of " how did I ever live without it"

[James Combs]

I have had mine since March and to borrow your thread title, I don't know "How did I ever live without a vacuum chuck". If you would like to see my installation check it out here (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?162882-My-New-Vacuum-Chuck).

[Paul Heely]

Thank James. I like the cart idea that I've seen several people use. I'm also thinking about sticking it in the small room, large closet, that I have the dust collector and compressor in. Its also possible that it'll still be sitting on the chair in 6 months....

[Harry Robinette]

Paul
DON"T put the vac pump in with your DC. The super fine dust that comes off the DC WILL ruin it,same thing with air compressor. That dust can get into everything,also if your DC is in that little room blow out the motor and switch assy before you start having problems. My Delta 1200 is in a quit room and I have to blow it out about once a month.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Congrats. I have the same system and Tom is exceptional in his help.

[Paul Heely]

Paul
DON"T put the vac pump in with your DC. The super fine dust that comes off the DC WILL ruin it,same thing with air compressor. That dust can get into everything,also if your DC is in that little room blow out the motor and switch assy before you start having problems. My Delta 1200 is in a quit room and I have to blow it out about once a month.

I haven't had any problems in the past five years, knock on wood. My DC room is actually the cleanest place in my shop. If super fine dust is coming out of the DC then Oneida and I need to talk. I'll keep an eye on it though, thanks for the heads up.