Vacuum Chuck Article

[Jack Hogoboom]

If you didn't see it already, the current issue of Woodturning Design has a neat do-it-yourself article on building a vacuum chuck. It is remarkably straightforward and doesn't appear to be too complex a process. The author (King Heiple) also indicates where to buy all the various bits and pieces, which came in very handy.

I have ordered all of the various components and will be trying my hand at this, if for no other reason than it looks like too fun a project not to try.

If anyone has any thoughts on his approach, please let me know.

Jack

[Charles Hans]

Jack, I saw the article and needed a vacuum chuck so I jumped right into it.I have all the parts turned and assembled on the lathe. It runs pretty true and looks like it will get the job done a lot cheaper than the factory units. I was fortunate enough to have a couple of good pumps so that saved me a lot of change I am in the process of making the vacuum adaptors right now and that has been an easy task so far. I am about ready to put the rubber on them and give them a test drive I have an old craftsman (King Sealy lathe) with 3/4-16 threads and I went to the local hardware store and they had heavy hex machine nuts with both the right and left hand threads so I bored a hole and chiseled the opening to fit the hex shape, epoxied them into the wood and turned everything true, worked pretty slick. I have a couple of bowls sitting on the bench to practice on. Good luck with yours and let us know how it goes.

[Jack Hogoboom]

Charles,

Thanks for your post. I ordered everything today. I hope I can make it all work. I am particularly worried about the rotary adapter as it is a little hard to see how all the parts fit together. I am also a little worried aobut whether I can get the brass pipe through the headstock of my Jet lathe.

I'm really excited about seeing if I can do it. Please keep me posted on your progress.

Jack

[Gilbert Vega]

Does anyone have a scan of the article. I haven't seen it at the local newstand. Please PM me. Thanks.

[Jay Kilpatrick]

but my brain is too tiny to figure out how the adaptor is secured to the headstock :confused: ?!? Its easy to see how King makes the fit on the backside of the headstock; but how is it secured through the spindle? A nut and washer with a sized recess in the chuck? I just couldn't seem to figure that one out...so I'll just have to wait for my design epiphany before a gather the hardware and order up the pump...sigh :( Unless someone can explain it to me... but talk slow :)

[Jack Hogoboom]

Jay,

If I understand what Charles has been telling me, you don't attach it at all. The chuck you attach to the headstock has a hole in the bottom. The vacuum sucks all the air through that hole. The vacuum is formed when you cover over the open end of the chuck.

Now if I could only figure out how to make the rotary adapter....

The good news is that I bought tubing, neoprene, and some fittings from McMaster Carr and it all arrived today!!! That's pretty great service. :)

Let's make a deal. The first one who gets it to work has to tell everyone else how to do it....

Jack

[Charles Hans]

You have it Jack, The pipe nipple is only to center the rotary adaptor to the handwheel to make it run true. The gasket on the rotary adaptor seals when you place a bowl or whatever on the chuck itself, you can reduce the vacuum by opening the valve a little in order to locate the part that you are going to turn.The rotary adaptor was the easiest part to make I think.

[Earl Eyre]

Somebody on ebay is selling all the part for around $60 + 13 for shipping here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vacuum-Chuck-Wood-lathe-Jet-Delta-Powermatic-Oneway_W0QQitemZ7538581886QQcategoryZ11773QQssPage NameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

For those of you who have made yours, is this a bargain or is it not worth it? Still need the pump. I haven't seen the article yet but will grab it as soon as it gets to the news stand. Also, have do any of you use the vacuum generator with your air compressor, or is the pump the way to go?

Earl

[Jack Hogoboom]

Earl,

I haven't gotten my pump yet, so I don't know how it will compare noise-wise, but everything I've read says not to use a compressor because it will have to run continuously to provide the vacuum and will heat up the piston.


Charles,

I'm going to try it your way, because I can't figure out how he connected the pipe to the rotary adapter (actually, I don't think he did. I think he just ran it into the hole he drilled) and I don't want to remove the handwheel if I don't have to. In the article, King does say that some spindles may have through holes in them, which would be one reason to use a pipe to make sure you can create a vacuum. He does indicate, however, that it'd be pretty easy to put tape over the hole.

Any tips on wiring the pump you'd care to share? I am pretty inept at electrical stuff and had a heck of a time at HD yesterday trying to figure out what kind of wire to buy, since I'll have to wire the pump myself. The good news is that I already have 220V service in my shop. :)

Jack

[Jack Hogoboom]

Earl,

I don't think the Ebay offer is all that great. The ball bearing costs about $7.00, the neoprene is about $8.00, the plastic tubing cost about $5.00, the guage is $7.00 and the brass fittings cost about $1.00 a piece. His price is about double what I paid for the components he is selling and that doesn't take into account his rather large shipping costs.

The great thing about King's article is that he tells you where to get every piece you need, although the line filter wasn't available where he said it was.

Good luck!!

Jack

[Charles Hans]

Jack I don't know what pump that you have but most of the 1/4hp pumps run on 110V and I doubt that you will need 220V.The wiring diagram is usually on the motor nameplate, or on the reverse side of the wiring box cover. The terminals inside are usually marked L1 & L2 this is where the 110V wires go. A 16 guage 3 wire cord is probably all that you will need, depending on the hp of the pump.

[Don Baer]

Here is a link to a 37 page article on building a vacuum chuck that you guys might find useful.

http://www.woodturners.org/tech_tips/vacuum_chuck/vacuum-chucks.pdf

he goes into a lot of detail.

[Jay Kilpatrick]

Here is a link to a 37 page article on building a vacuum chuck that you guys might find useful.

Don,
I guess I didn't look hard enough for this. Every link I discovered to the article was dead. Thanks for bird-dogging it for us!

[Jim Sample]

Jack

Did you find another source of these filters for the vacuum line? I recieved my pump from the Surplus store but the filters were out of stock. I have the oneway rotary adapter on a Jet 1442 and it works.

Thanks. pics will follow when I get a chance.

Jim Sample

[Charles Hans]

Jim I sent you a P/M

[Charles Hans]

These pictures are not very good, my camera leaves a lot to be desired.
Charles

[Jack Hogoboom]

Charles,

That looks like a very clean installation. I wish you could show us a drawing of your rotary adapter. I'd like to see exactly how you configured it. How come you made your own handwheel?? Also, I don't see any faceplate. How'd you attach your chuck to the headstock??

Jim,

I think I picked another filter from the site. I had no idea what I was doing, so I don't know if it'll work. I think you could probably get one at a well-stocked HD or Lowe's. Did you have to take the handwheel off the Jet to attach the Oneway adapter? The handwheel has a small hole that I don't think I can snake a pipe through. Any tips about wiring the pump? Hopefully, they include some kind of diagram. I've smoked at least one plug doing it wrong. :eek: My pump won't be delivered until the middle of next week.

Jack

[Charles Hans]

Jack I made the handwheel a while back, When this lathe was built I don't think that they knew what a handwheel was. I bought this one new in 1954, so it's been around a while.
The vacuum chuck is made with what I had on hand here. I glued 2 pieces of 1" poplar 3"' in dia.together, and bored a 1 1/8" hole 5/8" deep in the center, scribed the outline of the hex flats of the nut on the hole, and removed the excess material with a chisel. Then I epoxied the nut in place with 5 Min. epoxy. when this dried I mounted it on the spindle, trued it up and attached the plywood rings and turned everything true, pretty simple. I will make some later with faceplates when I locate them.
Charles

[Jack Hogoboom]

So I just got back from a week of vacation. Got the pump all wired up and put most of the fittings together. Went to test the guage and when I turned the vacuum on, the vinyl tubing collapsed!! Clearly, it is not rigid enough. Anyone know what kind of tubing I should use and where to get it?

Jack