Oneway rotary adapter...worth it?

[Curtis O. Seebeck]

I received a gast vacuum pump in a trade for some blanks and need to get the rest of the stuff set up to use it for vacuum chucking. The fellow I traded with insists that the Oneway rotary adapter is the only way to go. What do you guys think? Is there something else out there that is just as good but less money?

I have a Nova DVR if that matters. Thanks for any and all feedback.

[Bill Boehme]

Well, It depends a lot on the lathe that you have. I built my own for my Delta 1440 -- or more correctly, about three of my own -- each being an improvement over the previous one -- my next one will take care of a couple problem that the earlier ones did not handle very well: balance and leakage. My earlier versions used only one bearing, but the new one will have three bearings. I build them using brass pipe fittings, PVC pipe fittings, sealed bearings, a couple pieces of UHMW plastic, a lamp rod and nuts. I turn most of thes parts on the lathe to true them up and to get them to fit. PVC and UHMW turn very nicely on the lathe. Brass also turns well with a skew -- it is about equivalent to some of the very hard woods that I have turned like cocobolo. My vacuum chuck is made from SCH80 4" PVC and MDF (I hate turning that nasty stuff because of the dust).

Bill

[Gary Max]

Buy the oneway and never look back. I started with a bargain system that worked for a couple of seconds.

[Travis Stinson]

Another option, very similar to what Bill has made, is the EZ adapter. Very easy to install and remove and works great.
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/cgi-bin/shopper?preadd=action&key=314-1050

[Jim Becker]

Prior to buying my Stubby, which has a built-in vacuum port, I was using the EZ adapter that Travis mentions, although I bought from Packard Woodworks. (I'm not a fan of Craft Supplies for some reason) The EZ Adapter was attractively priced and worked very, very well. The OneWay "may" have more precision, but the design of the EZ does the job and is adaptable to just about any lathe with a through hole in the headstock and a MT #2 in the spindle. (You use a piece of 1/4" hollow threaded through the headstock and cut it to appropriate length for your lathe)

[Jim Sample]

As Gary said, buy the Oneway and don't look back, you will only buy once. Do you like to screw around and eventually make your own, what is your time worth? I have the Oneway rotary and the Oneway gauge kit also. You get everything you need to hook up your pump and more.

Just another opinion

Jim Sample:) :)

[Keith Burns]

My $1.98 worth, the EZ Adaptor works great:) :)