Robert McGowen
07-28-2008, 7:26 PM
During some down time from turning, I made a vacuum pump cart from the plans that Steve Schlumpf posted here. While I am sure that everyone added their own little touches when making this (I did!), I found the plans gave you a very good understanding of what was needed to use a vacuum chuck. I also used the adapter from Tom Steyer to attach the pump hose to my lathe. In my opinion, nothing could be simpler or made better than the adapter. This is one of those projects that took a few hours and 3 trips to the BORG, but I could make another one in about an hour with 1 trip to the BORG . I am sure you know how that goes. Thanks for the plans, Steve!
Picture #1 is the back of the cart. It has the pump, exhaust and intake filter, and a wall mounted hose bracket that doubles as a handle and a holder for the extension cord and pump hose. Picture #2 is a closeup of the back of the cart.
Picture #3 is the front of the cart. You can turn the pump on and off with the switch, adjust the pressure with the bleed off valve, and read the actual pressure coming through the chuck with the gauge.
Picture #4 is a closeup of the bleed off valve and gauge.
Picture #5 is the valve with the pump turned on and the hose plugged with my thumb at the end of the lathe adapter. As you can tell, the Schlumpf cart really sucks! :D
Picture #1 is the back of the cart. It has the pump, exhaust and intake filter, and a wall mounted hose bracket that doubles as a handle and a holder for the extension cord and pump hose. Picture #2 is a closeup of the back of the cart.
Picture #3 is the front of the cart. You can turn the pump on and off with the switch, adjust the pressure with the bleed off valve, and read the actual pressure coming through the chuck with the gauge.
Picture #4 is a closeup of the bleed off valve and gauge.
Picture #5 is the valve with the pump turned on and the hose plugged with my thumb at the end of the lathe adapter. As you can tell, the Schlumpf cart really sucks! :D