Vacuum Chuck System – How I Built Mine

[mike johnston]

Toms adapter is a great idea, Just remember if you have a power matic lath there can be some variation in the ID bore in the spindle. so measure carefully. Tom takes great steps to insure a propper fit.

Mike

[robert hainstock]

Your usual very thourough job. Thanks for al you give to the Creek and others, and thanks for a;; you do for me.
Bob

[Jon Lanier]

Steve that looks great. Only problem is... that was way over my head. I'm way to dyslexic to follow... I need to see it being done. Want to come down to Ohio and show me how to do it?

[Larry Rupert]

Really nice job, start to finish. I saved it as a .pdf for my future reference as well. Thanks for posting it. Larry

[Fred Conte]

Thanks Steve for taking the time to create this presentation - excellent and professionally done!

Fred

[Ron Drew]

Fantastic Steve. Appreciate the time it must have taken to put all that together. Your tutorials are the best. Ron

[Chuck Jones]

Steve,
I have finished building my vacuum chuck based on your design and instructions... except I'm waiting on delivery of the adapter from Tom Steyer. The plans were fantastic. I did not have one bit of trouble... except in my part of the world there is no such thing as a 3/8” NPT(MIP) x ½” ID Hose Barb. It was quite amusing how many parts I ended up with to make those two connections.

I assumed the pump from The Surplus Center would be used. It looks like a brand new out of the box rig to me. I'm also amazed at how quite it is. I may have wasted $6 on the silencer. But come to think of it, I'm pretty deaf. For my set up I don't need any where near that much vinyl tubing. Anyone looking to save a few bucks might want to do a little figuring ahead of time, or find another project to use the excess tubing.

Many thanks for your effort and for sharing. Great set of plans!
Chuck

[Steve Schlumpf]

Chuck - I'm glad you found the tutorial helpful in building your system! You're going to love using it!

I understand the issue with the 1/2" Hose Barb - I also had to try and figure a way to mate the vinyl tubing off the air filter to the rest of the system. Glad you were able to find something that worked! Up here the vinyl tubing I used comes in rolls and you either get the 20' or 10' roll. I agree that leaves a lto of extra tubing. I just rolled mine up and stored it in case I decide to try vacuum veneering someday.

Again, glad you were able to build your system with minimal hassles! Have fun with it! Looking forward to seeing some of your work real soon!

[Bob Justin]

Steve,

Once again great instructions! Like most, I chose to modify things a bit by removing some of the hose and the hose barb joints. A bit rusty on my tubing bend layouts, but it works just fine. 20 years worth of parts laying around just waiting for a plan to assemble. So now I am set up for either full vaccum or a regulated flow via a flow meter. The surplus vacuum pump with one minor scratch is the part that put the whole plan together. Again, thanks.

[Tom Steyer]

Chuck,

Glad that you got your system built so quickly. Your adapter has been shipped. Sometimes deliveries take a few days longer for some orders, just due to the production cycle. Our adapters are usually shipped within two weeks of receiving your order - often more quickly. Sorry for any inconvenience to you.

[Chuck Jones]

I got my adapter from Tom Steyer today. Everything came together and the vacuum chuck works fine. This "Chuck" has a new learning challenge. How the heck to get things centered. I've had that problem with every method of re-mounting I've tried. I think part of my problem is I glued the foam to the rims of the chucks with hot glue. I've never used hot glue much before but I'm discovering that it hardens pretty fast and I think the glue is throwing things off a bit. Gonna listen to my wife now and not use hot glue when I redo the chucks. She said the foam would stick fine without it. We'll see.

[Tom Steyer]

Chuck,

Try just using the self-adhesive "craft foam" sheets available at Hobby Lobby, Michael's, or most any craft store. They don't stick real tightly - I usually have to press them back down after they sit for a while, but I'm still using the original pieces on my chucks after many uses.

Tom

[Allen Neighbors]

Steve, thanks for the excellent tutorial... and the time and energy you put into it.
Wonderful!

[Grant Davis]

EXCELLENT tutorial Steve.

[Steve Schlumpf]

I’ve been getting a few emails from folks that are in the process of putting together their vacuum systems. I think that is great and know you will love the system once operational!

Wanted to let everyone know that it was politely brought to my attention that the air filters used in my system were actually installed backwards. According to the specs - the ¼” NPT opening is actually the output and the ½” barb is the input.

While I did disassemble each filter before placing it into the system so I could inspect the element and also make sure the filter was seated tightly against its O-ring, I saw nothing in the housing or on the element that would suggest air flow was unidirectional.

So, a simple test was called for.

I wheeled out my vacuum system and turned it on to find out what the vacuum was with the air filters in the original configuration. All I did was plug the end of the lathe adapter with a piece of plastic bag - the first reading was 24 hg. To determine if the air filter routing made a difference with regard to the air flow, I then disconnected the input filter to my system and tested for hg. It measured 24 hg. I then disconnected the output filter to make sure it wasn’t causing backpressure to the system and again tested for hg. It again measured 24 hg. So, about as un-scientific as you can get but I don’t believe the routing of the air filters change anything.

While this new information does not change the operation of the vacuum system, in my opinion, it nevertheless needs be presented so each individual can decide if they want to rig things differently or not.

There is one design change, as a result of this information, that would be worth considering and that concerns the exhaust air filter. If installed ‘correctly’ the Silencer/Muffler would then screw directly into the filter housing. That would clean up the exhaust area by eliminating some hose and a couple of brass adapters. Course, you would then require a different adapter to connect the ½” barb of the filter to the exhaust port of the pump. It’s always something, eh?

Hope the info wasn’t confusing. If you have questions, please let me know and I will do my best to answer them.