Thread: Vacuum Chucks

Originally Posted by Evanism

I have a silly 1hp DC with 600 CFM. As a test, I just put the 100mm hose over the end of the winder on the lathe. It sucked itself on like an octopus. The suction coming from the working end of the lathe was impressive.

I'd imagine some sort of rubber plumbing supply (like a toilet seal or cut up plunger) would give an even better seal on the handle end.

No good if I want to sand at the same time.

With the right bleed, it might well work. They really do suck, don't they?

A correction, too. Hearing that your's is 600cfm, I think mine might be similar - 500cfm. It's 1000W, (1 1/3HP), a drum-type DC.
When I bought it from H&F, it was listed at 500cfm I think, but earlier when I looked at the identical Scheppach-branded DC, it says 109cfm. That's where I got my figure from for the earlier post.

By coincidence, I had the plumber in earlier today (yesterday now) to replace that seal on my toilet and had a good look. Might do nicely. I should have asked if he had another with him.
(I had (clean) water spraying onto the floor when I flushed.)

That was my other thought ... would it have anough to vacuum and still use one port of dust extraction ... guess I am wanting too much


Dave the turning cowboy

turning wood into art

I thought these might be of interest:

Vacuum Pressure Graph.JPG

Vacuum Pressure Guide.JPG

Courtesy of the 'Bruised Brothers'.

The movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0ZOSUWiLVY

The pdf: http://www.goldentrianglewoodturners...0Chuck2008.pdf

A lot of interesting info, well worth a look-see.

They recommend not turning below 75 pounds pressure, or above 200-250 pounds.

Have not watched the clip yet but even the charts look great .... will get to this later in my day


Dave the turning cowboy

turning wood into art

My vacuum pump arrived this morning.

I forgot to mention earlier - the eBay listing describes them as 60Hz, but they are actually 50Hz and suitable for use in Oz. (I contacted the seller before buying, but forgot to mention it here.) I thought he was going to correct the listing, but he hasn't done so yet.

Also, the manual says that it's 3.3cfm, not 3.6cfm as described in his listing, but I'm not going to quibble over 0.3cfm.

Originally Posted by Hermit

My vacuum pump arrived this morning.

I forgot to mention earlier - the eBay listing describes them as 60Hz, but they are actually 50Hz and suitable for use in Oz. (I contacted the seller before buying, but forgot to mention it here.) I thought he was going to correct the listing, but he hasn't done so yet.

Also, the manual says that it's 3.3cfm, not 3.6cfm as described in his listing, but I'm not going to quibble over 0.3cfm.

and when are you bringing it to my place


Dave the turning cowboy

turning wood into art

Originally Posted by DaveTTC

and when are you bringing it to my place

Dave the turning cowboy
turning wood into art

After filling it with oil and giving it a run, I'm surprised at just how quiet it is. Sucks well, but so far I can only test it with my thumb, until the other stuff arrives.
Two bottles of oil were supplied, but it took 1 1/2 to fill it, so I still need to buy more for a future oil change.

I had a good read through all of the relevant threads last night to determine the best thickness of neoprene for the cup seals. I saw 1mm, 3mm and 10mm. 10 seems too thick and might allow bowls to move a bit too much on the chuck, so I averaged the 1mm and 3mm, buying 1m x 300mm of 2mm closed cell neoprene. Only $14. I figure if I cut it a little wider than the width of the lips on the vacuum cups to allow it to conform to the bowl shape, it should seal well.

Bought a 1" x 10tpi BSF tap last night, too, so I can thread the bottom of the vacuum cups and not blow more $$$ on faceplates or nuts to glue in the bottom.

Getting there, but I've gotta sit on my hands for a bit now and wait for all of the bits and pieces to arrive.

I came across another very good, informative pdf on vacuum chucking last night, too, written by William Noble, (an Aussie). (Attached)
It also has a good section at the end on making a Longworth chuck.

Steve
I use 1mm closed cell foam for my vacuum chucks.It's used as an underlay for floating timber flooring ,much cheaper than your closed cell neoprene.
Ted

Originally Posted by turnerted

Steve
I use 1mm closed cell foam for my vacuum chucks.It's used as an underlay for floating timber flooring ,much cheaper than your closed cell neoprene.
Ted

Thanks for the tip, Ted. I'll keep that in mind when I need more.
And I thought $14 for a metre of 2mm closed cell neoprene was cheap.
My main concern was to not use black rubber, since I've read that it can leave a black mark on the workpiece that's hard to remove.

Hermit had the oppurtunity to bring me his new set up but laughed in my face.

With one option left I had little choice. So I found an old varanda post



Cut a bit off



Then a found a wheel that I never put to use



and took a bit off



Oh here is a curtain rod so of that may come in handy



Ok back to that lump of oregon



Better make it round



And maybe a hole



now that hub and curtain rod, that could be a fit



Not aussie without a bit of construction pine



Man there's alot of pictures here ... maybe I better post this and finish in another post



Dave the turning cowboy

turning wood into art

Carrying on with construction pine ... a hole could be good



But why settle for one when you can have two



Now the oregon with the hole you may have noticed fitted the break handle on my mini jet. Lets see .... if we cut the curtain rod shorter and put the hub in the hole could the second hole in the pine ....



Yeah I think that works, Oh!!!! the big hole in the pine - I can plug that



Talking about plug .... maybe if I plugged this in



Ok guys .... for no lay out I have a vacuum chuck using what I had.

Must say it is a noisy little sucker



Dave the turning cowboy

turning wood into art

Methinks you've been following Repliconic's Indian build for too long. (But where's the body filler?)

Looks good, and definitely simple and cheap. Watch that vac cleaner though, for overheating, and thin-walled stuff. A vacuum gauge might be a good addition.

You'll have to report on how it goes after you test it out on your first bowl project.

My luck isn't real good, if I tried that I'd have all sorts of problems, or kill my vacuum cleaner at the least. I'm still happy going with my version.

Originally Posted by Hermit

Methinks you've been following Repliconic's Indian build for too long. (But where's the body filler?)

Looks good, and definitely simple and cheap. Watch that vac cleaner though, for overheating, and thin-walled stuff. A vacuum gauge might be a good addition.

You'll have to report on how it goes after you test it out on your first bowl project.

My luck isn't real good, if I tried that I'd have all sorts of problems, or kill my vacuum cleaner at the least. I'm still happy going with my version.

Yeah I wont stick with the vac for too long ... noisy as ... where do you keep your vacuum pump? Is the key under the flower pot?

It does hold ... not sure if I'm game to try it on a bowl or not?


Dave the turning cowboy

turning wood into art

Originally Posted by DaveTTC

Yeah I wont stick with the vac for too long ... noisy as ... where do you keep your vacuum pump? Is the key under the flower pot?

No key under the flower pot, but the back door's always unlocked. Just watch out for my guard dog - Jack Russel's are pretty savage. (At least, he thinks he is.)

It does hold ... not sure if I'm game to try it on a bowl or not?
Dave the turning cowboy
turning wood into art

I think you should be fine on larger stuff, with a fair bit of vacuum area. Just be careful if you make a small vac chuck for little stuff, the vacuum cleaner might not have enough pull. They're great in the cfm department, but not so good for actual vacuum pressure, inHg or whatever.

Vacuum pumps are the opposite - they can pull plenty of vacuum, but don't move much air, 2-5cfm typical, so the seals all need to be much better.)

Don't forget a seal on the lip of your vac cup/chuck.