I posted a few pics on ABPW of a simple modification of my lathe handwheel
that allows for an inexpensive vacuum attachment if you have a suitable
pump. It works great and I hope it can help if you have such a need.

Dick Mahany

Dick Mahany wrote:

I posted a few pics on ABPW of a simple modification of my lathe handwheel
that allows for an inexpensive vacuum attachment if you have a suitable
pump. It works great and I hope it can help if you have such a need.

Dick Mahany


Thanks for posting them Dick. Dumb newbe quetion, what do you use a
vacume system for??

Lee

On Mon, 22 Oct 2007 05:11:13 -0500, Lee Tollett wrote:

Dick Mahany wrote:

I posted a few pics on ABPW of a simple modification of my lathe handwheel
that allows for an inexpensive vacuum attachment if you have a suitable
pump. It works great and I hope it can help if you have such a need.

Dick Mahany


Thanks for posting them Dick. Dumb newbe quetion, what do you use a
vacume system for??

Lee

Lee...
They'll be tons of answers to this one, but the basic use is to reverse a bowl
and trim/finish the bottom..
I've tried jam chucks, jumbo jaws, etc. and nothing really worked for me until I
built the vac system.. (with parts and a lot of help from Bill Noble)

I also use it to put things back on the lathe that I thought were done until I
looked at them a few years later... *g*
You can put a bowl on, thin and sand, reverse it and make it "new"... great for
the clunky, poorly finished stuff that I thought was so cool a few years ago..


mac

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Lee Tollett wrote:

Dick Mahany wrote:

I posted a few pics on ABPW of a simple modification of my lathe
handwheel that allows for an inexpensive vacuum attachment if you have a
suitable pump. It works great and I hope it can help if you have such a
need.

Dick Mahany


Thanks for posting them Dick. Dumb newbe quetion, what do you use a
vacume system for??

Lee

A good question Lee, and Mac gave a really good answer.

Being married to a "downeaster" scot for over 40 years does intersting
things to a fellow. I knew I needed a vacuum chuck, but "oh the cost."
The solution was simple and the parts few. Take a face plate (Reed made a
nice system that used face plates that screwed onto an adapter with 1" x
8tpi threads and I had an extra) bandsaw a circle as large as your lathe
can handle from GOOD 3/4 plywood (my first was from MDF and wiped out my
dustcollection system when it came apart) center the face plate and true up
on your lathe - making sure to flatten the face of the plywood, otherwise
you will have a chuck with a wobble.

Next drill a half inch by 1/8"+ in the dead center of the face, on the side
opposite the face plate. The drill 3/8" hole all the way through the
plywood, centered on the 1/2" hole. The cover the face with some
5/32"cork, applied with contact cement. After the cork is set, clean out
to the half inch hole.

Get a 30" piece of 3/8" metal brake line from your local auto store and cut
one flange off and remove both flange nuts. Slide the brake line through
the front of the faceplate and glue in place with some hot glue (the recess
allows the flange on the brake line to be below the level of the cork).

Now, find a SEALED bearing with a 3/8" center, turn a small piece large
enough to hold the bearing in a recess on one side and drill a 3/8" hole
all the way through the turned piece.. Hot glue a short piece of that
metal brake line to the center of the bearing, the outside race of the
bearing to the recess and another short piece to the opposite side of the
turned piece. A couple of pieces of 3/8" rubber braided brake hose and
you are in business (a short on for the coupling between the pipe that goes
through the headstock and a longer piece to connect to your vacuum pump).

Now for the vacuum pump - you can pay about $325.00 for a Gast pump (and
that is what you want) or you can go to

http://www.surpluscenter.com/

and get one for a LOT less. Mine runs off 220v. If that is a problem for
you, buy it anyway and get a 2-1 stepdown transformer. The two together
would cost a lot less than the vacuum pump elsewhere.

Bye the way, the sucker (in more ways that one :-) ) is noisy but works
like a champ.

For what it is worth.

Lee - you've got a basic answer to your question already - there is a
reasonably lengthy and complete paper on vacuum chucks/pumps and a much
shorter briefing on the same on my web site, www.wbnoble.com - click on
vacuum pumps when you get there. You'll find all the therory you can
stomach, and diagrams to make your own vac adapter, and if you dig around,
diagrams of my own setup as well.

And, of course if the mood strikes you, it's even possible to buy pumps from
me, should you wish to.
"Lee Tollett" wrote in message
...
Dick Mahany wrote:

I posted a few pics on ABPW of a simple modification of my lathe
handwheel that allows for an inexpensive vacuum attachment if you have a
suitable pump. It works great and I hope it can help if you have such a
need.

Dick Mahany
Thanks for posting them Dick. Dumb newbe quetion, what do you use a
vacume system for??

Lee



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

On Mon, 22 Oct 2007 23:27:42 -0700, "William Noble" wrote:

Lee - you've got a basic answer to your question already - there is a
reasonably lengthy and complete paper on vacuum chucks/pumps and a much
shorter briefing on the same on my web site, www.wbnoble.com - click on
vacuum pumps when you get there. You'll find all the therory you can
stomach, and diagrams to make your own vac adapter, and if you dig around,
diagrams of my own setup as well.

And, of course if the mood strikes you, it's even possible to buy pumps from
me, should you wish to.

Lee.. Bill's being humble, as usual, so I'll do an ad for him....*g*

I priced vacuum chuck systems and decided that it would be great IF I had an
extra $400 or so...
Bill sold me a nice pump, gauge, water/dust filter, etc. for less that $200,
including shipping..
THEN, he exchanged several emails from me and answered all my questions and made
some great suggestions..
He the MAN..


mac

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