It would be nice if someone could come up with a way a compressor could
serve a dual purpose such as a vacuum pump in addition to an air compressor.
I was thinking about inventing some kind of a diverter that could be
connected to the air intake port of the compressor with tubing to a vacuum
bag for gluing laminates. Have any of you out there heard of such a thing or
is that a dumb idea?

On Tue, 7 Aug 2007 17:34:58 -0500, Dave wrote:
It would be nice if someone could come up with a way a compressor
could serve a dual purpose such as a vacuum pump in addition to an
air compressor. I was thinking about inventing some kind of a
diverter that could be connected to the air intake port of the
compressor with tubing to a vacuum bag for gluing laminates. Have
any of you out there heard of such a thing or is that a dumb idea?

Yes. A venuri-based vacuum generator uses a compressor to drive it. But
instead of using the compressor intake, it uses the output compressed
air.

Its not as efficient as a well designed vacuum pump, but it does work.

You can buy one from http://www.joewoodworker.com

--
Art Greenberg
artg at eclipse dot net

Dave wrote:
| It would be nice if someone could come up with a way a compressor
| could serve a dual purpose such as a vacuum pump in addition to an
| air compressor. I was thinking about inventing some kind of a
| diverter that could be connected to the air intake port of the
| compressor with tubing to a vacuum bag for gluing laminates. Have
| any of you out there heard of such a thing or is that a dumb idea?

I use a recycled refrigerator compressor as a vacuum pump. It works
fairly well.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/interest.html

Art Greenberg wrote:
On Tue, 7 Aug 2007 17:34:58 -0500, Dave wrote:
It would be nice if someone could come up with a way a compressor
could serve a dual purpose such as a vacuum pump in addition to an
air compressor. I was thinking about inventing some kind of a
diverter that could be connected to the air intake port of the
compressor with tubing to a vacuum bag for gluing laminates. Have
any of you out there heard of such a thing or is that a dumb idea?

Yes. A venuri-based vacuum generator uses a compressor to drive it.
But instead of using the compressor intake, it uses the output
compressed air.

Its not as efficient as a well designed vacuum pump, but it does work.

You can buy one from http://www.joewoodworker.com

Here's another:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Air-Conditioner-...QQcmdZViewItem

On Tue, 7 Aug 2007 18:00:05 -0500, "Morris Dovey" wrote:

Dave wrote:
| It would be nice if someone could come up with a way a compressor
| could serve a dual purpose such as a vacuum pump in addition to an
| air compressor. I was thinking about inventing some kind of a
| diverter that could be connected to the air intake port of the
| compressor with tubing to a vacuum bag for gluing laminates. Have
| any of you out there heard of such a thing or is that a dumb idea?

I use a recycled refrigerator compressor as a vacuum pump. It works
fairly well.

My brother uses his compressor intake line for a vacuum chucking system on his
lathe...
It works ok, but I'd rather hear the little Gast pump I bought from Bill Noble
(shameless plug) than my damn compressor running.. YMWV

Just MHO, but I like multi-use tools about as much as "all in one package"
computer software...


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

mac davis wrote:

| My brother uses his compressor intake line for a vacuum chucking
| system on his lathe...
| It works ok, but I'd rather hear the little Gast pump I bought from
| Bill Noble (shameless plug) than my damn compressor running.. YMWV

My lash-up is shown under the end of the table in the fifth photo down
at the page below. One of the problems I have is that it doesn't make
/any/ noise to remind me to shut it off...

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/pix.html