Hi from Vac-Clamp
We manufacture vacuum clamps specifically for the job that you
mention. They are powered by compressed air, venturi creates the
vacuum, replaceable rubber seal is the only item to wear out.
Two different types available, single sided (bench mounted)and double
sided

Website http://www.vac-clamp.com

I REALLY would like to get everyone's opinion on the rec about this.

I bought a couple of Gast carbon vane vacuum pumps some time ago. I
have looked at Joe Woodworker. I have talked to Gast and other vacuum
pump companies. For the life of me, I don't know why anyone would buy
anything but a rotary vane pump. The Gast 522 series(older model) and
523 series have 4.5 cfm at 26", use 1/4 hp motors, are pulse free and
don't have any startup problems. I run these directly with no fancy
shutoff or unload valves or accumulators. They run continuously
during the vacuum clamping operation. Why wouldn't everyone use this
pump for vacuum clamping applications? Why does Joe Woodworker have
all the claptrap to do the same job? These pumps sell for slightly
over $100 on Ebay and somewhere just over $200 new. They are quiet
and long lasting (thousands of hours on a set of vanes).

I am slated to do a demonstration for our woodworker's guild in about
6 months and I am trying to get all kinds of information about vacuum
clamping, venier work and other applications for vacuum so I can give
a good presentation. I would like any and all ideas that would be
useful to present to the guild.

(Errol) wrote in message om...
Hi from Vac-Clamp
We manufacture vacuum clamps specifically for the job that you
mention. They are powered by compressed air, venturi creates the
vacuum, replaceable rubber seal is the only item to wear out.
Two different types available, single sided (bench mounted)and double
sided

Website http://www.vac-clamp.com

Forgot to provide a link for you to look at the pump I am talking about.

http://www.gastmfg.com/pdf/rotvane/23_series.pdf

(Errol) wrote in message om...
Hi from Vac-Clamp
We manufacture vacuum clamps specifically for the job that you
mention. They are powered by compressed air, venturi creates the
vacuum, replaceable rubber seal is the only item to wear out.
Two different types available, single sided (bench mounted)and double
sided

Website http://www.vac-clamp.com

Eric Anderson wrote:

I REALLY would like to get everyone's opinion on the rec about
this.

I bought a couple of Gast carbon vane vacuum pumps some time
ago. I have looked at Joe Woodworker. I have talked to Gast
and other vacuum pump companies. For the life of me, I don't
know why anyone would buy anything but a rotary vane pump.
The Gast 522 series(older model) and 523 series have 4.5 cfm
at 26", use 1/4 hp motors, are pulse free and don't have any
startup problems. I run these directly with no fancy shutoff
or unload valves or accumulators. They run continuously
during the vacuum clamping operation. Why wouldn't everyone
use this pump for vacuum clamping applications? Why does Joe
Woodworker have all the claptrap to do the same job? These
pumps sell for slightly over $100 on Ebay and somewhere just
over $200 new. They are quiet and long lasting (thousands of
hours on a set of vanes).

I am slated to do a demonstration for our woodworker's guild
in about 6 months and I am trying to get all kinds of
information about vacuum clamping, venier work and other
applications for vacuum so I can give a good presentation. I
would like any and all ideas that would be useful to present
to the guild.

Eric...

My vacuum clamping generally involves holding 1" and 2" lumber in
place on a table so I can attack it with a 5 HP router with a
typical feed rate of 1.5"/second.

My quite adequate vacuum clamping system (complete) cost less
than US$35. The vacuum pump is an old refrigerator compressor
that saw 20 years of service before I got it; and the puck-type
vacuum clamps are shop built.

I should probably say that I sell puck kits - but I encourage
people to build their own - and have a web page that tells how to
build vacuum pucks at http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/assembly.html

If you hunt around the site a bit, you can see the setup where I
use the vacuum clamps and can probably spot my "vacuum pump".

--
Morris Dovey
West Des Moines, Iowa USA
C links at http://www.iedu.com/c
Read my lips: The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Good examples. I will keep your contact information. One of the
things I want to have available for the other members is contact
information where they can get materials.

On the subject of the vacuum pump. Yes, I forgot that many people use
old refrigerator compressors with very good results. I need to
bone-up on how to use those since many people will not want to spring
for a commercial vacuum pump.

Can you run the refrigerator pump without regulation? I would assume
that you would want an accumulator to keep pulsations low.

Eric...

My vacuum clamping generally involves holding 1" and 2" lumber in
place on a table so I can attack it with a 5 HP router with a
typical feed rate of 1.5"/second.

My quite adequate vacuum clamping system (complete) cost less
than US$35. The vacuum pump is an old refrigerator compressor
that saw 20 years of service before I got it; and the puck-type
vacuum clamps are shop built.

I should probably say that I sell puck kits - but I encourage
people to build their own - and have a web page that tells how to
build vacuum pucks at http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/assembly.html

If you hunt around the site a bit, you can see the setup where I
use the vacuum clamps and can probably spot my "vacuum pump".

Eric Anderson wrote:

Can you run the refrigerator pump without regulation? I would
assume that you would want an accumulator to keep pulsations
low.

Eric...

This is the easiest and most simple of all possible setups (-:

[1] Remove compressor from refrigerator
[2] Plug in compressor and identify vacuum (intake)
[3] Slip plastic tubing over intake
[4] Connect other end of plastic tube to first puck
[5] Clean up any spilled oil

See the 5th photo down at http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/pix.html

I haven't noticed any pulsating; but assume that means the system
might be oscillating between, say 26.5" Hg and 27" Hg. If that
happened, I don't think I'd really care so long as my work was
held securely, which certainly hasn't been a problem so far.

Hmm. I hadn't thought about adding any kind of accumulator; but I
suspect that the 20' or so of tubing and the pucks themselves
make up a /sort/ of accumulator. I'm inclined to think that it's
much better to keep it simple.

Don't make a hard problem out of an easy one, nor an expensive
one where it doesn't have to be. Life is already complex enough.
Save your money to buy some really interesting wood. [-:

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto, Iowa USA

In article ,
Morris Dovey wrote:

This is the easiest and most simple of all possible setups (-:

[1] Remove compressor from refrigerator
[2] Plug in compressor and identify vacuum (intake)
[3] Slip plastic tubing over intake
[4] Connect other end of plastic tube to first puck
[5] Clean up any spilled oil

See the 5th photo down at http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/pix.html

I have been contemplating building a vac press system in a little while
so maybe you can answer my question; I have a fairly large window AC
unit I am not longer using, is the compressor in this [generally]
suitable? i.e. I know you cannot answer my specific case, but do AC
units generally generate a similiar amount of vacuum as a refrigerator?
Otherwise I gotta get to selling the d**n thing cause it is taking up
room in my shop...

Paul Kierstead wrote:

I have been contemplating building a vac press system in a
little while so maybe you can answer my question; I have a
fairly large window AC unit I am not longer using, is the
compressor in this [generally] suitable? i.e. I know you
cannot answer my specific case, but do AC units generally
generate a similiar amount of vacuum as a refrigerator?
Otherwise I gotta get to selling the d**n thing cause it is
taking up room in my shop...

Yes.

Having said that, I'd suggest looking around for a free
refrigerator, then sell the window AC and use the proceeds to buy
a vacuum sealing unit so you can produce your own bags (-:

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto, Iowa USA

In article ,
Morris Dovey wrote:

Paul Kierstead wrote:

compressor in this [generally] suitable? i.e. I know you
cannot answer my specific case, but do AC units generally
generate a similiar amount of vacuum as a refrigerator?
Otherwise I gotta get to selling the d**n thing cause it is
taking up room in my shop...

Yes.

Having said that, I'd suggest looking around for a free
refrigerator, then sell the window AC and use the proceeds to buy
a vacuum sealing unit so you can produce your own bags (-:

Well, your absolutely right, but I really hate selling stuff...it is
more hassle then I am generally willing to go through. But, OTOH, the
sale of the AC unit could indeed help get the press started...maybe I
should just get off my butt and sell it (amonst some other things).