Vacuum Chuck

[Rob]

Finally got around to building my vacuum chuck. Mounted the pump in a cabinet I quickly threw together from melamne with pocket hole screws. Shelf space to store the various size chucks I'll make. Got the pump from a guy on SMC, very cool guy that helped a lot. All the other parts came from http://www.jtturningtools.com/, fit was great, everything went together easily. So far it's working great, pulling about 16" of vacuum, I need to redo my connections to see if I can increase that. The chuck is MDF on a faceplate, a groove turned in it for the PVC, PVC is glued in, and craft foam around the edge. My good friend Nate gave me a Beal tap to use so I plan on using it to make more chucks, depending on the size I need.

We had a light in the living room that the plastic lamp shade broke and we couldn't replace it. So I re-purposed it. A piece of wood mounted to the top, a little re-wiring, and now I have an adjustable light, with a second light shining into my work.

 

[Bill Clemmons]

Pretty cool Rob. :icon_thum

Bill

 

[Roy G]

How's the vacuum chuck work? Does it hold well, or is it easy to knock off the bowl with a catch? The concept is interesting but I would like to know how it works out in practice.

Roy G

 

[Rob]

I used it yesterday turning the bottom of a bowl, sanded it with no issues. Took light cuts. A catch might knock it off, but I think it would have to be a pretty big one. I also kept the tail stock on until it was in the way. I tried to do another bowl, and couldn't get the vacuum past 5". I didn't try to turn it yet. Discovered a small hole in a knot in the bowl, so will have to make a smaller chuck to do it.

 

[Woodman2k]

Rob,
I did most of what you have done and yes it works great. I like your cabinet idea, I made mine as open shelves and it holds a lot of chips. On the piece with the knot ,fill the knot with thick super glue or put some packing tape over the knot temporarily. Only has to work for a little while. On the pvc seal, get some o-ring seal material from Holdfast and mount the pvc in your lathe and turn a o-ring groove in the end if the pvc.Glue it in and it works great.Also,dip your MDF faceplates in shellac or some kind of sealer to help close it up. That will help with your vacuum numbers.
Have fun,Greg

 

[Rob]

Thanks Greg, didn't think about using CA glue to seal it, it's a pin hole, that would work good. I just thought it was a good excuse to make another smaller size chuck. Good idea on dipping the MDF to seal it. The craft foam seems to be doing the trick as far as a seal goes.

The cabinet is open faced shelves, I just turned it away from the lathe. I'm thinking about installing a door on it, build a frame with screen in it, to allow air flow for the pump, but still keep shavings out of it.