Vacuum and the Nova 3000

Re: Vacuum and the Nova 3000

John Lucas

>Jorge

You can build your own vacuum chucks using faceplates and various adaptors made of wood, PVC or aluminum. I used 1 1/4" nuts and welded a Washer to the front then mounted wood on that and then mounted PVC pipe to the front. I've also made some out of wood but you have to seal the wood or it leaks air. The pipe or wood is really just a bowl to with a rubber lip that forms the seal. The bigger the bowl the stronger the vacuum hold.

Packard sells gasket material that fits on the rim of the vacuum chuck. I use that but have also used The gasket material that goes between my topper and my truck bed. It isn't very tough and wears out fast but a huge roll is only $6. Since it's not round I connect the joints with silicone rubber. This has worked fine for years but the real gasket material is better.

Re: Vacuum and the Nova 3000

Jorge Castaneda ~ Downeast Maine

>John,

Ihave several faceplates, I could dedicate one to the vacuum. If I was to use the PVC pipe, what would be the best diameter to use? 6", 8"? I am thinking of using the vacuum chuck to finish the bigger bowls and to make plates and whatever other use I may find for it.

Thank you!

Jorge

Re: Vacuum and the Nova 3000

John Lucas

>Jorge

I have 3 that I use most often. One is 6"PVC and is about 4" deep. This one is used 80 percent of the time. I made a wooden one that is 8" long and 4" around. It is used mostly for small Natural edge bowls. Evaluate how deep your bowls are and make them deep enough so they clear the headstock.

My last one that I use on occasions is flat with the flat foam truck bed liner covering it. This one is used for platters and such.

I have a wooden chuck that is around 6" in diameter. It has the flat stuff wrapped in pieces over the lip. I did this for bowls that need to have the vacuum seal on the outer perimeter or inner perimeter instead of on the lip. This doesn't happen often but sometimes I make things that just don't fit your standard bowl format.

That's the greatest thing about vacuum chucks. No matter what the shape you can quickly build a chuck to fit. I usually use lacquer to seal the wood but when I needed one quick I used Duck tape. Worked great and my redneck tensions were relieved.

One more question

Jorge Castaneda ~ Downeast Maine

>John,

You are a good salesman, I am in my way to the borg to find the pipe pieces, thinking a little more about it, does it need something between the hand wheel and the faceplate?, I mean something like a small section of pipe, thinking that there may be vacuums leaks inside the spindle.

Thanks

Jorge

Re: Vacuum and the Nova 3000

Barry Irby

>Jorge,

I too built one and I have the "flat" chuck and the drum of cannister. The flat chuck is just a piece of MDF on a faceplate and I used black Neoprene foam glued to it. I rounded the outer edge and rolled the neoprene over so a large bowl or plater could seal on the edge. For the drum i used a piece of plywood scrap and a piece of PVC pipe that I happened to have about four inches long and put a ring or donut of plywood on the outbound end and cover that with the neoprene. Both work well.

I have the Nova 3000 and used a 42 MM double sealed bearing in the bearing race. I assembled a little contraption of pipe fittings that includes a vacuum gage and a valve that lets air in to control or break the vacuum. The bearing just slips in and out and that how I install and remove the vacuum.

Give some thought to all the air leaks. The hand wheel leaks where it screws onto the the shaft. I solved that with a small O ring. The fitting I bought to fit into the bear leaked. I solved that by chucking it and filing it to fit the bearing and then filing in two groves for O rings and then pressing them into the bearing. The chuck or face plate leaks where it screws onto the shaft. I solved that by cutting a rubber gasket and gluing it onto the face of the nut where it pulls up against the shoulder on the shaft. That worked well except that the action of putting on and off pealed the gasket off the nut. Now I just use a larger O ring.

I have a relatively small vacuum pump and found it necessary to be very attentive to sealing up all the leaks. I put a bead of silicon rubber caulk between the faceplate and the MDF or plywood. I put silicon in all the screw holes for the bolts. I put silicone in the groove the PVC pipe is seated in. Just coat the whole thing in silicon.

I used Spray on "craft" cement similar to contact adhesive to glue on the neoprene. I wish I had used something stronger or more aggressive. It was really designed to be pealed off later and that is not what you want.

If you use plywood as I did you will have to seal the end grain as well. Mine was made out of some coarse wood and the pump would sucked air right through the wood in the plys.

Someone put me onto a great article about this. if you want I will try to find it and forward it on.

Incidentally, I have never had the black neoprene leave a black mark on anything. I bought 1/8" think stuff at an industrial gasket supply place. I also hear that Walmart has "foamies" that are some suitable foam with sticky on one side.

Re: One more question *LINK*

TomW In SouthJersey

>Jorge - As long as your building one for a Nova 3000 you might as well build 2 and ship one further south to more humid NJ. I could test it in summer heat so you'll have an indication of how it'll hold up for you.

Here is a link I found that might prove helpful. I had planned on building one ut haven'tgotten to it yet.

Hope this helps.

Tom


Vacuum Chuck Plans

Re: Vacuum and the Nova 3000

Jorge Castaneda ~ Downeast Maine

>Barry,

You bring up a whole bunch of points I was just starting to fathom, yes if possible I would like to read that article, I am sending you an email.

Thank You

Jorge

Re: One more question

Jorge Castaneda ~ Downeast Maine

>Tom,

That link hits the spot! :o), it answers all the questions I had.

Thank you very much, you guys are the best.

Jorge

Need a pump???

Bernie

>I have sold many Reman Robinair 15600 6cfm units

here and to my turning club members

115v with cord and on/off switch

175.00 shipped to your door

Re: Vacuum and the Nova 3000

John Lucas

>Definitely get some of the thin closed cell foam from Walmart or hobby lobby. I cut little squares and cut a whole in it. These are handy when the bowls warp a little. You can put them between the vacuum chuck and the bowl and it helps compensate for the warp and create a seal.

Re: Need a pump???

Jorge Castaneda ~ Downeast Maine

>Bernie,

As a matter of fact I do, I am emailing you

Thanks

Jorge

Great pump!

Fred in NC

>I am a happy user of one of Bernie's pumps. Be sure to get the vacuum gauge too.

Re: Great pump!

Jorge Castaneda ~ Downeast Maine

>Fred,

I will, good to hear from a user.

Thanks

Jorge

Re: Vacuum and the Nova 3000

Barry Irby

>Jorge, I apologize, I just searched my computer and I can not find the article. I believe it was in a .pdf format (Adobe Acrobat) and was long and well done. I don't know how I came across it to begin with, but I might have gotten it from a Google search. I searched my files under the word VACUUM, so if it did not have that in the name It would not show up, Then I tried searching all the PDF files and there were hundreds, but I saw nothing that rang a bell. Of course if it had a name like a list of nonsense letters, who knows. Maybe someone better organized than me (that would be everyone here) may be able to point us back to it. I had assumed I could find it and that it was stored here somewhere, but no luck.

Re: Vacuum and the Nova 3000

Walter Ahlgrim

>Just a few things you should think about.

1 The Teknatool vacuum adaptor is designed for use with a low pressure high volume vacuum cleaner. So get a big pump (6 CFM) to over come the leaks.

2 Only cut the PVC with scraping tools, gouges will cache. Once the tip of the scraper and the plastic gets warm you will get a very poor surface, I just change tools and or take 5 minuet breaks.

3 Don�t buy just the PVC fittings you need some pipe to glue inside the fittings to beef up the rims. This will give you some play if the PVC is not glued perfectly on center

4 I like polyurethane belting for the end seal it will not leave black marks on your work.

5 My oil bath pump put a fine mist if oil in the air. Also you must change the oil from time to time, as the oil absorbs water from the air that may damage the pump over time.

It's alright

Jorge Castaneda ~ Downeast Maine

>Barry,

Thanks for your effort, I appreciate that, Tom gave me a link to an article that is enough for me to get going.

Thanks again

Jorge

Re: Vacuum and the Nova 3000

Jorge Castaneda ~ Downeast Maine

>Walter,

All your points are valuable to me and will follow your advice and the other fellows too...

Thanks for the heads up, much appreciated

Jorge