OK, now this really sucks..........

Stuart Ablett

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Tokyo Japan
........or at least that is the idea :D :thumb:

Hitachi "Cutevac 160VP" (only in Japan would a vacuum pump be "Cute")

cutevac1.jpg cutevac2.jpg cutevac3.jpg

I found this same pump for sale in the US on eBay and other sites, selling for $600, so I think I got a good one here, I paid 11,100 yen plus shipping, maybe another 1,500 yen (it weighs 26Kg/57lbs) so a total of 12,600 yen or $105 USD :D

Says pumping to the 10-2 and 160 liters a minute (42 US Gal/min) I think this will do for the lathe, and for a vacuum bad down the road.

Cheers!
 
That looks like a great deal, Stu. All of the other cute things I can think of to say would be against the CoC, don't ya know. :p ;)

One downside to my $300 Craftsman lathe is that the hole through the spindle is too small to fit any of the vacuum setups I've seen. I know I've seen vacuum chucks that didn't need the hollow spindle, but I'd rather not spend that much for something I don't expect to need on the next lathe.
 
Stu...In servicing the cryogen systems in supercooled magnets used on MR scanners, I use one that looks very similar but manufactured by another company. We often have to let them run for hours. Other than checking the oil level and occassionally changing out the oil, they perform quite well.
 
So you want us to tell you you suck because you got something that sucks? Ok you suck...I mean it sucks...awwww, what ever! Nice score! This seems lika a pretty sucky thread!:rofl:
 
Well, the vacuum pump finally got here :D

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The guy built a wooden crate around the cardboard box the pump came in :thumb:

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It sure is a lot bigger than most of the pumps I've seen.......
(notice my Estwing hammer in the pic for scale)

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I even cleared out a new home for the pump.

I'm thinking I'll build a box around it, with ample air holes on the backside, to keep the curlies off the pump. It even runs fairly quiet.

Total to my door was 13100 yen or about $110, not bad at all! :wave:
 
Was this an Ebay purchase? If so give the guy some major positive feedback for his packing technique.

I know that you will already know but make sure that you have some good filtering in the suction side of the piping. It also pays to make the pipework easy to break down so that you can, if (when!!) necessary blow out any obstruction. It only takes a itty bitty obstruction to reduce your effecive flow and the whole machine is constantly trying to find that itty bitty bit for you. Does this sound like the voice of experience speaking??
 
Hey Ian, not Ebay, that never took off here, it's Yahoo auction here in Japan.

Yes, I got my wife to comment on our feed back that the pump is exactly like he said, and that the packing was VERY good.

On the intake side of the pump there is an "Oil Mist" filter, that is the tall white thing, and the filter is brand new to boot!

On the suction side, there is a fine stainless filter thing inside the black pipe that sticks up from the top of the pump.

Now I got some questions, what do I use for Vacuum hose? :huh: :dunno:

Can I use normal air hose and fittings? Hope so, I have a fair bit of that stuff.

My plan is to build a box over the pump, with holes on the back side of it (covered with some kind of filter medium) and then have the hose come through the box, and then have some hard piping with a shut off valve, and a pressure gauge worked in there somewhere.

My initial use will be on the lathe, but I also foresee other uses, a Vacuum bag, so I can squash unsuspecting packing peanut :D :thumb: and other things as well, like maybe stabilizing pen blanks, or for that matter bowl blanks :eek:

I saw a large vacuum pot on auction a week or two ago, like a giant pressure cooker, something like 750 liters (20 gallons) it went for cheap too.

Well who knows, with the 145 liter/minute, and a 10^2 should be enough to do most any job, I'd think :dunno:

So what about the normal air hoses and connectors, can I use them with a vacuum set up, or are they designed to be under pressure?

I'll have to go have another look at Joe Woodworker. :wave:
 
The hose on mine is made by Synflex but I cannot see why normal airline hose won't work. Basically the pressure differential on compressed air is much higher than with vaccuum. If it can withstand 100psi of positive I would surprised if it can't deal with 15psi of negative.

My setup uses plastic connectors made by a firm called "CPC". I would think that PCL connectors, which rely on energy from the airline pressure to make a seal, would not work for vacuum. I suspect that others will have more knowledge here than I do though.
 
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