Stuart Ablett
Member
- Messages
- 15,917
- Location
- Tokyo Japan
Well, after seeing the fine work that >> Steve Schlumpf << did on building his vacuum system, and the work that >> Vaughn McMillian << did on his Vacuum Cart, I figured it was time to upgrade my set up.
There is one big difference between the systems they built, and the one I'm building, that is the pumps. Their pumps are not very large at all, they weigh about 25 lbs or so, while the pump I have, weighs in at over 60 pounds, so my system will live below the lathe, on top of the sand box on my stand.
I have a Nova DVR 3000, the "Vacuum Attachment" that Tekna Tools sells is rather poor, they say it is for use with a shop vac, well I tried mine, and it did not work well at all, I had zero confidence that it would hold well enough to do much more than some sanding.
I know that OneWay sells a good Vacuum Adaptor..........
..........
But is is nearly $100, and I'd have to remove the hand wheel each time I wanted to use this, so I was not interested (no doubt it is a good piece of kit).
I saw someone else using the "Holdfast" adapter, so I looked at it.......
Now I have to say, this really does look like something I could make myself, and being a chronic "Do it yourselfer" I did
The hardest thing to source was the threaded lamp rod, but I did find some, at my favorite DIY shop, Joyful Honda!
OK, I started with the "Spinner" which is the bit on the handcrank end of the headstock, NOT the spindle side. This is the piece that the hose attaches to and goes to the pump.
I took a bearing that I had, it has an inside diameter of 12mm, and I took a hose nipple that has an outside diameter of 13.6 mm..........
I then chucked up the hose nipple in the lathe and used a fine file on it to reduce it's size, I checked often, until I got it just the right size.
I used the woodworking vice to press fit the hose nipple into the center of the bearing.
Just to make really sure, I used some silicone sealer on the backside of the bearing, I sure hope it does not leak.
next I took one of the roundish nuts I got from the lamp shop stuff and drilled a hole that just fit the nut, this will get sandwiched between two pieces of MDF in the spinner.
I then used a holesaw to cut this piece of MDF into a nice little wheel, and I made a matching one as well.
I made a third piece that is a little larger in diameter for the bearing to sit in.
Here are the parts that make up the "Spinner" for the handwheel side of the lathe.
After that pic was taken, I drilled the center hole out to 9.6 mm, just slightly smaller than the lamp rod diameter, so the lamp rod will have to thread into the MDF a bit, I hope this stops some of the leaks.
I next put everything together, and glued it all up, then shaped it a bit on the lathe. (I've not yet begun the shaping in the pic).
OK, on to the spindle side of things, I needed something to stop the lamp rod from pulling through the headstock, I could not find a tap in the right thread size for the lamp rod, or I'd have just made one up from some plastic or something............
........instead, I bought this brass ball which was already threaded, I guess it was a finial on a lamp or something
I screwed it on to the lamp rod, using RED Loctite then I drilled it, and shaped it a bit on the lathe (brass shapes easy with the lathe HSS tools ).
If need be, I'll put some sort of foam washer between the ball and the spindle, but I think I can "Rub" the brass ball against the spindle enough to make a good tight fit
Cont............
There is one big difference between the systems they built, and the one I'm building, that is the pumps. Their pumps are not very large at all, they weigh about 25 lbs or so, while the pump I have, weighs in at over 60 pounds, so my system will live below the lathe, on top of the sand box on my stand.
I have a Nova DVR 3000, the "Vacuum Attachment" that Tekna Tools sells is rather poor, they say it is for use with a shop vac, well I tried mine, and it did not work well at all, I had zero confidence that it would hold well enough to do much more than some sanding.
I know that OneWay sells a good Vacuum Adaptor..........
But is is nearly $100, and I'd have to remove the hand wheel each time I wanted to use this, so I was not interested (no doubt it is a good piece of kit).
I saw someone else using the "Holdfast" adapter, so I looked at it.......
Now I have to say, this really does look like something I could make myself, and being a chronic "Do it yourselfer" I did
The hardest thing to source was the threaded lamp rod, but I did find some, at my favorite DIY shop, Joyful Honda!
OK, I started with the "Spinner" which is the bit on the handcrank end of the headstock, NOT the spindle side. This is the piece that the hose attaches to and goes to the pump.
I took a bearing that I had, it has an inside diameter of 12mm, and I took a hose nipple that has an outside diameter of 13.6 mm..........
I then chucked up the hose nipple in the lathe and used a fine file on it to reduce it's size, I checked often, until I got it just the right size.
I used the woodworking vice to press fit the hose nipple into the center of the bearing.
Just to make really sure, I used some silicone sealer on the backside of the bearing, I sure hope it does not leak.
next I took one of the roundish nuts I got from the lamp shop stuff and drilled a hole that just fit the nut, this will get sandwiched between two pieces of MDF in the spinner.
I then used a holesaw to cut this piece of MDF into a nice little wheel, and I made a matching one as well.
I made a third piece that is a little larger in diameter for the bearing to sit in.
Here are the parts that make up the "Spinner" for the handwheel side of the lathe.
After that pic was taken, I drilled the center hole out to 9.6 mm, just slightly smaller than the lamp rod diameter, so the lamp rod will have to thread into the MDF a bit, I hope this stops some of the leaks.
I next put everything together, and glued it all up, then shaped it a bit on the lathe. (I've not yet begun the shaping in the pic).
OK, on to the spindle side of things, I needed something to stop the lamp rod from pulling through the headstock, I could not find a tap in the right thread size for the lamp rod, or I'd have just made one up from some plastic or something............
........instead, I bought this brass ball which was already threaded, I guess it was a finial on a lamp or something
I screwed it on to the lamp rod, using RED Loctite then I drilled it, and shaped it a bit on the lathe (brass shapes easy with the lathe HSS tools ).
If need be, I'll put some sort of foam washer between the ball and the spindle, but I think I can "Rub" the brass ball against the spindle enough to make a good tight fit
Cont............