Where can I buy a small vacuum chamber+pump in BC, Canada?

I would check with dental and jewelry supply places first. then look on ebay or craigs list. I know Kerr makes a very good vacuum chamber just do a search. I am sure you will be able to find one. you should be able to find one used in your price range with a pump.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pro-Craft-Vacuu...ryZ10323QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Pro-Craft Vacuum Assist Investment Casting - eBay (item 250237543160 end time May-16-08 03:09:02 PDT)

 

You need a vacuum pump to create the vacuum. The one in the post above still requires connection to a pump.

From memory - please someone correct me if I'm wrong - the pump needs to be able to pull a vacuum af 28 - 29" of Hg.

You can get a good chamber at a reasonable price from:

http://alumilite.com/ProdDetail.cfm?Category=Equipment&Name=Vacuum Chamber

You need to be very careful of homemade chambers as they have been known to implode.

I have a vacuum pump and have been unable to find a suitable chamber here in Australia so far. I have often thought of making my own chamber but the danger warnings have scared me enough not to.

You should join the casting forum on yahoogroups.com for heaps of info on casting, vacuum and pressure etc

Hope this helps a bit

 

Forgot you may also like to try a laboratory dessicator - they are available in small sizes from about 6 inches but again need connection to a vacuum pump:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Large-Pyrex-Gla...ryZ11812QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

I needs me one of these too... I wonder if Home Depot or somesuch carries the pressure pots they use for spraypainting stuff. Though I think in the case of those things its the compressor that costs an arm and a leg... hmm. Anybody see them at a hardware store?

 

here is a place it has links and all types of info :-)
http://www.knf.com/reps_distr.htm
KNF Vacuum Pump
This is what I use for my vacuum caster I built my self...
http://www.testersandtools.com/Bacharach-QV2-2002-0001-AC-Vacuum-Pump.php
Bacharach QV2 2002-0001 AC Vacuum Pump

 

Your pump is similar to what I have. Do you have details on the vacuum chamber you are using? I would be very interested to see pics and details of your setup

 

I am afraid it's in storage... and hand made, I had the stand made out of steel and the shaker plate out of aluminum 12" x12" and bought a bell jar from
Rio Grande jewelry supply because it had a side mount hose hook up... works great one of these days I am going to have to start making jewelery again.

 

My husband is using small storage container from the Food Vacuum packers...as a vacuum chamber for small resin parts, for his 1/35th models.

Apparently it works quite well, and you can get vacuum sealers in WalMarts, Targets, etc...

These are plastic cannisters with removable tops, with a tube that hooks up to the vacuum sealer....

These are small parts that he is casting, so I don't know how well it works for larger parts - but talking to him, he says it is a good inexpensive way of producing them at home...eyes it should work well on

Susan

 

Man, why do these things have to be so expensive??? *sigh* Imma need two more paychecks before I can even consider buying the chamber alone, nevermind the pump. Arg. Being serious about casting is expensive. Naturally I pick the least cost effective fine arts related hobby on earth. *L*

Until my Synj is paid for, I guess I'll have to live with bubbles.....

 

I have been in vacuum science for more than 18 years now. *sigh*

Inexpensive pumps are on the loading docks of research universities. Asking the right people to look out for one for you, and you would land one in a week. I have a Kinney that I grabbed out of the rain, cleaned it up, and it pulls submicron (less than 1mTorr). I have pumps shelved in more than 4 locations, the rest are on the floor because of their size. One of them is so big that it requires an engine hoist to lift it off the ground. I put it on a cart so that no one would take my cart. I just finished extracting a turbomolecular pump power supply. I got the turbo pump several weeks ago. Now I have a complete set for high vacuum applications. Anyway, most of the pumps are backups for pumps already in service. Used pumps are $1500 to $5000 of this kind, turbo pumps are typically $5K and up.

I'm not sure why working pumps are discarded other than newer technologies have allowed for lower maintenance and cleaner pumping.

So they are out there, for free or buy from surplus departments. I'm not convinced that our surplus department is selling everything they collect. Maybe you can be in the right place before its tossed in the trash or picked up by the metal recycler.

Two things I look at when buying a vacuum pump, pumping speed (at least 9CFM or 4 liters per second) and ultimate pressure (15 to 30 mTorr). Any two stage pump with a KF25 (1 inch or 25mm diameter) inlet flange should be able to meet that spec. There is a lot more to it than the above described, but for your application, degassing liquids, it's enough.

Good brands are Leybold, Alcatel, Welch, and BOC Edwards. A lot of Welch pumps are being trashed because they are too heavy? They die hard, are built to last, take a lot of abuse, and they have incredible pumping speeds.

CHAMBERS Make sure you have an implosion guard if your chamber is glass. I have never seen one implode, not sure I would want to be next to one when it does!

If you have any questions, just ask. ^_^

- Jeff

 

If all you are casting are a few eyes at one time, then a small chamber, thermocouple vacuum gage and meter, vacuum pump all for $50USD (even though a new vac gage is $150). I'm not selling. I just know it can be done.

Jeff

 

I recently bought a vacuum pump (and then sold it because I needed the money). I bought it on Amazon.com for about $250. They are used by people who work on air conditioners, so they are pretty common, and that price is common as well.

I thought you needed a pressure pot and compressor to cast resin without bubbles. My compressor cost about $150, again on Amazon.com. It is 3.5 horsepower. My pressure pot is one of these:
http://www.finishsystems.com/resincastingpressurepots.html
These are not cheap. Definitely more than the compressor.

 

There are two stages of bubble removal: vacuum and pressure.

As I understand it, vacuum is used for the silicone part of mold making. Vacuuming requires a vacuum pump and a vacuum chamber. It sucks the bubbles out of your silicone so you can pour without bubbles.

The pressure is used while the resin is setting up. This requires an air compressor and a pressure pot. The air compressor squeezes the bubbles so they don't show up in your cast piece. Sometimes people will put their resin in a vacuum chamber before pouring it in their mold, but I think the more important part is the pressure.

Casting resin pieces isn't very cheap. It IS an expensive hobby that we have chosen. Alumilite has a vacuum chamber and pressure pot, and the prices are as good as I've seen. www.alumilite.com. I found my vacuum pump and air compressor at Amazon. The vacuum pump needs to pull 28" hg and the air compressor needs to go up to 80 psi. Someone else may have better knowledge of these things.

These come from my instruction source for casting clear resin. Opaque resin may have different requirements.

 

i'd try first a place in northern ohio in cleveland by the border called hgr. they have a website. they are surplus used machine dealer. they buy used machines from places going out of business then resell them. i'm pretty sure my dad got mine there and it's big. like 12"X 12" on the bottom and 2ft tall. and he paid $100 for it.

 

You can skip the thermocouple gage and just use a vacuum dial gage. You don't need a meter for those (It is the meter!). When someone says you need 28" of mercury, then you will be able to read that with a vacuum dial gage. What you won't be able to read is 28.1" of mercury. With a thermocouple gage and the pumpdown time of the chamber to 50 micron, I can tell the humidity in the room on that day.

My original point was that real good used vacuum pumps that originally cost $1500 to $5000 when purchased, and can out-perform any of the casting kit vacuum pumps, can be had for free or $50. Key word: used.

You can select from a used equipment broker, but where do you think they got them?

Wow, vacuum and compression! Yeah, pull a vacuum first and then compress what is still left in solution. You would be suprised the amount of dissolved gasses in a glass of water, BEFORE it reaches the boiling point at room temperature.

When selecting a used vacuum pump, choose one that has clean inlet and outlet vacuum ports, no crust or dirty oil. Clean ports usually mean that most of its service life was used for pumping air. Other pumps will be used for maintaining a low pressure in a reactor (CVD or LPCVD) at the cost of "eating" process byproducts. A lot of damage done on those pumps.

You need a vacuum pump and a chamber (includes connection to pump, vent valve, and the means to load samples). Anything above that enhances performance or user convenience (like the $20K load lock my friend bought for his research).

Components can be bought separately, but I would try to get them all together. "For $50, let me have what I want off that Cwikscan II FE SEM". Out of my hands, but I know where a pump and chamber are sitting in a warehouse collecting dust. It will probably go straight to the recycler when they need the space.

Your chamber for vacuum will be different than the one for pressure. Some vacuum chamber designs will rely on the pressure of atmosphere to seal the chamber, so generally this does not work well in reverse. If you can imagine, a 12" square plate has 144 square inches of surface that atmosphere can act on. At 14.7 pounds per square inch, that's 2116 pounds force! It's no wonder that vacuum storage bags can flatten clothes, blankets, and pillows.

 

follow this link...

In this lot are several to choose from. The location is close to you and you can hire someone to pick it up and pack it for you. I did this when I purchased a very heavy rolling mill.

http://www.dovebid.com/assets/display.asp?ItemID=bio103651

plenty of vacuum power in these!

Jeff