Author Topic: VB36 Vacuum chuck and rotary adaptor  (Read 4894 times)

Offline Lazurus

  • platinum
  • *****
  • Posts: 540
VB36 Vacuum chuck and rotary adaptor
« on: February 19, 2018, 10:15:12 AM »
Well, having got a 4 cfm vacuum pump for my resin vacuum chamber I decided to have a go at a vacuum chuck to suit my VB. A pleasant weekend tinkering in the workshop has a system up and running and 3 sizes of chuck and a 16" faceplate to.
I decided not to go for the lamp rod through the headstock as the VD has a bored spindle with 22mm outboard and a 3MT inboard, I I turned a copy of the oneway rotary adaptor out of delrin, with a 10mm bore bearing fitted, this in turn had a 1/4 bsp hose fitting epoxied into it. A suitable manifold including gauge was a simple task following several You Tube videos. I fitted this to the headstock and cut a neat hole into the end cover to allow access for fitting whilst keeping the safety cut outs in place, attached the pump and put my chubby paw over the inboard side of the shaft. Well straight off it was pulling 25 inches of mercury, there is a very slight leak through the bearing but even when blocked off only upped it by a couple of inches, and I would rather have a little flow through to the pump for cooling. so that went very smoothly.
I made up direct fitting chucks out of oak with solvent weld pipe fittings of 3, 5 and 6" diameter for the cupchucks, and a 18" faceplate. I used closed cell foam for gaskets, put it all together and viola, a fully working vacuum system for less than £30 excluding the pump. I will pop some images on later as currently away from home.
So even with the quirky VB36 chuck fitting it can be done on a budget, I was quoted over £500 for commercial items so the savings are obvious, with the added satisfaction of doing it myself and getting a good, powerful vacuum which is easily and safely controlled via the manifold.

Stuart
Living and working on the Norfolk Broads

Offline David Buskell

  • gold
  • ****
  • Posts: 446
    • At The Cutting Edge
Re: VB36 Vacuum chuck and rotary adaptor
« Reply #1 on: February 19, 2018, 12:56:00 PM »
Stuart, can you post this in the VB36 owners group in Yahoo please? Ta. David
David
At The Cutting Edge

Offline Lazurus

  • platinum
  • *****
  • Posts: 540
Re: VB36 Vacuum chuck and rotary adaptor
« Reply #2 on: February 19, 2018, 01:07:18 PM »
Hmmmm I can try, if not feel free to repost or put a link.
Living and working on the Norfolk Broads

Offline David Buskell

  • gold
  • ****
  • Posts: 446
    • At The Cutting Edge
Re: VB36 Vacuum chuck and rotary adaptor
« Reply #3 on: February 19, 2018, 02:32:43 PM »
I'd do  a link to the posting, it's easier.  David
David
At The Cutting Edge

Offline David Buskell

  • gold
  • ****
  • Posts: 446
    • At The Cutting Edge
Re: VB36 Vacuum chuck and rotary adaptor
« Reply #4 on: February 19, 2018, 02:35:38 PM »
Email sent round with link to this site.  D.
David
At The Cutting Edge

Offline Lazurus

  • platinum
  • *****
  • Posts: 540
Re: VB36 Vacuum chuck and rotary adaptor
« Reply #5 on: February 20, 2018, 07:31:48 AM »
Pictures should be self explanatory, none of the work in process.
Living and working on the Norfolk Broads

Offline Lazurus

  • platinum
  • *****
  • Posts: 540
Re: VB36 Vacuum chuck and rotary adaptor
« Reply #6 on: February 20, 2018, 07:42:25 AM »
I will post some more tomorrow of the manifold and system set up and working. I am not happy with the chuck gasket material, it works well enough but I do not think it will last many uses. The chuck bodies were solvent weld pipe joiners of various diameters, they are available up to 110mm and a good wall thickness. the chuck mountings were copied from a VB back plate, with centers marked onto the oak, then riv nuts fitted to take the retaining bolts and plugs fitted to cover the nuts. Obviously they need to be accurate to fit the VB mount.
Recess cut to fit flush and a gasket added to ensure a good seal. I used Delrin for the rotary adaptor, easy to machine and robust, 20mm headstock shaft size copied and a good push fit achieved. Recessed for 600-2RS bearing with 1/4 BSP pipe fitting epoxied in.
The manifold was a simple bolt together exercise as said I will get some more images tonight.
Stuart
Living and working on the Norfolk Broads

Offline Lazurus

  • platinum
  • *****
  • Posts: 540
Re: VB36 Vacuum chuck and rotary adaptor
« Reply #7 on: February 20, 2018, 07:47:58 AM »
The image I used for the manifold and the larger faceplate
Living and working on the Norfolk Broads

Offline Lazurus

  • platinum
  • *****
  • Posts: 540
Re: VB36 Vacuum chuck and rotary adaptor
« Reply #8 on: February 21, 2018, 07:20:46 AM »
Last images, should be all self explanatory
Living and working on the Norfolk Broads

Offline Lazurus

  • platinum
  • *****
  • Posts: 540
Re: VB36 Vacuum chuck and rotary adaptor
« Reply #9 on: March 01, 2018, 07:55:57 AM »
Well used the chuck again last night, still very impressed that it works so well. The gasket material is a little fragile so I need to find something more robust, but it is no hardship to quickly cut a new piece of foam from the sheet. I got a little carried away and managed to knock the piece off the chuck, but in hindsight it took a lot of effort and was my fault for forgetting in was not in a scroll chuck.
Whilst I have managed without for 20 years I can now see all sorts of possibilities for a vacuum system.
Living and working on the Norfolk Broads