Vacuum pumps

[Sparkey]

You might find one here

or here:

http://www.talkglass.com/forum/showt...ht=Vac%20stack

[LooseSeal Baller]

the 9mm tube fits in the hose easier not talking about the handle of the stack. using surgical tubing the 9 mm tube fits in the cork then to a swivel that connects to your stack. but yes i have used 9mm tube for 50mm stacks all day no prob doggggggg.

[Riley]

^funny guy...if you have a compressor you can make a glass venturi like steve bates demoed in a thread on here. you can dial in the specific draw very easily by psi. this is pretty much always a lathe process, so im partial to this. maybe on a bench the footpedal shop vac would be easier as you have your hands full.

[T-Rex]

Why'd you have to rewire that vacuum sealer anyway? Didn't it already have it's own adapter & cord/plug already? It must've plugged in somewhere!

I thought it was a clever idea. Although I use a shop-vac myself. And I don't do much shop-vacs yet, owing to the fact that I use a Bravo with concentrators and would prefer more power. I did manage to do a couple with 19mm inside 38mm.

I was just watching the Blue Lily Studio vac-stack vid... I can't believe how much glass this guy melts all at once:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkxVl...1aAUAAAAAAAAAA

[Sparkey]

Why'd you have to rewire that vacuum sealer anyway? Didn't it already have it's own adapter & cord/plug already

It does, but its functionality is tied to the logic in the circuit board and part of that include the 10 amps of high current that runs through the resistor to seal the bag (which also has a sensor to tell whether or not the bag is there). I'm using it to extract smaller volumes of air, basically collapsing the end of a tube down to make a marble, not to pull custom tube.

I plugged the numbers from the motor into google and found specs for it here:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...ld3AifvcJzwzQg

So it looks like a 12-30V .1A wall adapter would do the trick if I wanted to enclose it in a box and tie it to a foot pedal. But I think I'm gonna get a Gast pump

[Crux]

I tried my first vac stack today using the small pump for our air mattress. I thought it would be good because it's small and it has an attachment that is a small tip which my hose could fit right over. Once I got the one end of my vac stack prep hot and melty, I kicked on the pump. Less than 15 seconds went by and it pulled so much how air to my hand that I couldn't hold on anymore. so I shut the pump off and finished my melting and pulling with no vaccuum.

I understand this is an amateur question, but why did my handle get so hot? I guess I understand why it did. Maybe my question should be, why don't anyone else's? How do I resolve this issue?

Thanks.

[aREa541]

Did you poke holes in the hose leading from pump to stack? Or did you just rock the pump on full bore?

I use a shop vac for my setup, and where my hose connects to the vacuum I have poked a number of holes to create a light suction. I test the suction on my lip before I attach it to make sure it has the right amount (barely felt, but noticeable). I leave my vac on the whole time once I have got the melt started. You want to slowly suck all the air out of the stack, not suck like your rent depends on it. Too hard of suction can create many problems besides hot handles, it can suck your clear core in prematurely creating weird ribbed effects and trapping air.

Don't know if any of this helps, but was just a guess on your hot handle problem.

[Mr. Larry]

Crux, If your handle gets hot, there's a good chance the inner core of clear was not sealed up like a test tube. Other guess could be the dewar seal between the outer and inner core was not fully sealed. Just a guess, if you sealed 'em up, and you're pulling heat into the handle, I don't know. Hope this helps.

[Crux]

I think that's the deal. My 25mm tube I left open on both ends. So the handle side of the 25mm needs to be close eh? That makes sense. And yeah I tested the pump on my hand and I could barely feel it as well.

[BORO]

You seal the end of the 25 that's in the blank ,(not the handle) so there is only room pressure inside the 25 , or it will turn into a solid cane .

[Simian]

Try this. Works for me.

http://postvac.com/products/erec-tech/

[Snurf]

Sparkey plays with electricity!

You answered most of your own questions.. but..

The vaccum sealing pump is terribly slow, I wouldn't suggest it for vac stacks.
that hand pump ... I doubt I suggest that either.. but youhavent said what you are doing withthe vacuum yet.

http://www.harborfreight.com/25-cfm-...ump-98076.html

This one, or its companion, is what we use, and was recommended to us. Keep an eye on the price, or coupons, we got ours for $70. Soooooo much quieter than a shop vac. Leave a pinhole leak while using it..

Seth

how about this one? http://www.harborfreight.com/air-vac...ors-96677.html under 20 $

[Sparkey]

Try this. Works for me.

http://postvac.com/products/erec-tech/

I wonder if I could just repurpose my Fleshlight

how about this one? http://www.harborfreight.com/air-vac...ors-96677.html under 20 $

And this looks like a winner....add a foot pedal switch and you're in business.