Vacuum Press - Home Built

[Belle City Woodworking]

I recently attended a Bow Front Table Class and learned how to do bent laminations, I wanted to be able to do this in my shop, so I needed to come up with the equipment on a budget.  After a little bit of research it seemed that everyone was pointing to joewoodworker.com as the go to guy for everything veneer.  I purchased the rebuilt Thomas 3.15 CFM pump and the EVS kit from his website and spent yesterday putting it together.  The instructions are very simple to follow and everything works as it should.  Here is what you get....... Note: you have to supply the PVC, electrical box and a couple of other items you can get at your home center or the hardware store. The cost for these items was minimal.



The instructions are pretty much a small manual:



You build the manifold first - Just make it look like the picture:



Then the MAC Valve Assembly:



Next you build the carrier and mount everything:  You can take liberties with this part.



Add the electrical box and wire it up:



And test it to see if it holds vacuum which it does:



I was a bit intimidated when I started as I don't mess with electrical stuff, but Joe's instructions makes this build a simple process.

The build cost under $300.00.

I thought I would share this in case anyone was on the fence about building or just buying one.

John

[jstraw]

Great post! I ended up saving from the dump a medical aspirator suction pump. My initial research indicates the pump will meet the cfm and Hg requirements for veneer press, but maybe not bent laminates. Your post gives me motivation to research further and see if I can build a veneer press. Did you buy a bag from them or another source?

[Belle City Woodworking]

Great post!  I ended up saving from the dump a medical aspirator suction pump. My initial research indicates the pump will meet the cfm and Hg requirements for veneer press, but maybe not bent laminates.  Your post gives me motivation to research further and see if I can build a veneer press.  Did you buy a bag from them or another source?

John,

I'm going to be buying the 4' x 4' 30 ml poly Bag from Joe which should cover all of my needs.  

You could, email him, he will tell you if the pump you have will work or not.  Here is his email address:   joe@veneersupplies.com


Hope that helps!
John

[fredhargis]

I built one of those using Joe's rebuilt Thomas pumps probably 8 years ago or so. Besides being an inexpensive way to go, it was just fun to build. The instructions did require re-reading a few times, but eventually I got it done. My first bag was a 4'x6' vinyl...ugggh! Just really tough to work with the stiff material, I wound up getting a 4'x4' poly bag...man, what a difference.

PS: I should have mentioned: my pond aerator uses that exact same pump (not from Joe) and it runs 24/7 for 7 months of the year, never misses a beat.

[Cian]

That tickles my nerdism. Very cool.

[gov.cheese]

Thanks for posting this.

[jstraw]

John,

I'm going to be buying the 4' x 4' 30 ml poly Bag from Joe which should cover all of my needs.  

You could, email him, he will tell you if the pump you have will work or not.  Here is his email address:   joe@veneersupplies.com


Hope that helps!
John

Researched the pump I saved from the dump and remember why I thought it was only good for flat work.  The vacuum is a reasonable 0 to 22 Hg.  That should provide enough pressure.  But, the cfm is estimated around 1.5.  Fast enough to evacuate a flat work bag, but less than recommended for curved work.

[mound]

I built one of those using Joe's rebuilt Thomas pumps probably 8 years ago or so. Besides being an inexpensive way to go, it was just fun to build. The instructions did require re-reading a few times, but eventually I got it done. My first bag was a 4'x6' vinyl...ugggh! Just really tough to work with the stiff material, I wound up getting a 4'x4' poly bag...man, what a difference.

PS: I should have mentioned: my pond aerator uses that exact same pump (not from Joe) and it runs 24/7 for 7 months of the year, never misses a beat.

Same story for me 'cept I never moved past the 4'x6' vinyl bag.. Very stiff.. Gonna have to check out a poly bag!
Definitely a fun and useful build, and it just keeps on working..

[Belle City Woodworking]

Same story for me 'cept I never moved past the 4'x6' vinyl bag.. Very stiff.. Gonna have to check out a poly bag!
Definitely a fun and useful build, and it just keeps on working..

Thanks for that info on the vinyl bag, that is good to know.

John

[shoottmx]

Lookin' good John! Glad you had time to stop by on your way to LN, the router is great, thank you!

To save on bag pump down time I stick my shop vac over the suction port of the bag to pull as much air out of the bag as possible. Then stick the vacuum pump hose on the bag and let pump down. It is amazing how much the shop vac sucks down the bag.

g