Open Discussion Forum

Stay away from oil bath pumps unless you want a film of oil all over. I use a rotary vane Gast pump for vacuum chucking and have used a smaller one for Cactus Juice. Look under tips and tricks for a document Vacuum Chuck at the bottom of the list. There is also a document Hybrid Casting and Products Handouts.

I am thinking of adding a vacuum Chuck and was wondering if anyone can recomend a vacuum pump? So far I have seen rotary vane, piston, and diaphragm pumps ranging $80.00 on up. I would like to maybe use it later on for cactus juice etc so I don’t want to buy one now only to have to upgrade later on. Frugal vacuum chucks sells pump and manifold for 260.00 I have been told that the hvac pumps actually will get a deeper vacuum than a piston pump for cactus juice. Can anyone recommend a good pump? What brand or type of pump should I stay away from?