Vacuum Pump and Chamber

I was doing small castings in resin and I needed a way to get the air bubbles out. I found that a compressor from an old refrigerator would work well. The motor and compressor can be used both for air and vacuum, so if you need a small air compressor a unit like this will work fine. After I gathered all the parts and assembled them I found a smaller compressor out of a utility frig. I also need to add a switch and gage plus some valves for better control of the vacuum. So come back often and see the progress.

	This is what a basic frig compressor looks like. To tell which line has the suction, just place your finger over the pipes until you feel which has the suction.
	The board on which the vacuum chamber (or bowels) are placed. It is a piece of plywood, I happen to have the 13ply that's used for cabinets. MDF would work also. You want something that won't warp. My board is about 1 foot square. I milled a 1/4" groove down the center with a router and then epoxied a 1/4" brass tube in the groove. Make sure that the groove is over filled. When dry sand flush. Next I glued a piece of plastic laminate, using contact cement, to the plywood and drilled a hole in the center to meet the groove were the pipe was placed.
	The vacuum chambers or bowls. I bought these at a kitchen supply store, They are Pyrex glass the small one is a 1 liter, the next a 1.5 liter and the big one is a 2.5 liter. I believe that it translates into about 1 quart, 1.5 quart and 2,5 quart. The red rubber looking ring is a silicone used for gas furnace pipes, but you can use any silicone that you have. Just wipe down the ring with some thing like acetone to make sure no oil or grease residue is on the bowel edge. Place a bead of it around the bowel and then, with great difficulty, turn the bowel over on to a piece of wax paper. Let dry for a couple of days and then remove and trim the silicone around the bowel.
	Here it is all hooked together. Works pretty good. Although I need to make a permanent setup with a switch and vacuum gage for better control. After I built this up I found a smaller and better compressor that I will be using. It came out of a small utility frig. Stay tuned for updates.
	When I get time I want to build a whole system on one board. I'll be putting the pictures up as I proceed with the project. Be patient

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