Vacuum pumps for veneering

[BigguyZ]

I found a place that has vacuum pumps available for $54 + $20 ship for a total of $75. I'm thinking this could be a good way to get into veneering with a vacuume pump cheaply.

However, the pump only pulls 20" of HG max. Is this enough? I also want to do vacuum work for stabilizing pen blanks as well.

Also, what other things will I have to do to make sure the pump works correctly?

Does anyone have another source for a vacuum pump that's under $100? The pump I found is a GAST, and it requires 220, which is the other big negative about it.

Thanks!

[catta12]

This is out of my experience base, but I always thought that you could use a good shop vac to veneer.

Maybe you could even hook it up to a DC?

I am sure you will get better advice from others, just thought I would throw that out there.

[Tom Slick]

20" of HG is more than enough. Gast is one of the best made, genuine industrial grade.

[LCHIEN]

20" Hg will give you about 10 PSI. If you have 12 square inches it will be like a 120 pound weight on top of the veneer.

Using a shop vac may not be a good idea. most of them use the incoming air to cool the motor, if the hose is dead-ended for a long time trying to pull a vacuum on a press, then there will be little air flow, may result in burning up the motor. There are some vacs, notably Fein, that have separate fans for the motor cooling and these would work better.

[BigguyZ]

Cool. Now the only negative thing about the pump is the fact that it's 220... Guess I need to get to wiring...