# Vacuum chambers



## norman vandyke

Will a 5.5 gallon fish tank work as a vacuum chamber for stabilizing?


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## Kevin

Not sure if it would stand the pressure (outside pressure) but even if it would, it would be more hassle than it would be worth. Chambers are cheap and they are designed for withstanding a vacuum. On top of that a fish tank would take a tremendous amount of resin to make it deep enough to cover wood.

Reactions: Agree 3


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## norman vandyke

Kevin said:


> Not sure if it would stand the pressure (outside pressure) but even if it would, it would be more hassle than it would be worth. Chambers are cheap and they are designed for withstanding a vacuum. On top of that a fish tank would take a tremendous amount of resin to make it deep enough to cover wood.


The bottom is 11x8.5. If it did work, I could do 20 pen blanks or 8 knife blocks per layer. I was thinking of making my own with acrylic sheets. What thickness would I need? Or would it still be cheaper to buy one premade?


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## Kevin

I just think by the time you fabricate a sealed top and all things considered I would buy a round clear PVC chamber. I have 3 glass and one PVC and prefer the PVC because they don't break as easily.


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## norman vandyke

Kevin said:


> I just think by the time you fabricate a sealed top and all things considered I would buy a round clear PVC chamber. I have 3 glass and one PVC and prefer the PVC because they don't break as easily.


I saw the one Allan built out of a capped pvc pipe and acrylic top. Looked pretty easy. Mostly I just want to be able to do a lot at once and see it all happening.


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## norman vandyke

I was also considering using a large pot with acrylic lid sealed with silicone.


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## Final Strut

Sealed pvc works well. Mine is made out of clear pvc but it doesn't have to be clear as long as you have a clear lid son you can see what us going on in there. You can by sheats of foam gasket material to create the seal on you lid. You can save $ building your own but it can sometimes be a pain to get them to seal up good.


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## norman vandyke

Looks like I'm just gonna have to shop around for a built one. I really don't want the frustration of all that. Lol


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## norman vandyke

I read somewhere that I can use a pickle jar for a chamber. Would that hold up? Would be very cost effective if it does.


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## norman vandyke

Another question. If I want to dye the blanks, do I mix the dye with something else, wait for them to dry, then stabilize or do I dye the stabilizing fluid? Or both? Planning on dyeing some box elder burl and curly maple.


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## Schroedc

As far as dying blanks, you mix dye with the resin and do it all at once, as far a glass for a vac chamber I'd recommend against it most glass isn't thick enough for me to be comfortable with and all it'd take is one flaw or a knock while under vacuum and it'd implode and be like a bomb going off. Build a 6 inch round one out of schedule 40 PVC if you want to build one yourself. You can buy lengths of clear PVC or the white stuff would work as long as you made a clear lid. I've got two homemade ones and one commercial made one out of clear PVC. I know it's more money up front but IMO the Turntex chambers are the cats meow and curtis has done a great job with the engineering and machining.

Reactions: Thank You! 2


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## JR Custom Calls

Clear would be nice... But I have no complaints about my stainless cooking pot that I got from bestvaluevacs. I have a flashlight beside it that I use to see and can see even the tiniest bubbles


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## norman vandyke

Would this 1/4" thick 12"x12" acrylic sheet work to top a stainless steel pot? I might be able to muster the patience for just a lid and the connections to the vacuum leaking fixes.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00YV...ylic+sheet&dpPl=1&dpID=31GzCAhWBCL&ref=plSrch


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## Kevin

Norman I just ordered a 20' stick of SCH 40 PVC this morning and I only need two feet of it. If you want a really big chamber this would be it if you can make a lid for it. Shouldn't be that hard. Would beat the pants off trying to convert a fish tank.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## norman vandyke

Kevin said:


> Norman I just ordered a 20' stick of SCH 40 PVC this morning and I only need two feet of it. If you want a really big chamber this would be it if you can make a lid for it. Shouldn't be that hard. Would beat the pants off trying to convert a fish tank.


What's the diameter? If it's 6" or less outside diameter, I could get that 1/4" acrylic sheet, some silicone and be all set to put on fittings. Wanna sell a length of it it trade for some blanks?


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## norman vandyke

Kevin said:


> Norman I just ordered a 20' stick of SCH 40 PVC this morning and I only need two feet of it. If you want a really big chamber this would be it if you can make a lid for it. Shouldn't be that hard. Would beat the pants off trying to convert a fish tank.


Thinking of shipping cost, it's probably cheaper to just go to home depot. Lol!


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## Kevin

Norman this is 12" diameter pipe


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## Kevin

norman vandyke said:


> Thinking of shipping cost, it's probably cheaper to just go to home depot. Lol!



I don't have to pay shipping - if you want a section let me know if not no big deal.


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## Schroedc

1/4 inch sheet is probably too thin, you'll get a lot of deflection. The lids on my chambers are all 1/2 to 3/4 thick.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 1


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## norman vandyke

Kevin said:


> I don't have to pay shipping - if you want a section let me know if not no big deal.


I think I'll be able to get a 2' section at home depot or the ReStore in town for cheap. I'll find some 1/2" acrylic online and that should do. Thanks!


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## ironman123

@Kevin How much you want for a piece of that 12" dia stuff about 10 or 12 inches long? I might be interested. Is it clear?


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## Kevin

No it isn't clear but I'm using it for a vacuum kiln so it doesn't really need to be clear. You don't need it to be clear for a vacuum chamber either really. I like to have my vacuum chambers clear though because I just like to see what's going on. 

I have seen them going for over $30 a foot on eBay but I can let you have it for 25 a foot. Shipping shouldn't be very much since you live so close and it should only weigh about 10 pounds of foot I think.


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## Kevin

norman vandyke said:


> I think I'll be able to get a 2' section at home depot or the ReStore in town for cheap. I'll find some 1/2" acrylic online and that should do. Thanks!


I don't think Home Depot carries schedule 40 in anything larger than 6 inch but maybe they do now.


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## Schroedc

Just a thing to think about- Going larger than 6 inch for a stabilizing chamber means you have to keep LOTS of resin on hand and if you want to dye you'd have to mix up pretty good sized batches of each color. I've found a 6 inch chamber about 24 inches high is perfect for most of what I do, you can just load the bottom with shorts and only need to fill with 5-6 inches of resin or stabilize stuff up close to the top by just putting multiple layers (For 6 inch pen blanks on end I can get about 75 into my chamber, 3 layers of 20-25 on end) with a chamber 12 inches across you'll need probably 2 gallons just to get enough into it to cover what you're working on.......

Reactions: Agree 1 | Informative 1


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## Kevin

I agree Colin that why I warned him about big chambers too, but he said he wanted big. Too big for me for a resin chamber.


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## norman vandyke

Schroedc said:


> Just a thing to think about- Going larger than 6 inch for a stabilizing chamber means you have to keep LOTS of resin on hand and if you want to dye you'd have to mix up pretty good sized batches of each color. I've found a 6 inch chamber about 24 inches high is perfect for most of what I do, you can just load the bottom with shorts and only need to fill with 5-6 inches of resin or stabilize stuff up close to the top by just putting multiple layers (For 6 inch pen blanks on end I can get about 75 into my chamber, 3 layers of 20-25 on end) with a chamber 12 inches across you'll need probably 2 gallons just to get enough into it to cover what you're working on.......


Looks like I'm just gonna have to start small and probably with a little steel pot and thick acrylic lid. Mostly just going to be for knife blocks and pen blanks anyway. Thanks all!


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## ironman123

My Chambers are all 3 from Curtis. Two 4" ones and one 6" one. Curtis and I were talking about a chicken waterer out of PVC. That is why I thought about that 12 inch but I think I will look at a couple of salvage places here first Kevin. Thanks.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Kevin

No problem Ray. I paid more than I wanted but I didn't want to order 2 sticks to get the good price.


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## ClintW

If the the chamber is larger than needed, one can always put a plastic container inside with the blanks and resin of the adequate size I would imagine. Just a thought

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## sleevecc

complete system with dry vac almost ready to go,, just need to attach fittings and start filling it up,, 4 colors at once with a bigger pot for lots of clear, all can be ran at the same time. On a note of the fish tank, no I would not try it, if it failed well not worth the risk,, but do take in mind you never have to fill the tank with resin, whatever you may use,, you place mason jars or whatever in the chamber with the to be stabilized material in it.

Reactions: Great Post 1 | Way Cool 3


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## norman vandyke

ClintW said:


> If the the chamber is larger than needed, one can always put a plastic container inside with the blanks and resin of the adequate size I would imagine. Just a thought


Awesome idea! The container could even be square to save space!

Reactions: Agree 1


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## justallan

I use square El Cheapo fake Tupperware and it works fine. I wood not for any reason use 1/4" plexiglass on a 12" chamber. When I built mine I used 1/2" acrylic and it's showing some stress cracks trying to start and believe this, I was watching from afar.
@norman vandyke I have 3-4' of the pipe that I used (free for the taking) and am going to call someone that I know here in town and see about some thicker acrylic. Heck, you can borrow my old pump for awhile if you'd like. I thought it was messing up and bought a new one. Turns out at my altitude I can only draw 26 inches of mercury. OOPS!
Just give me a holler when you can come to town. We're shipping calves and preg testing, so it would have to be on a Sunday.


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## norman vandyke

justallan said:


> I use square El Cheapo fake Tupperware and it works fine. I wood not for any reason use 1/4" plexiglass on a 12" chamber. When I built mine I used 1/2" acrylic and it's showing some stress cracks trying to start and believe this, I was watching from afar.
> @norman vandyke I have 3-4' of the pipe that I used (free for the taking) and am going to call someone that I know here in town and see about some thicker acrylic. Heck, you can borrow my old pump for awhile if you'd like. I thought it was messing up and bought a new one. Turns out at my altitude I can only draw 26 inches of mercury. OOPS!
> Just give me a holler when you can come to town. We're shipping calves and preg testing, so it would have to be on a Sunday.


I've decided to just pony up the dough when I have it to get one already set up. Right now I'm gonna just keep on trading for services like that. The guys on here do some great work and I'm sure they like getting the wood I send them. I may still build a bigger one another time but for now I'm good. Might buy pump separate though. Two stage pumps seem to be better somehow? Any advice on where to get the juice? I had no idea it was so expensive. Now I know why it costs so much to get stuff stabilized.


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## TurnTex

Please do not try the fish tank or 1/4" acrylic for a lid. Both with fail. Vacuum is quite powerful and is nothing to mess around with.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## justallan

@norman vandyke the only stabilizing resin that I have used is from TurnTex. I did look around a little and the prices seemed to be about the same all over. Curtis is very helpful and gets your order sent right off for you.
Granted I'm new at it and may just be wrong, but I'm figuring it's basically going to be about the same stuff wherever you go, but Curtis spends a little time on here helping out with his knowledge so that's where I'll stay for now.

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1


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## norman vandyke

Upon doing some research, I have discovered that some people use a mix of boiled linseed oil and Japan drier stabilize more oily woods. Would that work on non oily woods as well? Would that drastically change the color? Has anyone on here ever done that?


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## VotTak

I'm not sure that I would start using something else instead of Cactus Juice. It does perfect job as long as you follow instructions. 
But I saw other liquids used for that purpose. Like polyurethane. And probably it works... I heard that someone using BLO and to harden it using ... unfortunately I forgot what else he is using. Person uses it on very dark wood(BOW) so for him it does not matter whether his wood will be be even darker.


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## Tykemo

Kevin said:


> I don't have to pay shipping - if you want a section let me know if not no big deal.


Hi Kevin - I live in TX also and am wondering if you built your own stabilization outfit? If so can you help me build one?


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## Sidecar

How many inches are you pulling on the vacuum. .....?


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## CWS

#1 Cactus Juice is great stuff and Curtis is a great person to deal with. If you have questions about the product just call him. He is the one who answers the phone. Great product and great person!
I you a piece of tempered glass on a 12" shop aluminum soup pot. I also use cheap plastic butter bows and pvc pipe with a cap on the bottom so I don't have to use much resin. For my pot call blanks I use a 4" pvc cap.


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## robert flynt

norman vandyke said:


> Will a 5.5 gallon fish tank work as a vacuum chamber for stabilizing?


I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a thick 5" glass cylinder made with a thick bottom, Then I bought a 5" pvc pipe cap and had the inside of the cap milled to the exact outside diameter of the cylinder, then drilled and tapped holes for the fittings. It worked great and I can see when the wood stops releasing air.

Reactions: Like 1


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