Here are the plans for the vac table frame. Everything is made from 1" square steel tube, and "D" is actually a 2" hinge used to hinge the back of the frame so you can clamp the top and bottom frames together over a piece of plastic.
This is the frame that I spent all day Nov 6th welding together. I put bicycle grips on the handles to make it look a little more professional. I wish I would have taken more pictures of the construction of this. You would be able to see just what a horrible welder I am.
Vacuum Table Box. This is diffrent than what I built here but is how I would do it if I were to build this table again.
Clamping the top and bottom together. I am building this mostly out of 5/8" and 3/4" MDF board. I hope I can make a good enough vacuum chamber that wont implode on me.
Vacuum Table top
Putting wheels on the bottom to make it somewhat mobile. This thing is going to weigh in close to 100lbs.
This is my dry run clamping job to see how everything is going to fit to gether. It is comming together much bigger than I expected. But exactly as I planned so it is good.
To help reinforce the vacuum chamber I am adding these tic-tac-toe reinforcement supports. I don't know how necessary any of this extra support is but I figure it can't hurt and sure is better than it imploding on me.
Laid everything out so I can piece it all together.
Got everything glued and clamped. Set the gage up to show how big it is. This gage is huge!
Quick close up of the gage from the last picture.
This will be the engagement valve. After pumping up, or down, (what ever vacuuming does) the main chamber this will be able to give a powerful blast to the plastic all at once.
Got the vacuum chamber complete except for the vacuum hookup. The valve going between the main storage and the small section is visable here as well as the gage. I hooked up my shop vac to the hole for the pipe and was able to pull 4hg on the gage. The vac pump, when it arrives, should get between 20 and 25. (You can see empty kegs in the background from the Holloween party)
Started drilling the holes. You really start to feel the extra weight of the DeWalt 18v cordless drill. I got about 150 holes done, got about 400 to go.
I stopped by a thrift store and picked up two old toaster ovens for about $13. Plugged them in and they both worked, so I started gutting one of them for the heating elements.
Here is the first toaster oven gutted sitting on top of the table, now with all holes drilled. I will start building the heating element houseing this weekend. You can see the vacuum pump oil that I purchased today in the back ground. Hopefully the pump should be here by the weekend and I can test out the chamber. [UPDATE] I decided to order some coil heaters from Mor Heating. I'll have more on this when they come in.
Vacuum Table hood
Got the slide rails and top support pieces attached. Also got the hood put together. I just used some sheet metal from Home Depot, cut it on the corners, and bent everything to make a "hood" shape. Used some rivets and now it is starting to get to the completed look.
Another picture showing the hood.
Here you can see the plastic holder frame opened slightly. This part is hinged in the back and opens and closes rather well. I still need to fashon a clamp to hold it closed. I am thinking of a swinging wing nut by the front grips.
Here you can see the plastic holder frame slid up to where the heater will be placed. I still haven't acutally attached the hood yet altough I do have L brackets in place to do so. I want to make sure I have a good heating element in place before I permanently attach the hood.
Vacuum pump arrived today. This has now shown me that my vacuum chamber isn't quite air tight. I used tub and tile caulk to seal all the sides up good and it still wouldn't hold a vacuum. After running the pump on a long air line from my garage so I could hear any air leaks on the vacuum box the worst is what I found. The divider between the top and bottom vacuum chamber is where the leak is comming in. This is the worst because it is pretty much impossible to get to it with out destroying the top and cutting it off. I am not giving up though I am pouring paint through one of the vacuum form holes in the top and then leaning the box back and forth to slosh it all around. I really don't know what else to do if this doesn't work.
After some open heart surgery I was able to pull a respectable inch hg on the gage. I had to open the top by cutting around the entire top and removing it. Going through the entire inside I was able to seal everything and then applied an extreamly thick coat of paint over the entire thing. I have found that MDF board is porous enough to draw air through it. Each coat of paint I put on raised the hg by about 5.
While not completely out of the woods yet, seeing the big gage over 20 is a dream come true. I still have to reattach the metel slide pieces, but at least I know it can be done now.
Vacuum Table heater base
I got all the parts for the heating element. Now I will start putting them all together.
Starting by drawing out the path the heating coil will take and laying out the ceramic insulators. Then drilling the holes to run the wire that will hold the insulators in place.