Gotta brag, it's a gas........

[Rifleman1776]

……….actually, it is a Gast vacuum pump. It is a ¼ hp with gauges, filter/mufflers and another small filter of some kind. Bought it from a machinist friend who goes to auctions and gets all kinds of stuff very reasonably. I paid him $100.00 for this. He probably got it for $5.00 but I don’t care, it’s still a good price. He has had it open and says it looks like it has never been used. I’ll probably use it for stabilizing pen blanks and small wood items. Might get the necessaries (expensive) to make a vacuum chuck for the lathe. But that will be down the road a bit. There is no end to what can be bought for a shop.

 

[NavyDiver]

Nice find!

 

[Blind_Squirrel]

Sweet!!

 

[Ron in Drums PA]

Good rotary vane pump

That little bottle of oil is not a filter, but how the rotary vane is lubricated. If that bottle runs dry and you run the pump for a while you can kiss the pump good bye.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Originally posted by Ron in Drums PA

Good rotary vane pump

That little bottle of oil is not a filter, but how the rotary vane is lubricated. If that bottle runs dry and you run the pump for a while you can kiss the pump good bye.

Thanks for the tip. Do you know what kind of oil it uses? If not, I'll check out the Gast web site, assuming they have one.

 

[btboone]

Good find. I once made a vacuum forming machine with one of those. It used propane tanks for storage of vacuum, and once a sheet of plastic was nice and hot, it would pull a 10" deep draw in a 2 foot square sheet. Fun stuff.

 

[SuperDave]

Frank,

Vacuum chucks can be made for pennies. I am making several for my 3 lathes and my turning friends have also whipped them out.

D

 

[wm460]

Great find

 

[bitshird]

Great find Frank, I believe you can use Auto tranny fluid, you just fill it about 1/2 way there is a wick that lubes the vanes

 

[LEAP]

Nice find, I've got two of them, Found them at my cousins junk yard after a labratory had cleaned out its store room of old equipment. thing is neither has that little bottle on the side or a place to put one. One of them works great the other will only pull about 15". Guess I'll have to do a little research about lubrication on the Gast site as I was under the impression that they were made to operate dry.

 

[holmqer]

Some vacuum pump run dry and some need lube, much like compressors. You just need to check with Gast to see which type you have.

 

[Ron in Drums PA]

Originally posted by Rifleman1776

Originally posted by Ron in Drums PA

Good rotary vane pump

That little bottle of oil is not a filter, but how the rotary vane is lubricated. If that bottle runs dry and you run the pump for a while you can kiss the pump good bye.

Thanks for the tip. Do you know what kind of oil it uses? If not, I'll check out the Gast web site, assuming they have one.

Surprisingly enough, the can says "Vacuum Pump Oil"
I purchase it where I get printing press supplies, but if you do a google I'm sure you will find plenty of suppliers

 

[Rifleman1776]

Originally posted by holmqer

Some vacuum pump run dry and some need lube, much like compressors. You just need to check with Gast to see which type you have.

I went to their web site and downloaded the owners manual. They claim that their own oil must be used. I'll check with the guy I bought it from to see if something else will work OK, like motor oil.

 

[dachemist]

We have a bunch of those pumps at work and I have personally put regular motor oil (I believe it was 10W30 or 40) in them a number of times. There tough pumps. I had one that I used for over a year without oil in it and it had been used previously for an unknown time before that by someone else (although I should have filled it). It was used almost daily and had all sorts of solvent and acid vapors drawn through it.

 

[Ron in Drums PA]

Mike

I've used 5w30, but I was hesitant to post this information.

I've had one of these pumps dry out on me, I'm guessing we ran it for a few hours that way. The next day it was dead. It could have been coincidence, or maybe not. But I've never let them dry out after that.

 

[1JaredSchmidt]

Sweet find! Wanna sell for $105.[}][}] Hey,that's $5 profit!

 

[Rifleman1776]

Originally posted by 1JaredSchmidt

Sweet find! Wanna sell for $105.[}][}] Hey,that's $5 profit!

OK, will do. Handling and shipping charges are $350.00.