Burkhardt
04-20-2014, 11:11 PM
I bought a few of such ball end undercut bits for my maze experiments (see separate thread somewhere else here).
Today I put them to a good use making new vacuum pods. So far I made such pods either with a groove and adhesive foam gasket tape inside or simple flat adhesive foam on top of the pod's surface. Actually I preferred the latter because easier to do and replace.
Anyway, I cut my new pods from 3/4 bamboo plywood (other nonporous sheet would probably work as well) with the 3/8" ball end bit creating a slightly undercut channel and then pushed a length of 3/8 EPDM closed cell foam cord (http://www.mcmaster.com/#8605k43/=rmke0a) into this groove. This protrudes about 0.1" abobe the surface but the undercut still holds the cord in place without any adhesive. I only used a small dab of silicone to join the cord ends.
Looks pretty good so far and holding the vacuum of my small GAST pump. The cord can be replaced easily when I happen to cut into it and for that matter I can make a new pod in minutes if I am really careless.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-8spWBC22tQc/U1SHeYoVb4I/AAAAAAAAEu8/e-avzTVz8B4/w1598-h822-no/DSC02335.JPG
Today I put them to a good use making new vacuum pods. So far I made such pods either with a groove and adhesive foam gasket tape inside or simple flat adhesive foam on top of the pod's surface. Actually I preferred the latter because easier to do and replace.
Anyway, I cut my new pods from 3/4 bamboo plywood (other nonporous sheet would probably work as well) with the 3/8" ball end bit creating a slightly undercut channel and then pushed a length of 3/8 EPDM closed cell foam cord (http://www.mcmaster.com/#8605k43/=rmke0a) into this groove. This protrudes about 0.1" abobe the surface but the undercut still holds the cord in place without any adhesive. I only used a small dab of silicone to join the cord ends.
Looks pretty good so far and holding the vacuum of my small GAST pump. The cord can be replaced easily when I happen to cut into it and for that matter I can make a new pod in minutes if I am really careless.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-8spWBC22tQc/U1SHeYoVb4I/AAAAAAAAEu8/e-avzTVz8B4/w1598-h822-no/DSC02335.JPG