Vacuum pump

[david_white]

Any one whant to weigh in on what is the best pump to use with small pucks .I have looked on ebay and thare are some new for 125-500 not sure what is best.
Thanks Dave

[billp]

David, get something that can pull at least 18"of mercury.Most pumps will do better than that, and you will need the extra suction to compensate for leaks in your gasketing, puck/pod surface, uneven materials, etc.
Safest bet is to buy a brand that you can buy parts for if you ever need to, so many of us have gone with the Gast models. Made in the US, been around for a long time, and you can get almost any manual,online.
If you have 220 in your shop look at the 1/4 hp model Gast at the Surplus Center in Nebraska, (www.surpluscenter.com (http://www.surpluscenter.com)) $89 and many of us have used them to make our vacuum rigs...

[thewoodcrafter]

Just to add to what Bill said, look for the CFM rating. The higher the CFM the more the pump can pull and the more the cost.
I use a 3CFM pump for my pucks (2). That's 1/2HP. Plenty for puck work. Your choices are most likely 1/4, 1/3 and 1/2HP, bigger gets expensive.

[knight_toolworks]

you don't want a oil filled pump all the moisture from the air and the leaking will screw up the oil fast. I tired a bigger oil filled pump I used for a vacuum kiln lost several " after 45 minutes of running with pucks.

[br928]

www.joewoodworker.com (http://www.joewoodworker.com) has a good selection of rotary and venturi vacuum pumps and kits. He also has a kit for vacuum clamping with material to build your own pucks and AllStar gasketing.