Vacuum gauge for a vacuum plate - any recommendations?

Which pump did you order?
I used a single stage 12cfm...

I ordered a Chinese single-stage one that is sold under various names

www.ebay.de/itm/362644720476

 

20L/min, -0,8bar

I wanted one that already comes with a filter.

That's a different type of pump as you showed before, so that may leak more...

Ah, well... guess I'll find out . I just checked and one-way-valve is actually really cheap, so I could add one if needed.

So, the pump arrived, and for anyone considering the same:

- The vacuum is NOT good enough for holding MDF (12mm). The MDF is just not air tight enough.
- It is just about good enough for a medium hardwood - if it is super straight. Out of three plates I tested, only one would stick well, the others had a .5mm bow, which was too much.
- I don't believe it works well enough for hardwood like oak, at least I wouldn't trust it with higher cutting forces.
- It works *perfectly* with some Dibond plates I bought - those I cannot pry off without bending them. Since that was my main objective, I am ok with the result.

That said: I will not buy a digital vacuum gauge nor a buffer tank for now. I honesty doubt it would help much, as the only materials that I can use with the plate also happen to be quick jobs, so no risk of overheating the pump and cycling it on and off wouldn't really help.

The gauge could be useful to stop a job upon detecting vacuum failure, but I'm not going to bother installing it for now. My opinion may change if the vacuum holder fails during some jobs...

For anyone wanting a vacuum pump button in Gmoccapy, see attached files. Place them all in a vaccum/ folder in your config directory, and add the following to your .ini:

EMBED_TAB_NAME = Vacuum Pump
EMBED_TAB_LOCATION = box_custom_2
EMBED_TAB_COMMAND = gladevcp -x {XID} -H vacuum/vacuum.hal -u vacuum/vacuum.py vacuum/vacuum.glade 

You will also have to edit vacuum.hal to define the output pin that switches your relay.