Vacuum Chamber

[Tiderunner]

I've decided to go ahead and buy a vacuum chamber. My question is, how big? I'm a small hobbyist, maybe using one cup at a time, two if I am making a laminate.

I see all different sizes and to me each one looks the same. I don't need to degas a large amount. so I'm just looking for one thatwill do the job, and not break the bank. Under $100 or very close to that number would sure be great.

[Frank]

My advice would be get one with a lid for a 10” pot. That is a size you can grow into if needed but stay small for now. These sizes are based on commercial pot sizes. And a 10” lid can go on one as small as 1 gallon up to 5 gallons. This is achieved by getting a bigger pot not a bigger system. For you I would get the 2 gallon for now and it will give you time before you want to do much more. I bought mine all seperate and saved a bunch on shipping. The pot I got locally at a restaurant supply store no shipping. Best value vacs lid from ebay and the same with the vacuum pump. 

[mark poulson]

On 12/9/2021 at 10:01 AM, Frank said:

My advice would be get one with a lid for a 10” pot. That is a size you can grow into if needed but stay small for now. These sizes are based on commercial pot sizes. And a 10” lid can go on one as small as 1 gallon up to 5 gallons. This is achieved by getting a bigger pot not a bigger system. For you I would get the 2 gallon for now and it will give you time before you want to do much more. I bought mine all seperate and saved a bunch on shipping. The pot I got locally at a restaurant supply store no shipping. Best value vacs lid from ebay and the same with the vacuum pump. 

Frank, please repost the link to your youtube stuff.

Thanks in advance.

[bryanmc]

https://www.youtube.com/user/franksrooty2

[mark poulson]

20 hours ago, bryanmc said:

https://www.youtube.com/user/franksrooty2

Thank you Bryan.

[Frank]

I don’t think I ever put one together for the chamber. Not much to it. But a new one is coming soon. 

[Canga~]

IMO, get a 5 gallon pot, at a MINIMUM 3 gallons. the 5 gallon i have fits 2 4 cup anchor cups, 3 2 cups and 4 1 cup. i had a 3 gallon to start and it only fit 1 2 cup anchor or pyrex, it got annoying to try to degass 2 sperate cups to make a laminate!

[Frank]

After seeing the last post let me clarify how I do it. I pour the raw plastic in the pot and vacuum it raw. I do not put in other containers and vacuum that way. For me it grows to much and over fills the smaller containers. Just my way. I never put hot plastic in either cause I have had the lid slip off once and it splashed raw plastic all over. If it was hot it would have been a nightmare. 

[Landry]

I see no reason for a chamber if u r a hobbyist. It is great for making silicon molds but i simply heat up plastisol and let it sit so air rises out and then reheat for 30 seconds. There are no discernible bubbles left after that. 

[Bass-Boys]

21 minutes ago, Landry said:

I see no reason for a chamber if u r a hobbyist. It is great for making silicon molds but i simply heat up plastisol and let it sit so air rises out and then reheat for 30 seconds. There are no discernible bubbles left after that. 

 Agree..

[hpssports]

20 hours ago, Landry said:

I see no reason for a chamber if u r a hobbyist. It is great for making silicon molds but i simply heat up plastisol and let it sit so air rises out and then reheat for 30 seconds. There are no discernible bubbles left after that. 

I agree as well. Really wouldn't worry about any bubbles, fish don't care & would never notice.

[Frank]

On 12/14/2021 at 3:24 PM, Landry said:

I see no reason for a chamber if u r a hobbyist. It is great for making silicon molds but i simply heat up plastisol and let it sit so air rises out and then reheat for 30 seconds. There are no discernible bubbles left after that. 

I see no reason for using it in a silicone mold either. If you are worried about bubbles in your mold but not the plastic then it just the same. The bubbles the vacuum takes out of plastic don’t rise fast. Big ones do but the ones that cloud up the clear plastic don’t. Different people have different standards and expectations. Fish don’t care about a lot of things but the fisherman has to like it enough to put it on his hook first before the fish ever sees it. So it’s not about what the fish like is it. 

[Bass-Boys]

Hmmmm..

[Landry]

18 hours ago, Frank said:

I see no reason for using it in a silicone mold either. If you are worried about bubbles in your mold but not the plastic then it just the same. The bubbles the vacuum takes out of plastic don’t rise fast. Big ones do but the ones that cloud up the clear plastic don’t. Different people have different standards and expectations. Fish don’t care about a lot of things but the fisherman has to like it enough to put it on his hook first before the fish ever sees it. So it’s not about what the fish like is it. 

I found the chamber and moving to a hard high heat silicon necessary to allow me to get dimple free pours without preheating on my huge muskie soft baits. I personally, did not feel it was necessary for my plastisol but that is my opinion. 
 

if he wants to spend 500+ to have absolutely mint bubble free baits then that is just fine by me. We all have different goals, expectations and needs. I was just sharing my opinion/experience. The degasser allowed pour great molds faster and easier but it made pouring baits slower and “I” didn’t feel it was worth it for “me”. I sincerely hope he feels the chamber and pump purchase was worth it once he starts using it. 
cheers. 

[Tiderunner]

On 12/13/2021 at 1:43 PM, Canga~ said:

IMO, get a 5 gallon pot, at a MINIMUM 3 gallons. the 5 gallon i have fits 2 4 cup anchor cups, 3 2 cups and 4 1 cup. i had a 3 gallon to start and it only fit 1 2 cup anchor or pyrex, it got annoying to try to degass 2 sperate cups to make a laminate!

Thanks for those measurements. I was going to go with a 3gallon but I do make a lot of laminates.

 

On 12/16/2021 at 8:59 PM, Landry said:

if he wants to spend 500+ to have absolutely mint bubble free baits then that is just fine by me. We all have different goals, expectations and needs. I was just sharing my opinion/experience. The degasser allowed pour great molds faster and easier but it made pouring baits slower and “I” didn’t feel it was worth it for “me”. I sincerely hope he feels the chamber and pump purchase was worth it once he starts using it. 
cheers. 

From what I've seen on pricing, $500 won't be needed. But I'm glad that it's fine by you so now I won't need to ask your permission. My idea for a vacuum chamber begin  when I used Dead On Plastic for the first time. I've had seltzer with less bubbles.  I am back to using MF plastisol, and happy with the results. I figure if I could make my baits mint, then I'll be even happier.

Been making baits and lures for nearly 40 years, and I'm a perfectionist. So? I didn't mean to offend anyone by wanting to make mint bubble free baits.  That's just how I do things.   My money , my choice.  And if it doesn't work the way I expected it to, my loss.

On 12/16/2021 at 1:57 AM, Frank said:

Different people have different standards and expectations. Fish don’t care about a lot of things but the fisherman has to like it enough to put it on his hook first before the fish ever sees it. So it’s not about what the fish like is it. 

Exactly. Pride in workmanship.

[Frank]

On 12/16/2021 at 5:59 PM, Landry said:

I found the chamber and moving to a hard high heat silicon necessary to allow me to get dimple free pours without preheating on my huge muskie soft baits. I personally, did not feel it was necessary for my plastisol but that is my opinion. 
 

if he wants to spend 500+ to have absolutely mint bubble free baits then that is just fine by me. We all have different goals, expectations and needs. I was just sharing my opinion/experience. The degasser allowed pour great molds faster and easier but it made pouring baits slower and “I” didn’t feel it was worth it for “me”. I sincerely hope he feels the chamber and pump purchase was worth it once he starts using it. 
cheers. 

I get what you are saying but he asked what size pot not weather it was worth it or opinions of using one. My guess is he can see the bubbles in his baits and does not like it. My guess for you is that you can’t and does not matter. I have had mine for years now and never pour without it. I poured a lot of transparent baits and you could see them. But in another case the bubbles were gathering at the nose of the bait causing a weak spot if you use a spring lock. For that matter a barb on a jig hook. So it is not always just for looks. 

[Frank]

Funny I saw this just as I posted mine. Now I know why you never had one before you used MF plastic. They do something different than all others and don’t have bubbles. But it comes at a premium price too. When I bought my first drum of plastic that I had to use a vacuum I saved so much money that I bought a chamber and still had extra savings. Ever since then I have saved more and more. Still have the same one that cost me 250 then but it falling apart from years of use. 

[Tiderunner]

11 hours ago, Frank said:

Funny I saw this just as I posted mine. Now I know why you never had one before you used MF plastic. They do something different than all others and don’t have bubbles. But it comes at a premium price too. When I bought my first drum of plastic that I had to use a vacuum I saved so much money that I bought a chamber and still had extra savings. Ever since then I have saved more and more. Still have the same one that cost me 250 then but it falling apart from years of use. 

I have tried other plastics. Dead On, Bait plastics ( not too bad ) and may try Calhouns next. Heard a lot of good things about it. But out of all the ones I've tried MF is still the best. At roughly 2x the price.

I've seen a lot of Vacuum Chambers on Amazon for around $150 or so, all with good reviews.  I figure with the amount of baits I make per month, maybe around 200 baits or so for myself, my son, and friends, that should be more than enough to spend.

[alsworms]

4 hours ago, Tiderunner said:

 At roughly 2x the price.

 

I was just about to say, "Why don't you guys just use MF??!!"........but I guess there's my answer.  Man things have changed.  Is it REALLY twice that of the others? 

[basskat]

I loved MF but the cost plus shipping forced me to swap. No doubt it is the premium of all plastics. 

[bryanmc]

16 hours ago, alsworms said:

Is it REALLY twice that of the others? 

Not the last time I checked.....

Edited December 19, 2021 by bryanmc

[Tiderunner]

20 hours ago, alsworms said:

I was just about to say, "Why don't you guys just use MF??!!"........but I guess there's my answer.  Man things have changed.  Is it REALLY twice that of the others? 

 

3 hours ago, bryanmc said:

Not the last time I checked.....

MF Soft Sinking.   $68.75

Dead On Plastix.    $38.99

Nearly double

[alsworms]

1 hour ago, Tiderunner said:

 

MF Soft Sinking.   $68.75

Dead On Plastix.    $38.99

Nearly double

This is for how much plastisol? 

I wish I had my figures, but my guess is I paid about $120 for a 5-gallon drum of MF shipped from Texas to California.  Lure Craft was in the 100 to 105 range.  At the time, there were a couple others I could get for around 75 or 80 bucks, but the bubbles, smell, and other factors kept me from messing with them after I tried a sample or two.  I was never one for completely killing myself over a drum of plastisol just to get it pourable.  Sad to say it looks like that's what some (many?) of you are doing to keep costs down.  And for the record, I have been buying a ton of plastics for my son for Christmas and I can absolutely tell when the plastic is a subpar brand.  I realize that's rare and it could just be my curse after pouring for so many years, but maybe something to consider.  When I buy soft plastics, I'll take quality over quantity any day! 

 

[Bass-Boys]

Dead on is $51.82 ( gallon )  with the shipping to me . 

 MF is FREE shipping 

 

[bryanmc]

5 gallons MF soft sinking $155

5 gallons dead on black $110

 

And now that MF has free shipping....   well.