I have a Gomco surgical suction pump. I got it for $10 through a Government Surplus auction. It only pulls 21 in/hg, and most "commercial" vacuum bagging systems pull 27 in/hg.

I was planing on using it for a vacuum pump setup. There's a fine line when it comes to the right pressure. Too little and it will look pretty, but will be full of resin and consequently heavy, too much and it will pull resin out of the fabric and leave it resin-starved. Veneering can be tricky too, especially with those microscopically thin veneers you frequently get now because you can suck the glue through the veneer and cause big problems when finishing.

Anyway- I decided that I would build a venturi system and power it with my compressor instead because I plan to use it for bigger things and wanted to be sure I had quick pull-down. I plan to build a small system with the pump at some point. In the meantime I don't look at www.govdeals.com because there are always things to be had for cheap that I might use someday...

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