Soooo I know It's been a while, but here's my updated gear I put together. I made a gas extractor for degassing investment plaster. I used a plastic bowl, a neoprene rubber gasket, a 1/8" thick galvanized steel plate, an old bathroom cabinet for a base, a vacuum pump, and regular brass fittings for the pump to connect to.
I also made a vulcanizer using hardwood, red silicone as an insulator, steel plates, light dimmers as dials and stove top heating elements as the heating coils. I put springs in between the bolts and the plates holding the elements to account for thermal expansion of the metals.
Also, I made a wax injector out of an old aluminum container, a self-heating cooker, a steel plate, some threaded rods, and NPT brass fittings. I custom made the nozzle out of a 1/4" NPT brass coupler that connects to the ball valve on one end and is soldered to a plasma cutting tip on the other side, that is drilled to the standard hole size of a sprew former.
I'm rebuilding a kiln right now and finishing up welding together my vacuum caster. I'll post updates soon. Feel free to ask me any questions. Everything works and is totally cost effective. Don't spend thousands on gear, when you can make it yourself.
