Vacuum Container: First Stage

After the custom flange was machined on the lathe, Anatol and I used J-B Weld to epoxy the flange to one of the stainless steel bowls. We used a drill press and lots of cutting fluid to punch a 3/4'' hole through the top of the bowl before epoxying the fitting.

I measured the outer and inner diameter of the lip on the stainless steel bowls and cut a gasket out of a sheet of medium-grade rubber. Then, I cut some particle-board pieces (seen behind the bowl) to fit around the outside of the bowls. A hole was drilled in each corner of the particle board so that the boards could be fit around the bowls and tightened down with bolts to secure the bowls together.

Here, both bowls are fit together, without the particle-board jig. We used vacuum grease around the gasket to prevent any small leaks into the container.