DIY Vacuum Furnace (Full Video)

[@TheMadJoker87]

you should have a second channel with in-depth videos of the fabrication and design, the way you present these videos here is a weird middle ground between too simplistic for engineers and people interested in the topic, and too niche for regular people. dont get me wrong, this furnace, the metal 3d printing, cnc lathe and most of your projects are absolutely amazing, but as a maker im not interested in a 10 minute video showing the highlights, but the whole process, the challenges and clever problem solving

[@ActionBOX]

You know what, I will strongly consider that. When we make these videos we struggle with how much physics and math we want to dwell on because those videos don't usually perform well, but at the same time, many people want to know more. This furnace is really a function of Black Body Radiation which I wanted to explain but didnt know how to do so effectively. Perhaps we will make another video just discussing those technical aspects in more details for those who are interested. Thank you for your comment and I hope you enjoyed the video regardless. Dave

[@britenrhodehouse8692]

​@ActionBOX maybe a more in depth and technical explanation for patreon accounts🤔

[@ActionBOX]

@@britenrhodehouse8692 Nah, we dont like charging our viewers for seeing our projects. You're already forced to watch those KZbin ads. If we have time to film and explain it we'll do it for free. Seems like a common request so we will consider it.

[@comedicsketches]

@@ActionBOX Being charged for a patreon is better than watching ads and lets you target a much more selective audience. I have premium and many patreon subs; highly worth it for interesting creators.

[@dittilio]

I feel like Patreon should be more about direct engagement, such as live steams, Q&A, input into designs, things like that. Maybe minor bonuses like behind the scenes or early access. But I agree with @ActionBOX that limiting content viewership isn't a great play. Carrot vs. Stick and all that.

[@richardepps8500]

Youre content is great, You dont have to host the video by speaking like an influencer to hold our attention :)

[@ActionBOX]

Thanks Richard, I appreciate it and will attempt to consider this in our next videos. Any ideas for what we should work on next? we are running out of projects on our DIY project list haha.

[@richardepps8500]

Yall have made all these awesome machines but ive always wondered where they go after your done making them. How about a workshop video? Permanent installation of some of the machines or a shop improvement vid

[@britenrhodehouse8692]

For real! The influencer speech and inflection mannerisms are extremely aggravating... but the content is top notch 👌

[@matic1265]

@@ActionBOXautomatic part change for electroplating

[@ActionBOX]

@@matic1265 ooo good stuff. An automated electroplating setup for the MASTE video we released last week. What else?

[@mikemiles1365]

I love that your channel is making all this equipment that's usually out of reach of regular people and its commendable because most youtubers have a its right in sentiment approach even if its misleading, what you can do to improve your videos is expand beyond you projects, because the project is only as good as what you can do with it for example in this video after you finished your build, people like seeing your tests to make sure it works as intended (did it get too hot, was it hot enough , are there any areas to improve, did the item made in the furnace fuse well, etc) having the audience see the usage process and results turns your project from an over-engineered paper weight in the audiences heads to an idea generating piece of equipment that people want to suggest ideas to what it can be used for, even if its dumb things like creating a mould for your furnace to create precision teddy bear shaped toasted marshmallows. I hope non of this comes across as criticism and more as constructive criticism, for me it would be cool to see some smaller projects using the equipment you have made, hopefully this comment helps. :)

[@SarahKchannel]

In a pinch you can use spark plugs as vacuum wall feed-troughs.

[@perspectivex]

I was going to suggest the same. Have you built a vacuum chamber?

[@SarahKchannel]

@ me personally not. But I worked on many things from particle accelerators to nuclear power plant components. I built my own glass laser tubes 30 years ago, so I have had some exposure to vacuum devices and the challenges that come with it.

[@perspectivex]

@@SarahKchannel cool. I know about the spark plug trick from some guy who used it in building a chamber for coating telescope mirrors.

[@KyleofAsgard]

JESUS CHRIST, did you guys just happen to have 3 projects on the go that all happened to wrap up around the same time?? haha went from no videos in almost a year too 3 videos in 2 weeks!! Great work haha

[@ActionBOX]

hahah, thanks Kyle. We will definitely be taking a break for a short while. we have a few more videos in the making though so stay tuned.

[@Roelasia]

Jesus knows the reason, it's the Kickstarter! 😊

[@thatoneguy99100]

As an engineer in the Silicon Valley semiconductor industry I can tell you that your chamber doesn't look like it came from a CVD reactor, so it's unsurprising there aren't any deposits consistent with iii-v growth. Good on you for checking this with EDS though!

[@ActionBOX]

If only you were available to me before I spent all that money on EDS haha. Than you for your input. What did you think of the video?

[@britenrhodehouse8692]

Lol... being labeled the department dumb ass at my last job because I don't have a degree, but watching the engineering department fellow heads explode as I explained blackbody radiation theory 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

That's like 11th grade physics, how the hell are engineer dept. people baffled by it?

[@britenrhodehouse8692]

@ChucksSEADnDEAD i asked the same thing😬 but I guess a person might lose basic general concepts while pursuing a single track field of study

[@fabiofoltran4361]

​@@britenrhodehouse8692that's probably what happend, there's books if you don't remember a thing

[@MrBiron1]

im always looking for big vacuum chambers and that's a nice find

[@perspectivex]

I'm surprised you could get to 10^-6 Torr range (@<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="308">5:08</a>) with that huge acrylic surface exposed to the vacuum. Most things I've read talk about acrylic only being good down to maybe 10^-3 Torr. Interesting.

[@mikawest1234]

Genius, the way you guys make things and problem solve is sheer genius! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🥇

[@CorvidianSystems]

oh, the things i would do for an LPBF metal printer... i don't have an active channel on here yet (just rolling out on IG, as well), so my only selling point for now is that i started building DIY emergency shelters for our unhoused neighbors out of used plastic pallets and have been 3D printing the connectors for certain junctions. being able to do metal parts would open a world of oppprtunities for mechanical upgrades and prototype development for some of my heating and electricity generation concepts. would love to showcase your printer in the process. obv will be keeping an eye out for the crowdfunding page in the meantime. thanks for the potential consideration, and i appreciate what yall are contributing to the maker world 🙌

[@zakariakhamees]

This is very cool. It would be interesting to show a comparison between the strength of CNC machined parts and metal 3D printed parts.

[@JohnPong-ly2zg]

I would love to have one to make artificial gemstones

[@ActionBOX]

ooo tell me more, how would we do that?

[@GOOGLE-IS-EVIL-EMPIRE]

​@@ActionBOX I HOPE YOU USE NOT (_NOT_) BERYLLIUM CERAMICS?????

[@MrScienceMaths]

Amazing work guys, love your energy, curiosity and problem solving skills

[@ActionBOX]

Thank you, we are having a lot of fun with this one!

[@MrScienceMaths]

@ActionBOX love you guys, take care

[@ActionBOX]

@@MrScienceMaths haha, we appreciate it. Thanks again 😃

[@karlh6692]

Wow you made it hard for yourselves. Did you already try sacrificial carbon to pull out the oxides or an argon gas to make it inert?

[@Dan-cr3zb]

Like your project an idea of 3D metal printer. Here’s a problem to solve. How to take existing molded products. Directly replicate into a sinter body that can be sintered in your chamber. Then goes into a moldings press. 3D scanning sucks because the entire object basically requires to be remodeled.

[@ActionBOX]

Hi Dan, We already have a solution for that. Check out our video from last week about INJEKTO M. You can simply replicate your parts with an RTV silicone, and then use INJEKTO M to inject metal into the silicone molds. Let me know if you have any questions.

[@DylanEdmiston]

Very cool, yall are doing some cool stuff. Im gonna go watch your video on the printer now. What materials can you sinter? Can it get hot enough to sinter ferrous metals? Stainless and inconel? Is the water cooling enough to reach these temps?

[@davidcohlman8937]

This is awesome! 🤯

[@TheEngineeringDutchman]

What 3 banger videos in twee weeks ❤

[@ActionBOX]

haha, yeah I might need a short break after this.

[@jtwarner13]

Wow, that's really cool! Is this going to help with your other maste types in the future?

[@ActionBOX]

Thanks Jonah, we always love seeing your comments. Yes this will indeed help us sinter materials like Inconel 718 and Stainless Steel which we are already working on. We shall have a video of those projects in the future. Hope you enjoyed the video and thanks for your support as always.

[@bernhard_derProtoTyp]

Very cool! Exiting to follow along! How did the magnets hold up? I was under the impression they don’t like heat very much?

[@ActionBOX]

Im glad you asked Bernhard. They did not hold up for the exact reason you mentioned. It was an oversight on my end, but I did account for this by designing it such that if the magnets fail, the door will drop and close shut to avoid a catastrophe. Great question. What else did you notice? haha

[@bernhard_derProtoTyp]

@@ActionBOX makes sense. good that it worked out in the end! its an interesting problem though. high vacuum AND high temperature pass through sounds like quite a challenge. would flooding the chamber with argon or even just nitrogen instead of vacuum be sufficient for sintering? would certainly make a lot of things easier I assume?

[@sx35b2-no5wd]

How, HOW? Very impressive

[@ActionBOX]

hahaha, thank you very much.

[@will8anthony]

how about the rubber oring will it melt? from the heat

[@ActionBOX]

It sure can, which is where the water cooling comes in handy. We really have to watch the temperature of the water. If the water cooling system fails we are in big trouble because even if we turn the heating element off, the radiation will continue to make its way outwards to the chamber walls for a while longer.

[@xxportalxx.]

​@@ActionBOX yeah you should find out how much energy is left after turning it off, and design in a safe zone for water temp for a safe shut down. If you loose vac with the turbo spinning the results are generally catastrophic, and potentially dangerous if the mounting can't withstand the torque of the rotor suddenly seizing (large turbos have killed ppl this way).

[@diego_garcia_cacho]

Ohhh nice ive been tinkering with hv diy setup

[@chrishayes5755]

you might want to consider putting ITC 100 HT Ceramic Refractory Coating on the inside of your furnace. whats the solution the people who buy the metal printer will use to finish their parts? they can't do what you did and build a vacuum furnace.

[@ActionBOX]

We actually provide a furnace in the kit. Check out INJEKTO M on our website actionbox.ca You do not need any insulation in a vacuum furnace so adding the ceramic refractory will only cause problems as it will off gas into the vacuum chamber, preventing you from reaching lower pressures (or higher vacuum). Vacuum is the absolute best insulator, significantly better than anything used to insulate homes, or other furnaces, etc. Hope that makes sense

[@jaro6985]

You use the paste and powder they sell and the vacuum isn't needed. It comes with a regular desktop furnace.

[@ActionBOX]

@@jaro6985 Thank you. Chris, just look at our MASTE product.

[@shrimpkins]

If only you could get Bix Biederbecke to do your soundtracks!

[@AsadAli-ym2lo]

Maste not available in Malaysia please reply

[@manudehanoi]

interesting but makes no business sense to sell a diy printer that requires a super expensive vac chamber like this. Do you need hi vac or just very low oxygen for sintering ?There may be simpler ways to capture oxygen using redox reaction

[@ActionBOX]

Check out our latest video about INJEKTO M. We have solved this issue. You do not need the vacuum furnace. The furnace we provide will work as well 😃

[@manudehanoi]

@@ActionBOX yes ok the timeline got me confused, I guess this deluxe oven came before the last injecto video in your research even though the video for the oven got posted after

[@JHe-f9t]

I was under the impression that turbomolecular pumps were supposed to be installed at the bottom to work with gravity.

[@ActionBOX]

There are different types with different levitation methods. Some have a specific mourning orientation. The one we used did not.

[@seditt5146]

Who wouldn't be interested in a free 3D metal printer lol. Id advertises it on my social media pages but you would only get like 5 people seeing it :D

[@mrraimundo130]

How hot does that steel backplate get at full power? Did you really need the water cooling circuit?

[@xxportalxx.]

Well idk about here, but in my experience the water cooling is mainly to protect the orings, obviously the oring rubber melting is not good haha

[@ActionBOX]

@xxportlaxx is correct. the intent is to protect the vacuum chamber and everything that ensures the vacuum. You must consider that in a pure vacuum, any power we put in must also come out, and it does in the form of radiation. Therefore, if I am heating with 3kw of power inside, eventually when all of my heat shields are glowing red hot they will start to radiate 3kw of power directly to my vacuum chamber. I therefore have to have a way of dictating all of that power. Perhaps a better idea for my next iteration would be to have many more heat shields, so by the time the center of the furnace is done processing, the outer most heat shields aren't that hot yet. Does that make sense? Great question.

[@tuoppi42]

zinc coated steel is not good for welding. citric acid bath is not the fastest way to remove the zinc layer, but it is cheap and non-toxic. for the next time you tig such wheels into something.

[@ActionBOX]

Thanks for letting me know. I assume you are a welder? As I said in the video, I am clearly not so I appreciate your input.

[@whatthefunction9140]

Couldent you have got a lot lower tech by just using argon or nitrogen?

[@ActionBOX]

No sir. In a high vacuum chamber at 10^-6 torr, the oxygen content is about 10^-9 atm, equivalent to ~1 part per billion (ppb). In contrast, a 99.999% pure argon bottle contains around 10 ppm (parts per million, not billion) of impurities, including oxygen. So A vacuum at 10^-6 torr has oxygen levels far lower than that found in ultra-high-purity argon. Does that make sense? I can try to explain it better if needed.

[@OffGridOverLander]

I’d love to try the printer. I have my CO2 laser that hasn’t been doing anything so even if I got an idea on how to repurpose for something like this would be cool. I doubt my laser is compatible but it would be cool if it was.

[@ActionBOX]

Unfortunately CO2 laser wont work, but we actually invented an FDM style metal 3D printer. Check out our video from last week on INJEKTO M and you will see it in there.

[@OffGridOverLander]

@ I saw the injekto, love that idea as well. The powdered bed setup would be more applicable for the parts I tend to make so when I saw that I got curious.

[@MrBiron1]

why not a induction?

[@GermanMythbuster]

Be careful with mixing metals in a cooling loop. Galvanic corrosion is a bitch.

[@ixflqr]

Sooo metal 3D printing requires one of these vacuum things?

[@ActionBOX]

No haha, check out our latest INJEKTO M video for more details about MASTE. That should answer your question.

[@mr.cantsay]

I would shout you out on social media from my glass acounts, but i know people would just complain about the price.

[@MaxMut.]

I don’t have to say it, Neither you guys to hear this.. Your channel alone Do more than most together “

[@shaunos100]

Is someone expecting a new addition to the family?

[@isaactweneboa6]

Dude i would really like to be you apprentice

[@Z-Ack]

Or you could get a cnc mill and get it all done in a fraction of the time.. lol

[@dariodalcin5177]

I don't see why the window would buckle under that loading condition.. What you refer to is just called bending or dishing (if you want to hint at the double curvature) Oh and loose this influencer vibe, as someone else pointed out, totally unnecessary

[@ActionBOX]

Perhaps it would help to know that plastic absorbs infrared radiation extremely effectively. While dishing and bending will occur under only vacuum, the 1100 celcius furnace inside is enough not just to soften plastic, not just to melt it, but enough to literally turn it back into its molecular constituents (which happens to most plastics at around 400 celsius per Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA)). I hope this makes sense, let me know if you'd like any more info on any of this. Per your comment on the influencer vibe, we like it 🤷 but we will definitely consider this.

[@dariodalcin5177]

@ActionBOX true, wasn't thinking of thermal expansion given the way it was presented, but it can indeed cause a compression state leading to instability

[@RepurposeAutomation]

Im intereted

[@leulgedion6446]

i hope you could give me any 3d printer. i really need it

[@dittilio]

Like the others said, remove the influencer bs, you guys don't need it. Your projects have actual substance. Projects I'd love to see in this area (I know your covered some already): Drill press upgrades (bearings, DRO etc), press brake & shear, spot welder with flexible leads, sand blaster + cabinet, powder coating, bench top press (die cutting, pin setting etc), storage and moving solutions, surface grinder. Basically considering the full picture end to end of some products that might be made with your tools, from prototype to finishing, packing and shipping.

[@guytech7310]

I don't think you get much interest in the DIY metal printer. largely because of the costs associated with the vacuum furnace needed to sinter parts. Probably the cost for a decent size vacuum furance is around $5K to $10K, even if you get used parts. Probably a more practical method for DIY metal printed parts is to use a laser cutter to cut out layers from a sheet that are stacked together & than brazed\soldered using a small desktop furnace. Parts would be made with the same outside dimensions, & outside surfaces machined in a CNC or manual mill\lathe. This would make better quality parts (stronger) but with internal structures that would be impossible to machine using a CNC mill.

[@ActionBOX]

Absolutely wrong 😜. Check out our previous video of INJEKTO M where we show our latest metal printer which comes with a furnace, all for $2500. Don't worry, we've considered the limitations and plan on making this accessible to everyone 😉 Cool idea though and thanks for sharing.

[@AdamMaszynotwor]

🦾🦾🦾🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@ActionBOX]

🦾🔥