Help for a NuArc Vacuum Frame

[Rick Olson]

Hello Friends,

I was able to purchase a used NuArc VFC22 vacuum frame and the rubber mat has some cracked edges. I don't own a pump yet for it but I am sure that it will not hold suction too well based on these cracks. Does anyone know where I might be able to purchase a replacement mat.

Thanks,
Rick

 

[Donald Miller]

The last I checked, Nuarc was still in business and offered support on their product line...provided it wasn't an obsolete item. Good luck.

 

[Brickbird]

Mat

Hello Friends,

I was able to purchase a used NuArc VFC22 vacuum frame and the rubber mat has some cracked edges. I don't own a pump yet for it but I am sure that it will not hold suction too well based on these cracks. Does anyone know where I might be able to purchase a replacement mat.

Thanks,
Rick

Rick....I might be able to help. I have a NuArc base with a mat. No pump. Let me know your size and I will take a close look at it and see if it would work for you.

Tav Walraven

 

[Joe Lipka]

That's the same one I use. You should be able to get parts from NuArc. As for the vacuum pump, the standard is a GAST pump (GAST Manufacturing). You should be able to get that from NuArc, too or from GAST. I will go home tonight and see if I can come up with the correct make and model pump. You will also need a vacuum gauge that can be mounted on a tee connection on the upper right corner of the frame. A length of flexible hose between the pump and the frame and you are ready for business.

 

[Joe Lipka]

Didn't get into the back of the darkroom until this morning. Here is the info promised.

Gast Model 0211-V138-G8CX is on the GAST nameplate.

The NuArc nameplate reads M35.

There was no information on make or manufacturer of the vacuum gauge. It was a simple zero to 35" of mercury gauge.

 

[Rick Olson]

Hello Tav,

The model shows 17" x 22". I have it packed back up for my pending move to Denver ...

Hello Joe,

Thanks for the details on the pump type.

Rick

 

[rtuttle]

Order the pump from granger or similar company. It is indeed a Gast pump. We have 4 large ones here at work. Ordering from a industrial company will save you about 75% of the price! From experience. Once you get one the Gast pump lasts forever. I only replace one of the four and the rest are over 20 years old and work fine. Each one has an obscene number of exposures on them as we a printing company and before the days of computers used them exclusively all day everyday. Doing some 4/c catalog compositing I have many a 6+ hour day one those pumps. NuArc may have the vacuum bed your looking for but from what I see they are not the same company they were 10+ years ago. They dropped most of their product line in the merger/takeover.

 

[juan]

If you are unable to get the frame to hold a vacuum, you can still use it. Just put a few sheets of mat board down on the rubber mat, put your paper and negative on top, and close the glass. The mat board takes up the extra space, so the frame will act as a large contact printing frame.
juan

 

[Michael Kadillak]

If you are unable to get the frame to hold a vacuum, you can still use it. Just put a few sheets of mat board down on the rubber mat, put your paper and negative on top, and close the glass. The mat board takes up the extra space, so the frame will act as a large contact printing frame.
juan

My Nuarc frame was uneven and the rubber gasket would not seal. When I pressed down on the glass frame and found out what side was low, I actually used masking tape as quasi shim material under the gasket edge that screws down to get the glass to sit level under the and allow the frame to make a seal. Works like a champ. I went to an auto supply store to get hose and a bleeder valve to put in the supply line that I can use to take off the vacuum and open the frame.

Cheers!

 

[Rick Olson]

Thanks all ... I think I will modify the cracked base that I have, as a replacement is over $300.00. I am sure I can patch it up as some of you have suggested.

Rick