Two contenders but only one can emerge victorious. In the nicely finished steel trunks, we have the Shop Fox pressure pot, in the gross grey painted trunks, Central Pneumatic. Frankly, although the Central Pneumatic pressure pot was my first choice being both locally sourced (harbor freight) and cheaper than the Shop Fox alternative on Amazon ($99 vs $120) it is quite rubbish. When initially starting out casting plastics I think I didn’t quite consider the importance of a good pressure pot and had wrongly assumed a vacuum chamber would handle all bubble issues. This however, is not quite the case. As far as eliminating bubbles is concerned, a nice pot pumped up to 45 psi will tackle pretty much everything. Thats where the CP pot comes in. Not only are the top bolts not threaded properly, the metal quality is extremely pour, the threads are off kilter and filled with metal debris and makes it absolutely awful to properly seal. Using lithium grease helped but I would still fill the pot up only to realize one side wasn’t properly tightened and had to empty the pot and then retighten it, forcing it with pliers. Its a mess. Recently acquired, the shop fox is a dream. Properly matte finished steel instead of a bad paint job (galvanized or something but I don’t know) it is so much better than the the CP pot. Don’t be fooled by the average amazon reviews it the pot just works well, end of story. Properly threaded screws and holes make tightening and proper sealing really easy. I promise I’m not being paid to say this, I just really like it. Although I own both pots I know exclusively use the Shop fox. Hopefully some of you aspiring artisans catch this post before making a purchase in error but I suppose we will see. Hope this is some help to someone, somewhere.
Battle of Pressure Pots: Not Created Equal
Two contenders but only one can emerge victorious. In the nicely finished steel trunks, we have the Shop Fox pressure pot, in the gross grey painted trunks, Central Pneumatic. Frankly, although the Central Pneumatic pressure pot was my first choice being both locally sourced (harbor freight) and cheaper than the Shop Fox alternative on Amazon ($99 vs $120) it is quite rubbish. When initially starting out casting plastics I think I didn’t quite consider the importance of a good pressure pot and had wrongly assumed a vacuum chamber would handle all bubble issues. This however, is not quite the case. As far as eliminating bubbles is concerned, a nice pot pumped up to 45 psi will tackle pretty much everything. Thats where the CP pot comes in. Not only are the top bolts not threaded properly, the metal quality is extremely pour, the threads are off kilter and filled with metal debris and makes it absolutely awful to properly seal. Using lithium grease helped but I would still fill the pot up only to realize one side wasn’t properly tightened and had to empty the pot and then retighten it, forcing it with pliers. Its a mess. Recently acquired, the shop fox is a dream. Properly matte finished steel instead of a bad paint job (galvanized or something but I don’t know) it is so much better than the the CP pot. Don’t be fooled by the average amazon reviews it the pot just works well, end of story. Properly threaded screws and holes make tightening and proper sealing really easy. I promise I’m not being paid to say this, I just really like it. Although I own both pots I know exclusively use the Shop fox. Hopefully some of you aspiring artisans catch this post before making a purchase in error but I suppose we will see. Hope this is some help to someone, somewhere.
The Shop Fox pressure pot wins by knockout.
-Chad
One reply to “Battle of Pressure Pots: Not Created Equal”
Jamesaspig
Maintain the awesome job !! Lovin’ it!