With Instructables you can share what you make with the world and tap into an ever-growing community of creative experts.
A vacuum pen is used to pick up tiny little things such as beads, small shells or sometimes electronic components depending on their size. They aren'...
This vacuum pen was made with some easy to find parts. The main component is the aquarium air pump. This walkthrough is specifically for the Aqua ...
First we will focus on the air pump. We need it to suck in air, not pump it out. We can easily reverse the valve in this pump. I got this pump fo...
The part on the right is the air pump. The part on the left is a motor. When the motor is on it oscillates the magnates back and forth, vibrating t...
When you pull out the pump pull it straight up. There is a grey cover over both the valves that will come with it. Remove the cover and set it off t...
The black rubber diaphragm is currently fit snugly over the blue plastic circle, which is the gasket cover. Gently pry the black rubber off the gaske...
Remove the screw in the center of the gasket cover to remove the piece so we can get to the gasket.
We are going to gently pry out the gasket here. Notice that it's attached to a little white notch at the bottom when pulling it out. To reverse the ...
We need to rotate this gasket upside down from where it was before, 180 degrees. Use something sharp to poke a hole for the peg to go into. I used a...
Place the gasket back over the peg but this time rotated 180 degrees and using your new hole you poked. Don't worry about the old hole, it won't be a...
Replace the blue gasket cover. Fit it over the peg and then twist it until it seems like it's snugly in place. Then replace the screw and tighten i...
Gently fit the diaphragms backs over the blue gasket covers. Gently press around the edges until they are on evenly all around and you can't see the...
Put back on the grey valve cover before putting the pump back in the case.
Place the pump back into the case. This can be a little tricky because you have to guide the grey valve cover back into it's slot on the case while k...
Once the pump is back in the case, replace it's screw and tighten it back in.
Finally put the cover back on and replace the four screws you initially took out. And that should be it for the pump. What was once an air pump sho...
We will just skim over this. It's mostly the same processes. In the Whisper 100, the gasket and gasket cover all all one piece and easier to flip. ...
Simply remove the diagram like before and this time the arm can be moved out of the way by simply sliding the base of the arm up.
Slide the white gasket piece straight up then and flip it over 180 degrees and put it back in. It sticks a little the first time you slide it out, so...
Slide the diaphragm swing arms back into their sleeve. The magnet may pull it some towards the motor, but no harm if it touches in the process. But ...
When putting the lid back on there is a front and a back to it. Look at the two circular notches at one end of the cover. Those go over the diaphrag...
This is the vacuum pen I made. It's made using some pens I had around, a airflow control valve at the rear, an inflation needle at the tip and an all...
These are the parts before assembled so you can start to see what goes where. For this we will need: Airflow Valve Alligator Clip Airflow Tube Screws...
First, take apart your pen. We will need the nose cap to screw off like this ones does. Take out the contents of the pen. We won't need the actually...
The inflation needle is just like any needle you would use to inflate a basketball or football. We only will need the needle part so you can cut off ...
Most inflation needles have a hole on the side as well to make sure they can inflate the ball I don't want that going past the tip of the nose cone....
Cut the Inflation Needle here. Use either a hack saw or a Dremel tool. Try not to crush the needle while doing this.
Using a small drill bit, drill a hole around the middle of the nose cone. The hole should be slightly bigger than the tip of the needle. We only wa...
When gluing in the needle try not to get any glue on the threading of the nose cone as we want it to be able to screw back on. Slide the needle back a...
While the tip is drying lets work on our valve cover clip. First off we need to cut the bottom lip off of the alligator clip so the top can sit again...
In my case my alligator clips aren't flat on the bottom end. I need to flatten mine so I can drill a second hole into it to attach it to the pen. I ...
Drill a second hole in the bottom of the alligator clip. I don't recommend holding it like this when doing it but instead drilling over a sturdy woo...
Next we need to drill screw holes in the pen. Place the alligator clip on the edge of the pen. Where you cut the bottom lip off of the alligator cl...
Next where going to get another pen with a rubber grip on it. Preferably one about the same size of the pen we are turning into our vacuum pen Cut ...
Here is the valve assembled. Use the two small screws to attach the alligator clip to the pen. I used to epoxy with the screw to ensure a good seal....
On the other end of the pen the Airflow Control Valve just goes in the end of the pen. In my case it had a lot of play so I needed something that wou...
Take your air hose and cut off a couple pieces about 5" each. If one is just slightly longer than the other that would be best.
Connect the two pieces of hose to the pump and then connect the other end to the T-Valve.
Finally connect the rest of the air hose to your T-valve and the end of the airflow control valve of your pen. And you are ready to go now! You've g...
So to recap on what this thing can do, here's an example of what it can and can't pick up. When it comes to the Aqua Culture pump on it's own, rated...
After initially finishing this project, I ordered some suction cups for a vacuum pen. Well, they came and they make the pen work even better! I got...
The Aqua Culture ended up working better with the suction cup. Where before it couldn't pick up a penny or some of the heavier objects, it could with...
The Whisper 100 with the suction cup also couldn't previously pick up coins. But with the 5mm suction cup on the end, it had no problem with any of t...
A lot of people have asked if it can suck up solder. Technically... Yes. Practically? No. I made a test pen and using the Whisper 100 pump tried t...
All Instructables are now available in PDF format for easy printing, sharing and offline viewing.
This feature is only available with a Pro membership.
58,211 views
204 favorites
Posted:
Jan 25, 2013
License:
Public Domain
PDF Downloads
As a Pro member, you will gain access to download any Instructable in the PDF format.
You also have the ability to customize your PDF download.
Visit Our Store »
Go Pro Today »