03-17-2010, 01:34 PM
Thanks for all the comments and I understand what everyone is getting at. I'm a Chemist and understand all the basics about pressure and implications. My research is done actually in a closed system under a vacuum around 10^-6 torr and at ~20 Kelvin studying the movement of electrons in a system. I know 2 other casters along with myself that have used the setup I mentioned for years with no problems and I have industrial pots that can handle both pressure and a vacuum. The only thing I'm not sure on is the size vacuum pumps I need to purchase. Ideally I want to just purchase 1 pump that I would be able to use for both. I have a 6 cfm pump currently that I use for my 2.5 gallon pots. Any help from anyone that knows the proper size cfm would be very appreciated.