Building a vacuum chamber...

... and hopefully make a vacuum machine. The chamber comes first, though:

Where did I find this magnificent metal barrel? In a rather old basement in the form of a too heavy-to-lift washing machine of unknown brand. So, whilst stripping it as best I could, I slowly started to see that the pieces could be used for a vacuum chamber. As you can see in the images here, I am trying to get it sort of air-tight, which of course is being helped greatly by the fact the parts are made to keep water in. Keeps air in, as well, one could hope.

The lid of the old washing machine will probably serve as lid on the vacuum chamber. I have sealed it with silicone rubber.
     Vacuum puts a whole lot of stress on the materials and sealings, I am rather sceptical this will work - even for a test! What speaks for this particular setup is that the washing machine was such a heavy flokker that the containment barell (which this project uses as the chamber) had 1 mm thick steel instead of the 0,5 or 0,7 steel used in pots of the larger size. I think...

A great view into the chamber. When it is airtight (a rubber sealing is left to be fixed on both the lid and the rim of the chamber) and the hole in the bottom has been somehow fixed, I will get me some metal plumbing and hook it up to the old vacuum cleaner.
    Silicone moulds will be better, but even better yet: The crappy casts I've made these six or seven years will now be replaced with something more professional, finally. As parting words I should add that this project is just a test - I have a small budget, but there's still left for better parts.