Vacuum pump
I decided to use a vacuum system to laminate the layers in the board and thus needed a vacuum pump.
At the local auto wreckers I obtained an airconditioner pump from a chevy. Unfortunately the pump had a multiple v pulley and so I had to remove the clutch assembly and install a regular pulley. This is not an easy task and required a puller which I happened to have, but still the shaft size turned out to be 9/16 and it is not easy to get a pulley to fit that size so I had to make a bushing from some pipe that was close to those dimensions but still needed sanding and filing to fit.
I hooked up a 1/4 hp motor which turned out to be too weak to pull a serious vacuum.
I mounted the output tube high up to allow the oil to drain back in to the pump as it runs as it requires oil to generate a good vacuum and loses a small amount out of the output tube as it runs.
Below is the first attempt:
I am going to try a different pulley size on the motor and see what happens.