ABLAZE 3 Gallon Tempered Glass Lid Stainless Steel Vacuum Chamber Perfect for Stabilizing Wood, Degassing Silicones, Epoxies (3 Gallon)

The pressure gauge is not very accurate. I removed the rubber seal and I'm located approximately at sea level, and it significantly overestimates the pressure within the chamber at low levels. A water boil test confirms that it's reading pressure high.Whatever. I'm degassing molds in my garage, not building rockets at lockheed martin. The chamber itself is fine, and holds a near perfect vacuum for easily 48 hours.

This vacuum chamber seemed to be exactly what I wanted. A good size, a tempered glass lid, cheaper than most alternatives, and with pretty good reviews. And it did seem like a decent unit when I received it. So why the three stars? Because, while all of those things are true, there are a few glaring design issues.First, it was not well packed. It came in a plastic bag in a cardboard box with two tiny pieces of styrofoam seemingly thrown in at random. The hose barb on the valve assembly was poking through the cardboard, and the entire valve assembly was loose and spun freely.Second, the valve and gauge assembly was mounted almost exactly halfway up the chamber, rather than near the top as shown in the picture. I'd planned on using this to stabilize wood, and the last thing I want is to have the resin foam up and get sucked into my vacuum pump.Third, the valves were attached backwards. They could only turn towards the chamber, which meant that they could never be fully closed.Now, tightening the valve assembly would have been easy, and I probably could have unscrewed both valves and swapped them around so that the handles turned in the right directions. And as long as I was careful and kept a close eye on things while the resin was foaming, I could probably avoid any potential damage to my pump. Nevertheless, I decided to return it and spend a little more money on a chamber that doesn't have these issues.

The glass top is fantastic. Since you can see, you can adjust your vacuum before your silicone or resin makes a mess and you can make judgement calls on how long it should stay in. Pro tip: coat the inside with shortening and nothing will stick, cleanup is easy. But, I have not needed to do that because... I can see what I'm doing.

Sturdy heavy gauge metal with a very heavy glass lid. Would buy again.

After purchasing a cheaper version of this one that shattered after first use , I replaced it with this one. This one is perfect and fast shipping. Read reviews and do research.