Ohh, Im buying a lathe too :D Maybe next week????

So put me first in line for a Bandit Skimmer!:biggrin:

Nice, CNC??

Not at first, But I built my CNC for my mill, so I'll build the lathe into a CNC :D

Pin wheel's and Venturi's/New Volutes for MAG pumps, would that be of interest? The Lagunas are a great possibility, but I see a few allready make conversion kits. I don't want to be a copy cat. MAG pumps I run myself, cheap, but the impellers never last neither. Might not be a market there?

I have to admit, Im new to the whole pumps sucking air, needle wheels, Mesh wheels etc. And I dont have the funds to go out and buy a bunch and test. Reading RC makes me mad and gives me a headache. there's allways fighting and nonsence on there. Seems like on a 50 page thread, there's only like 7-8 pages of USEFULL info, but takes 3 days to read and process it all

Yes. The RC threads can be a drag. Too many people trying to impress each other. When all is said and done, there is a lot more said than done.

Haven't used Mag pumps myself. Just interested in a quiet, reliable, reasonably priced skimmer pump. At $339, the Askoll looks good, but that's close to the cost of a skimmer.

Which pump was $339 and where? Ya that IS alot for a pump, but is that the same(apparently) as the one RD sells for $1k? I dont even have a skimmer that would need a pump that big yet LOL

The modified Laguna/Askoll pump with volute cover and pinwheel is $350 (just went up!) from Salt Water Connections, the maker of the Xtreme skimmers also branded as Octo Extreme and MSX skimmers. SWC is based in Winnipeg. I have a SWC Xtreme 200, it is an awesome skimmer, but I would like to replace the Sicce pump. Trouble is, not much draws as much air as the Sicce and for $129, it is quite a bargain and I don't want to lose performance.

Filter out the bickering between hahn (banned now I think) and bean and 90% of the thread is GONE. It's still a neat read but yeah some of the DIY threads become battles of the ego.

$350 for pump and volute, not bad.

I like their cone skimmers. Hmm.


Man, I kinda hate being up here in in camp. I have WAY to much time to think of ideas, but not enough time to follow them through.

One thing I think I am going to try to make, is thread on inlet venturi's. Ones with Pipe thread, so you can thread them on to pretty much ANY pump. MAG, Ehiem, etc.