The high vacuum pumps are exotic finicky beasts and their proper
operation takes a skilled technician. This requirement puts them
more in the realm of folks producing aerospace or medical parts
rather than jewelry.
High vacuum pumps are exotic finicky beasts except for the diffusion
pump, which has no moving parts, no expensive electronic controller,
and runs like your coffee brewer.
Like anything else, you can complicate it by adding a water cooled
chevron baffle, a liquid nitrogen trap, and a high vacuum gate valve.
They are a laboratory standby while the other pump (cryogenic pump or
turbomolecular pump) is being repaired by the skilled technician. 
Jeff Simkins
I totally agree. $2500 is a bit steep for a casting machine. I
don't own a Neycraft, I've been vacuum casting and I just can't
provide a compelling reason to my wife to drop $2500 on another
cool tool. $1000 price tag and I'd jump on it.
Several of the postings have done a good job explaining why the
Ti-Research CAST system works very well so I’m not going to expand on
that point except to say that we picked it up because we thought it
was innovative and a very high quality machine(less waste, ability to
mold thin product perfectly, safer, compact, solid etc.).
Let’s say that you decide that this is the machine you want to but
$2500 is out of your budget. The price shouldn’t stop you and here
are a couple of alternatives to think about.
Alternative #1: If you have others like you in your immediate
vicinity, you could go in together on a machine. This could cut your
price by 1/2 or 1/3rd and you’ll probably still end up casting the
same amount of parts so that brings the investment down to $1250 or
$900.
Alternative #2: If you don’t want to deal with others using the
machine, we will work out a finance plan that will fit your budget.
It’s like paying fees to the casting company only you own the casting
machine when you are done and you won’t have to pay any more fees.
It’s a plan that will not charge you interest fees like a credit
card. Call for more details.
CAST System: http://tinyurl.com/2vp3ha
Michael McKinnon
McKinnon Global, LLC
www.mckinnonglobal.com