Replies

1. 
   Jamie_Buxton | Jun 28, 2005 05:38pm | #1

   http://www.joewoodworker.com/veneering/roarockitreview.htm

    

1. 
   macalex | Jun 29, 2005 09:57am | #5

   Thanks

   Joewoodworker is the man!

   MalcolmNew Zealand  |  New Thinking0.06% of the world's people are Kiwis

2. 
   KeithNewton | Jun 28, 2005 06:41pm | #2

   Malcolm, I have been bagging quite a while now, and when I am teaching newbies, I like to show how simple it can be. I'll bet that if I were to walk into your shop I could show you how to use only things that you already have on hand.

   I will be giving a weekend workshop in my shop for the local woodworking club. I will probably start with a demo like this. First I will take the intake filter off of my compressor, and with off the shelf pipe fittings from any hardware store, hook up a hole on the intake, and open the tank. Wala! I have a 2 hp pump. Total cost. Under $5.

   OK run the other end of the hose into a large zip-lock bag with the work in it. Take a big wad of chewing gum out of my mouth, stretch and wrap it around the hose right were it goes through the zipper and you are done. It can be that simple. However there are many many tricks to learn to use this technology creatively.

   Any caulk with a heavy body will work, and is easier to use. If I wanted to do something larger, like a cabinet door, I would use a large drum liner size trash bag. I would bring the hose through a bottom corner through the caulk wad. You can seal the big end by rolling it around a dowel or a square for that matter with another strip clamped to it with spring clamps.

   One of the great things about vacuum bagging is that you are not limited to size. If you wanted to make a panel as large as your shop, I can show you how to do it, and it doesn't have to cost a lot of money.

   I know some of you will think that I am full of it for making a claim like that, but it is true. Some of you may be members of clubs, and I would be willing to travel around to give weekend or day-long, hands-on demonstrations.

   You can see some samples of my work on my website http://www.treetales.com

1. 
   Elcoholic | Jun 29, 2005 02:25am | #3

   Nice work.John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking

   The more things change ...

   We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized.  I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.

   Petronious Arbiter, 210 BC

2. 
   macalex | Jun 29, 2005 10:06am | #6

   Keith

   I've looked at your web site, and I believe you! When I get a pump organised, I'm not too concerned about making bags.

   In spite of Joewoodworker's cautions, I'll spend a bit of time this weekend experimenting with a hand pump, as in FWW. They sure suck the air out of my half-full wine bottles!

   Cheers

   MalcolmNew Zealand  |  New Thinking0.06% of the world's people are Kiwis

1. 
   KeithNewton | Jun 29, 2005 04:08pm | #7

   I'm sure it works fine for a wine bottle, but in the real world of vacuum bagging, if you have even a tiny leak as small as a needle, you will be stuck pumping until the glue is cured. You will have expended so much energy, you will feel like you just ran a marathon.

3. 
   Dave45 | Feb 08, 2006 04:14am | #8

   Why didn't I think of that!!?? 

   I've been looking at vacuum bagging for a while now but haven't wanted to spend the money for a pump.  Those hand pumps look interesting, but again, it's a matter of not spending money on something I may rarely (if ever) use.

   However, I got ziploc bags and 32 gallon garbage bags up the wazoo and I'll bet that a quick tour thru my small fittings coffee can will turn up what I need to modify my compressor.  I may just give it go this weekend - lol.

   Kieth, if this works............you da man!!

1. 
   Malcolm | Feb 08, 2006 01:00pm | #9

   Cheez, where'd this emerge from! Discussion started months ago!

   Let me know how you get on ... there's a supplier in Australia who sells commercial kits that use a bottle pump.

   Malcolmhttp://www.macpherson.co.nz

2. 
   WillGeorge | Feb 10, 2006 07:12pm | #10

   wine bottle vacuumGod I love good wine!

3. 
   WillGeorge | Jun 29, 2005 06:21am | #4

   Those 'bags' you see for putting clothes in and use a vacuume cleaner work bretty well.. You can get them in many different sizes at stores here in the USA..

   Or like in the TV advertisements for $19.95 ..LOL..