Would a vacuum bag press be a good way to laminate birchbark to 1/4″ BB plywood?
A client wants flat birchbark panels in doors for kitchen cabinets, and I was thinking of this as a method.
I am in the northern Adirondack region of far upstate NY, where rustic rules. There is a supplier two towns over from me that sells logs, twigs, roughsawn slabs, and specialties like birchbark to builders all over the country. His shipping dock might have sixty 3′ cubes of bark shrinkwrapped to pallets on any given day, awaiting freight pickup.
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Would you treat it like regular veneer? Or would it have texture like "bark?"
Never seen anything like that.
Isn't peeled Birchbark soft, like a thin sheet of cork? I believe I'd consider applying it like a laminate countertop, contact cement and a rolling pin. That's a different cabinet door, let us know what works and post some pictures please.
Got a link or a phone number for the birch bark source. Sounds like something we might use someday.
I'd go with the vacuum bag and veneer glue over contact cement. What's the suppliers recommendations? He must have some feedback from clients
Here ya go.
http://www.specialtywoodproductsadk.com/about.php
A lot of the birchbark goes on house exteriors, and for that, the builders use plain steel nails, headed and not finish, concealing the nails by nailing in the dark recesses.
When used on cabinet work and paneling inside, the carpenters typically use yellow glue and a rudimentary glue press, made with plywood and bandsawn cauls.
We are just wondering if using a bag would be a good alternative to the press.
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"A stripe is just as real as a dadgummed flower."
Gene Davis 1920-1985
Gene,A vac bag will be equal or, more likely, superior to cauls and platen. The bag presses very uniformly over its entire surface. If yellow glue works, then that's OK for vacuum press work. But remember that the glue will not cure while in the bag, it only "sets." Like traditional clamping, the piece can be removed in an hour or so, then let it cure till the bond becomes strong. I'd use a rubber mat or similar as my caul due to the irregular surface of the bark.
How thick will the bark be? If it is thin enough I cannot see why it will not work. The bag will generate a max of 15psi, which I have found is not enough to press some thicker stock together. I did some experiments with some 8/4 resaw stock that didnt work out. The pieces wound up too thin (around 3/8") after planing, so I tried gluing them back together in the vac bag. The pieces had sat in the shop for a bit and a couple were a bit out, but I tried it anyway. The bag didnt quite pull them all together as tightly as I know I could have with lots of clamps.
Personally, I would not use contact cement. TBII may work if you have time to get it all prepped and thrown into the bag before it kicks off. TBIII will give you better gap filling and a longer work time, but it is a bit dark so if you are concerned about bleed through it may not work. Urea Formaldehyde is (Vacupress unibond 800) is another option if you need more work time, and then there is always epoxy if you need really good gap fill ability.
I assume the bark is cleaned up pretty well. Lots of sharp edges are pretty hard on the bags. They are resilient, but I noticed after finishing a bunch of staves for doors that I did a bit of damage.
Brad
Gene,
Rather than taking my word for it, why don't you ask Darry Keil at his forum located at http://www.vacupress.com/forum/category-view.asp. He is the owner of Vacu press systems, an expert on vacuum veneering that answers many of the questions posed on the forum..
Edited 9/8/2008 1:05 pm ET by BOBABEUI
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