I am relatively new to the art of veneering. I have a vacuum press kit I got last year as an x-mas gift. It came with a small plastic hand pump which seemed to work ok with the small bag in the kit. The trouble comes in using it with the larger bags I have made, it takes a while to get the air out and there is a need to babysit it to keep it under vacuum (it seems impossible to make a completely sealed bag).
I have looked around at some of the vacuum pump kits (woodcraft, etc) but they all seem to be $300 bucks or more. Does anyone know of a source for relatively inexpensive vacuum pumps? The pumps at my local Grainger store start at $200 bucks.
Here is a picture of my last project. Its a hall table with a bubinga veneer top
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Nice table - I am also on the uphill side of the vacuum press learning curve. I was lucky to get a good pump from ebay- search vacuum pump- it will still cost you a few cents but well worth it for me. The one benefit of a "electric vacuum pump" is they can run continuous. Mine has no problem running non-stop for hours- auto cycle feature allows the unit to shut down and restart if it over heats- it never has.
It would be nice to have a bag that does not ever leak but that just seems impossible over the long haul.
The way I justified it.... expensive bags or expensive pump- which will last longer?
In my research I found that Gast, Robinaire, Yellow Jacket were pump brand names that kept coming up. I ended up with a nice used Gast.
I also learned that all of the fittings you will need are avaiable at places that specialize in air compressors including pump oil. "Vacuum pump is a reverse air compressor"
I'm far from an expert- you will surely get differing opinions
good luck-
dave
Pay a visit to: http://joewoodworker.com/ Everything you ever wanted to know about vacuum pumps and products.
Seajai,
As another poster mentioned, ebay is a good place to start. Also, if you have access to 220 volt power, these are a good deal, brand new gast pumps from surpluscenter.com:
http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=2006112523513574&item=4-1540&catname=
I bought my first vacuum pump from them years ago, and haven't been disappointed.
Good Luck,
Lee
Interesting to read about the hand-operated vacuum pump. I believe it is identical to a system I bought to reseal wine bottles. What I am wondering is if one could not a kitchen vacuum pump such as is used to vacuum seal freezer bags. Anyone tried using this pump. It seems it has to be just as powerful as the hand pump.
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