Hello all,
I’m wanting to veneer some 4′ x 8′ sheets of mdf but don’t want to hassle with the vinyl bag process. I saw a picture of a veneer press based on a frame in FWW #121 pg 65 where the article author is using it to veneer large panels. It seems like an easy way to go – get the panel on the table, roll down your adhesive, put down the veneer, close the top and start the vacuum. A lot easier than wrestling the panel into a big bag.
For those of you who dont have that issue i’ll try to describe it. There are two elements. A flat table surface and a veneer press frame. The veneer press frame basically looks like a window frame filled with vinyl instead of glass and weather stripping on the window frame where the frame would meet the table surface. When the frame is closed on the material a hole in the table allows the air to be pulled out by the vacuum and this helps pull the frame down for a good seal.
These are commercially available but beyond the reach of the typical hobbyist. I am thinking that the materials for building a frame would be aluminum window frame, 30gauge vinyl and weather striping. The hard part is getting the vinyl in the frame so that it doesn’t leak significantly.
At any rate, has anyone ever built a veneer vacuum press frame from scratch? Or have any idea of how commercial duty window frames could be adapted the purpose? Better yet, anyone have one of these commercially built model that would be willing to describe the construction?
Thanks everyone, and keep having fun with wood!
Oh yeah, joewoodworker.com is a great do-it-yourself site for bag veneering so check it out if you’ve ever wondered if you could do it yourself. i’m going to try the bag methods i found here if the frame project doesn’t work out. 🙂
Chris
Replies
I built a top-loading press that handled a panel 8 feet by 7 feet. The platen was a torsion box about 4" thick, which sat on sawhorses. I've learned from other failures that you can't count on wood to hold a vacuum, so I surfaced the torsion box with sheet vinyl. My vinyl supplier only has material that is 54" wide, so I butted two sheets together and put a second layer over the first, without the seams lining up. The vinyl glue only needs to bond the two layers together near the seams. The frame was 2x4s on edge, jointed straight, with plywood gussets at the corners. It held another sheet of vinyl, constructed in the same way as the bottom sheet. I wrapped the sheet up around the outside of the frame, and taped it on. The seal around the edge of the frame was closed-cell foam weatherstripping tape. Lots of clamps pulled the frame to the platen. My vacuum hose was connected to the top vinyl sheet, not the bottom.
This top-loader leaked more than a bag, but not too badly. The vacuum pump turned on perhaps twice as often as on a new 4'x8' bag.
You may notice that I'm using the past tense to describe this thing. A drawback to a top-loader is that it requires lots more storage space than a bag, which you can just roll up. I finally got tired of tripping over the top-loader, and got rid of it.
Edited 2/3/2003 3:40:46 PM ET by JAMIE_BUXTON
Thanks for the reply. I think i'll give it a try.
Where do you get your vinyl? I'd like to get a roll though the cost may be prohibitive.
Kind Regards,
Chris
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled