hey guys I am planning my 1st compsand right now. I have been thinking of doing one for a long time but have never felt brave enough. I have looked at lots of thread on there and seen heaps of cool stuff.
I understand that a vacume pump is a real must but I was wondering what clever ideas were out there to put the skins on with out them. I read in an old thread of one guy used lot of gallon bags full of water and an other system using a tarp and weights. Anyway think outside the box and let me know you clever ideas
I have not decided on the skin timber yet will most likely be redwood or cedar
I am fully expecting to get mocking for posting this but i am keen to try a compsand and need to sort something
A West System Epoxy article mentioned using a shop vac to pull the vacuum over upholstery foam which maintains the pressure on the work while the the shop vac is turned off for survival. Then the shop vac is turned on as needed to keep the foam compressed over the work.
I remember another thread similar to this , where a guy actually wheel- barrowed dirt into the house , from outside in the yard and shovelled it over the board !..hahahahaha! classic.....the things we do
thanks guys for the imput I am working on building a pump from a fridge pump. very helpful info.
I have re-thought my design a bit and am now planning to do a smaller board 1st try round.
Looking at a 7ft egg with XPS rails with 1/4 inch redwood parabolic rail stringers . will have 3mm redwood deck skin. and soild redwood inserts where fins are, glued to the under side of the skins, still working with that 1 pound EPS core as i already have the foam.
I got a refriderator pump out of the garbage at a construction job I was on and found a compressor left out on the street by my truck.
When I got it home plugged in the fridge compressor and found the pipe that sucked and the one that blows. Then I JB cold welded the pipe to the air compressor and added a few bits from Joe Woodworker–Auto shut off & vacuum gadge to the old compressor shut off pipe. After that I put a tube and plastic bottle with holes on the top to catch the oil from the blowing pipe.
Now I just add a little oil each time and plug it in for use.
If you want to go low tech and just let it run get a $1 fishtank air bleeder valve to adjust the pressure and two plastic pipes and you are good to go.
Lavarat, Would it be too much to ask for a how to in the fridge pumps? I certainly have enough compressors. If you already have posted info on the topic....Mea Culpa. Will look into the archives.
well ill try and put this nicely mate. you could get your 2 or three hundred dollars worth of materials to make a board potentialy worth a grand and try bury it a sandpit or whatever or you could also burn out your missus 300 dollar nilfisk.
or you could buy a guage and 20 to 200 dollar pump and set your vac at about 7 hg for a good bond that wont fail when the boards being ridden
thats the best advice from myself or anyone who has made/making and tested these boards seriously
I bought a vac pump for A/C repair at harbor freight for 60$.I got the pressure gauge and pressure control switch from joewoodworker.com and hooked it all up to an old air compressor tank,the whole rig was around 100$ and it was well worth it.You can use the air fittings from compressors for your vac attachments,much cheaper and they work fine.i get my vac bags from fiberglass supply,I think its called nylon tubing and costs less than 1$ a foot.The 1 pound eps is shart.Any more I use 1.5-2.0 foam and hotwire in the rocker and foil.Shape it out and glass the bottom with 2 layers of 4oz,free lap onto the deck.Then once it sets I cut the deck skin and use a layer of glass and epoxy to attach it to the foam in the vac bag.No rocker bed no BS.Then clean it up a bit and put a layer of glass on the deck.The 1 pound eps I’ve found will break down,it will basically separate from itself over time.Then you have to deal with high density foam inserts at the fin and leash areas,vents,vent failures.I’ve had the foam break down underneath glasson fins even though there was a skin on the bottom of the board,the whole skin delammed in the area the fins were attached.Just the force of driving and cutting backripped the foam away from itself.But heres the kicker…it was a magic board,the only board I’ve ever intentionally rode away from airs on in a smooth manner.
I did one couple years a go... it was my first built,I glued the wood layer over glass with contact glue( using wax paper between to "aligne" )and glass it over with 4oz it works great and looks good.!
For the love of god guys......why does everybody here make everything sooo fricking difficult?
Get a cheap medical pump..craigslist, ebay, medical supply co. etc. Spend about $30-$60, good one is the GaSt 704A. Stick a hose in it, make it suck and be done with it. You don't need to build a semi elaborate pump system that will take 6 months and $200.00 worth of home depot trips to complete. medical pumps are ment to run continiously.....for weeks on end, and they are quiet. They don't cycle..they just run quietly and suck.
hell you are going to spend $300 making a sand box. Or probably $100 in ziploc bags.
