Getting bamboo veneer to conform to double concave bottom w/o vac bagging

Has this topic been discussed already? I’ve got my board shaped (2# XPS - blue stuff; I know, I know but the price was right = 10 sheets for $0.00), I put a slight double concave in the tail from the tip to approx 18" up then fades out into single concave. I got a really good deal on a 4’ X 8’ x 1/16" sheet of bamboo veneer from work and I wanted to do a veneer on the bottom and deck leaving about 1 1/2" - 2" of foam rail. I’m not yet set up to do a vac-bag job though. I don’t see any way to get my veneer to conform to the concaves I’ve shaped into the bottom without a vac-bag station. I will eventually get the vac-bag thing going, but don’t have the resources for it right now and I was hoping to have this board ready for Memorial Day weekend. Any first - hand tips or links to a thread where this has been discussed (if it has been) would be totally appreciated.

Thanks a few bunches,

J.D.

Paging benny1…

Bags of tungsten powder would be best, but ziplocs of water or sand will also provide almost even pressure.

people might be getting tired of hearing this, but half a dozen 5 gal. buckets of wet dirt works great over a sheet of thick plastic over yer board on a rocker table. Pretty much what Mike Daniel said, but with respect, I think the pressure is more even in a solid mass, and the time you spend baggying all that stuff is probably the same as the time you spend carefully scooping it off a sheet of plastic, and once you get to a weight you can easily manage you can just lift the last 80 lbs. worth off all at once.Make sure no rocks or sticks in it. Better off, sand… I’ve been thinking of getting a kiddy pool from walmart for my next veneer, I don’t dare call it a ‘comp’ anything, and fill it up with a hose, on top of the board, on the rocker table. If you try it, just make sure your table has deep enough side walls to get good compaction under the areas of less water volume, eg., the nose, tail…Ever notice how compacted the grass is under those mothers? It’s gotta work. People like me, either reluctant to go for the vac, skeered, broke, moronic, not sure, a combination of some or all? Well, this works for now. If you bust out the kiddie pool before I do, lemme know if she leaked all over yer eps so I know where not to buy one:). With any variation from flat, I’d think you’d want as much pressure as you think your blank can withstand without deforming from your intended shape…Sorry!!, this wont work, yer not talkin’ about the deck, I wasn’t paying attention/forgot. Unless you made a reverse rocker table and did this before you shaped the deck?Sorry, last edit, what if you shape the rocker, yer blank is still fat as hell and flat on the ‘deck’, and water bag the skin onto yer concaves, then hot wire out/ shape yer deck after? Ok, I give up

I’m a little hesitant to recommend this, but it worked for me and is pretty simple. I don’t think I could find the thread, but some key words are bamboo and SUP.

Here’s what. Get an inflatable beach raft, a small hammer, two cans of beer, a bikini top and a terracotta brick. The beach raft should be a cheap one. Buy a roll of that clear tape they use to wrap up shipping crates. It has no adhesive, but sort of sticks to itself. Like sandwich wrap. Somebody help me with the name of that stuff.

Apply your epoxy to the bamboo however you planned. Wrap the deflated air mattress over the bamboo area you wish to impress, wrap that with lots of the clear wrap. Mine worked, but I should have used more wrap for better results (it stretches a bit). Now, start inflating the raft. Be prepared to nurse it with more air over the nexgt couple of hours. Hope you used fast resin.

Ok, you’re in busines. But you must post pictures.

The hammer, beer cans, bikini top and terracotta brick are used for a Google key word search when this topic comes up again, as I bet it will. I hope to be able to search on those words and come right to this thread.

Good luck. I think you gotta shot at it

that’s awesome

Or you could glue both sides, lay it up…then run it over with a car…or better yet a F-350 Super cab. Super cabs put better presure on the rails.

For god sakes man, just shove the thing in a cheep plastic 3 mil drop cloth $3.00 , seal it with duct tape $3.00, and hook it up to your shop vac, or steal you moms. HOW FRICKING EXPENSIVE IS THAT?

Gonna cost a fair bit more than six clams. I expect the shop-vac or Mom’s Kirby to rapidly burn out without some air flowing through. Kirbys are real spendy ('s why I don’t have/use one).

OTOH…l see used vacs out on the street for bulky item pickup quite frequently.

And, if you’re careful with sealing your bag, suggest a used/abandoned fridge compressor will suck enough vacuum.

Well, good point, and I had though of that. I was just worried about leaving the shop vac running that long. Thought it’d have to be under pressure for at least a few hours, but with fast setting resin…

I didn’t want to ask about the shop -vac thing for fear of a condescending answer… :slight_smile:

But if that’s the way to go, then I’m set. Thanks for reassuring that it would work.

Should he put the bikini top on before or after the two beers.

I second the sand idea. Take it do the beach, fold it into a plastic sheeting envelope, shape the sand into a rocker table, then pile a butt-load of sand on top of it.

Or…

Get a vac bag and tubing, put your board together and in the bag, then weight it down and drop it in the deep end of a friend’s swimming pool. Keep the end of the tubing out of the water so it can vent to atmospheric pressure. That’s probably the best way to get even pressure all around. Of course, by the time you’ve gone to all that trouble, you may as well spend another $65 at harbor frieght and have a real vac pump. There’s really nothing that even comes close.

Really, get a vac pump. It’s worth it.

Thanks for the tips guys, I kinda expected the majority of the responses to be to just get a vaccuum compressor. I think I know where a couple of “abandoned” fridges are. I’ll do a search on the threads for using one in a vac-bag setup. I’ve seen 'em pop up here quite a few times. Or just bite the bullet and get one at Harbor Freight.

Thanks again,

J.D.

Also saw some threads on veneer softeners, maybe I’ll give that a shot in addition to the vac.

nice one Greg!

post of the week for sure,

had me laughing

[img_assist|nid=1030197|title=vacuum set up|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=406|height=640]Playing in the dirt & sand is fun and all, but I think you could get away with an good $20 set up.

Just use a fridge compressor, some plastic hose, clamps and a $2 fish tank bleeder valve

to regulate the pressure.

The pro bags cost $12 and with some 2"tape your off to some veneer drama of your own.

I got my fridge compressor, plastic line and tank for free and put on the auto shutoff & gauge just to make it interesting.

[img_assist|nid=1030196|title=compmaterial|desc=|link=none|align=none|width=100|height=77]

Have fun,

“I got a really good deal on a 4’ X 8’ x 1/16” sheet of bamboo veneer from work and…"

Hold off on the compsand stuff. Glass the XPS foam with Resin Research Epoxy resin. One 6 oz bottom , 2 6oz top…Or something like that… Take your time and do the proper planning for the Bamboo Veneer project…The bamboo veneer I got from Lavarat is about as thick as 3 sheets of paper…1/16" is really thick for veneer over double concave without a proper Vac set up…I’m not even a Vac bag guy…Just scored some Beechwood veneer…Nice to have Swaylock’s connections…Don’t rush the job…make it perfect…

If you can pull it off with 80 pounds of dirt…More Power To you!!!

Lots of interesting ideas in this thread; I own a small compressor so… maybe trying some veneer/compsand stuff isn’t more than a few years down the road… hah!

…If you’re going to try a kiddy pool, you might want to consider a camping air mattress instead. Similar price range, maybe more even weight distribution and a handier size (I think you can get them in single and twin sizes). It does sound relatively simple and cheap to go the more pro route though…

Seriously,

As Schwuz has suggested, none of the sand and kiddypools sound any easier or manageable than a plain-ol’ Vacuum bag. The pump is no big deal…have no fear.

When you are done with boards you can cryogenically preserve the neighbors’ cat for a laugh…

Josh

www.joshdowlingshape.com

Without Vac Bag its possible but not without ill affects like air voids and distorted shape. Imo distorted shape is a big no no assuming youre starting with a good shape - bad shape then distortion might actually help you if youre lucky enough. Also #2 xps with 1/16" veneer will have ZERO FLEX (shortie). If you like zero flex, continue. It will also likely be VERY heavy, but bulletproof.

I have a frig pump I will give free to a good home in the Tampa area for any first timer. I have built several with it and it is still in good shape. It is small but very heavy so not easily shipped.

That was going to be my next question. Maybe I will just glass this one and save my veneer for later. I got it from work cheap, it was for some custom doors but it arrived damaged, a couple little bites out of the edge. So I thought “what the hell, I can use this”. I could also order more later, and get it thinner. What thickness do you guys usually prefer for veneers over foam in a compsand? I really want to do one of these, I love the way they look. A stringerless veneered compsand would be fun.

Thanks again for all the tips,

J.D.