Looking for reuseable sleeve material for vacuum bagging foil boards etc. appreciate any help, thanks.
I re-use my vacuum bags. I have used nylon bagging material and painter’s plastic from Lowe’s (4mil and 6mil). I made an actual bag/envelope/sleeve that goes all the way around the board (2 pieces of bagging over-layed on each other and taped together with sealant tape at 3 of the 4 sides of the rectangle, leaving the 4th side open to insert/remove the part (just rolled the open end around a broomstick or piece of PVC pipe) to make an envelope/sleeve) (as opposed to having only one side that is sealed to a mold or rocker table. Even with that mold/table method, you can re-use them a few times if you make the bag a little smaller each time (trim off edges where sealant tape is attached to mold/table).
Here is a link to where I got the nylon bag and obviously the local hardware store will carry a cheaper yet fully functional painter’s plastic that can also be re-used.
Affordable (but sometimes slow) vacuum bag materials supplier in US:
I use a cheap (fairly) heavy duty poly tube that comes in a roll. I have 24” and 30” width , 6 mil, clear. The tube comes on a roll of 500’ and around 200$. I just roll off the length I need. Seal one end with dum dum and duct tape. Slide the board in and seal one remaining opening. Boom. I can reuse each bag several times, which is good as I vac 3 times each board. I usually get 1-3 boards complete before it is either too short( I cut the end open Losing several inches each time). It takes a while to go thru 500’. If you wanna try some before buying let me know I will send you a bag and some dum dum.
sounds good johnny, thanks for the reply, where do you source that roll? I have seen guys make a seal for the one end with pvc pipe somehow, do you know how that is done or should I just buy a premade one from one of the suppliers?
Scott Wilder
scott.wilder@ymail.com
925-253-8442 Mobile
I get the bag from Uline they are a shipping supplier. Stuff like dum dum and pvc seals you can get from “woodworker’s supply”. I think that’s the name. They have all kinds of vac stuff for doing veneer. I built my vac Venturi from their plans. Happy to help fellow baggers.