I’m just wondering if there is anyway of veneering a board without bagging? I love wood and the idea that youcan have a wood board and still be light is seductive, but I am not ready for the expense and complications of bagging. I did a lot of veneer work for a furniture designer and we used to just iron veneers on (previously coated with wood glue and left to dry). Obviously that wouldn’t work, but could you tape up a sheet, use fast epoxy and then just keep rolling it until it sticks?
Vac bagging gives you the luxury of removing air where you don’t want it, and at the same time applying pressure where you do want it, something that’s pretty hard to replicate accurately manually.
You could stand there and roll it till it gels, if you don’t mind the waiting and sore arms.
You could think about bagging it and burying it in the sand, let the weight of the sand doing it’s thing pressing the veneer. Doesn’t guarantee removal of air pockets like vacuuming though, but you could dig it up next morning and go for a surf!
Plastic bag,masking tape and an old fridge compresser
Keep it simple and it does not have to cost much at all
Mike
I don’t have a swimming pool but have brainstormed the idea of wrapping a freshly laminated board with a plastic drop cloth and submersing it (laminated side down) with weights. Water pressure might do a fine job of squeezing the laminate. The open edges of the drop cloth could be loosely tied at the top to prevent water entry as long as they stayed above water level.
I have used solar shower water bags over ding repairs and “over the box” glass patches with some success. It would take a big bag though to cover an entire board.
Greg Loehr mentioned to me in a phone conversation that at a specific point during the cure process, epoxy can be used almost like contact cement. He described
laminating some unique materials as an outer skin doing it that way.
My first balsa - EPS board. 32 1-gallon ziplocks filled with water, a few bricks, and clamps at the ends. Been more than a year, probably 50-60 sessions, no delams yet…
You’ll need a bag to protect it and a large sand box to bury the whole in.
Bert’s said they used it for emergencies but apparantly burying your work under a foot of sand the hotter the better has the same impact as vacuum bagging it…
Not to mention a cat poop sifter. All that sand will draw every cat with in 20 miles of your pile.
the amount of time energy and potential dramas to substitute something as simple as a 30 dollar fridge compressor(or free from the dump) and a plastic bag.
sorry guys
doesnt make any sense
I’m going with Silly on this one.
If you haven’t vacuum bagged before and are scared of it, fear no more.
Cheap, easy, get glorious results with little effort.
Free poly tubing suitable for vacuuming with is available near the checkout of just about every Home Depot I’ve walked in to; right near the checkout stands, they’ll have a little stand with string and a long tube of poly for wrapping your purchase up in before you put it on the roof of your car. I help myself liberally every time I’m in there. As far as the vacuum itself is concerned, I’m lucky and have access to scientific equipment all the time, but the fridge compressor sounds sufficient and easy.
I’m so taken with it that it’s unlikely I’ll ever lam traditionally again. Keeps the glass locked down over tight curves (which can be a problem if your resin doesn’t kick as quickly as you’d like), gets even distribution of resin…man…the benefits are indescribable.
If you wanna know about wood without bagging, look up hydroglyder in the user directoory; go back and read his posts about lamming on some veneer…and then taking it off to recover his project.
You know bagging ain’t that easy either.
I’ve had many a failure due to poor materials and undetected leaks.
Unless your willing to baby sit your work for a bit with a stethascope or let your pump run all night long keeping your neighbors up. You’d better be willing to do it right including checking and rechiecking everything before you start mixing the epoxy…
Just from experience
Head on over to Cerritos College and talk to Terry Price in the Composites Department. Everything you need is there.