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Central vacuum bag to gluelam morris chair arms?
QUESTION: A bunch of questions
I'm working on a bow-arm morris chair and I'm debating on how to best
bend the arms.
Dimensions are roughly 1-1/8 x 5 x 36" with about 3" of bend on maybe a
60"radius. Quarter sawn wht oak.
I've done some steam bending, but have been unable to locate air dried
stock for this project. Previous attempts to steam bend kiln dried
stock have been inconsistant at best.
Are the ~$300 1 cfm central vacuum bag systems capable of clamping up 9 layers of
1/8" wht oak for this sort of form?
http://www.tapeease.com/vacuum_bags.htm
http://www.joewoodworker.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=248
http://www.vacupress.com/products2.htm#compact100
Or do I need to spend a bundle for a 3+ cfm system or look into making
my own?
Thanks in advance for any advice. I apologize if this has been asked
before, I found a few things but nothing specifically about the
capability of the ~ 1cfm ~$300 systems.
ANSWER: I'm no expert, but I did build a vacuum press from the joewoodworker.com
kit. By the way it is a great kit and I like it a lot, but it isn't the
only solution. Whether a specific vacuum press will do it isn't related
to how much you spend or how many CFM your pump can handle. Depending
on your pump they can all put a huge amount of pressure on your laminate
if you have it set up correctly.
CFM has only to do with how fast you evacuate the bag. As long as you
use a long open time glue you'll be fine. You just need to test your
setup ahead of time. Make sure your cauls are ready, stack your
laminates (without glue), tape them, put them in the bag and pull it
down. Note the time it takes and check that with your glue's open time.
Remember you'll be spreading glue on all those laminate surfaces. Try
to have a non-stick surface like wax paper or plastic laminate facing
each side so you don't stick your work to your cauls.
In my opinion the major concern is making sure you have a stout enough
bag. I bought the 30 mil vinyl from joewoodworker.com. In some cases
it might be considered to be almost too heavy. You may be able to find
16 mil and 20 mil vinyl at your local fabric store for $3.99 to $5.49
per yard (54" wide). We did here in Atlanta. Many commercial bags are
20 mil. They do sell pre-made bags now on joewoodworker.com.
If you just get a pump, bag, hose and fittings you can make a quick
vacuum press system for way cheaper than $300. Inexpensive vacuum pumps
are not too hard to find.
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