Thin Air press Kit

[Woodmatt]

Hi All,
Does anyone have any experience of using one of these for veneering panels and if so was it successful,

https://roarockit.co.uk/17-thin-air-press-kits

Thanks

 

[GarF]

I used one to skin a rudder blade with carbon fibre. My experience was that it was easy to use, produced sufficient pressure for the lay up and sealed well initially. I left it overnight but by the following morning it had lost vacuum. For my purpose this was fine as it held pressure long enough for the epoxy to gel after which the pressure wasn't too critical.

So I suppose whether it would work for you depends on the open time of the glue you're planning to use and if you are able to check the vacuum regularly. My understanding is that conventional pump driven arrangements run intermittently for the duration of the curing time (so they evidently don't seal perfectly either).

I chose this option because it was cheaper and less faff than a vacuum pump system, and it takes up very little space folded up on a shelf. It is on my increasingly long list of things I want to spend some time experimenting with, although another dinghy foil is the only item on the horizon for now.

 

[custard]

Hands up, I've never actually used one.

However, I've seen it used in videos and I'm a bit suspicious that it could deliver quality results for veneering.

The problem is that the minimum acceptable pressure for PVA is uncomfortably close to the maximum possible from even a good quality vac bag veneering set up. So even though it might be okay for the odd bit of basic marquetry, or if you're using an adhesive with lower pressure requirements, I suspect you might have problems using one of those hand pump based systems for something like panel veneering.

I do loads of veneer work, mainly with vac bags, but I'm very conscious that if I'm using PVA then I'm working at the very edge of what is possible. So I'm meticulous about getting everything as right as it possibly can be, because there's just no safety margin for error.

I appreciate that a vac bag system is expensive, but instead of a hand pump have you considered either traditional hammer veneering, or using iron-on glue sheets like this,
http://www.originalmarquetry.co.uk/prod ... ls_175.htm

this can work well provided you stick to fairly flat, well behaved veneers and avoid burrs or wild grain veneers that will tend to cockle under the heat of the iron.

 

[GarF]

The problem is that the minimum acceptable pressure for PVA is uncomfortably close to the maximum possible from even a good quality vac bag veneering set up. So even though it might be okay for the odd bit of basic marquetry, or if you're using an adhesive with lower pressure requirements, I suspect you might have problems using one of those hand pump based systems for something like panel veneering.



I appreciate that a vac bag system is expensive, but instead of a hand pump have you considered either traditional hammer veneering, or using iron-on glue sheets like this,
http://www.originalmarquetry.co.uk/prod ... ls_175.htm

It depends on the size of your project but I'm inclined to agree with Custard. For my composite lay up I only needed enough pressure to squeeze the excess resin out of the cloth. A veneer would be a totally different proposition as its physical properties are not nearly so tame.

 

[Woodmatt]

Thanks for your thoughts guys and it sounds like a no no. Could you or anyone else on here recommend a reasonably prices Vac bag system for doing say around 25 medium size panels a year so not a huge amount, could be more if I really get into veneering,cheers

 

[custard]

Could you or anyone else on here recommend a reasonably prices Vac bag system

I use the Airpress system, it gets the job done but it's a serious bit of kit and priced accordingly. About twenty years ago, when vac bag veneering was really taking off, there was little or no off-the-shelf options, so most small furniture workshops made their own. You may well find that's the best option. I've a feeling that Steve Maskery of this parish has some experience of this, alternatively you could Google home made vac bag and see what pops up.

Incidentally, if you're ever in the New Forest area and want to see the Airpress set up in action then feel free to drop me a PM.

Good luck!

 

[Droogs]

a good place to start is Joewoodworker a site basically dedicated to veneering and he has plans and parts for systems, American based but great for the beginer:

https://www.joewoodworker.com/