Veneer press question

[mattyb]

So I have some veneering to do. I had a small job in the past veneering some poplar burl for a couple of bedside units. Rather than forking out for a proper vacuum press I used vacuum bags from amazon that cost about £3 each, and sucked the air out with my makita extractor. Crude, but it worked an absolute treat until after 4 or 5 presses the bags breached and started letting in the air.

I’m wondering about the possibilities of using a real press bag (500 micron), and still just using my makita to make the vacuum? Happy to pay £200 for a proper bag, just less happy to pay £600 for a pump if it's not completely necessary.

Any thoughts gratefully received. Thanks!

 

[ChaiLatte]

Please supply a specification for the vacuum pump you require and links to the £600 ones you have found.

Please advise why a typical refrigerant pump (e.g. https://plumbingsuppliesdirect.co.uk/rothenberger-roairvac-1-5-cfm-refrigerant-vac-pump-170061/) would not work, particularly if you did bulk air removal with a hoover first.

Please read thread below, follow the links therein and discuss your conclusions:

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/veneer-vacuum-press-advice.140400/

See also:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256663580387
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256670299987
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/135289904001

 

[Cozzer]

I've just bought a Thin Air press, 20mil vinyl, from France...it uses a hand pump (which turns out to be a simple job for wine bottles)
Rather than use the messy sealant strip, I've also bought a "rod" affair from Airpress...a bit pricy because of carriage and VAT, but works fine.

 

[Inspector]

If you have a decent sized air compressor and only need it occasionally an Air Venturi Vacuum Pump plus a few fittings will cost less than a dozen cans of beer. It won't quite draw down as much as a proper vacuum pump but definitely a lot more than a shop vacuum or extractor.

https://www.amazon.ca/Venturi-Gener...9cbd4a79a68c364fa91869c2ceee9509&gad_source=1

Pete

 

[Cabinetman]

The bag could be repaired with duct tape? Last time I did it, it was so easy and successful using a shopvac.
Ian

 

[mattyb]

Please supply a specification for the vacuum pump you require and links to the £600 ones you have found.

Please advise why a typical refrigerant pump (e.g. https://plumbingsuppliesdirect.co.uk/rothenberger-roairvac-1-5-cfm-refrigerant-vac-pump-170061/) would not work, particularly if you did bulk air removal with a hoover first.

Please read thread below, follow the links therein and discuss your conclusions:

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/veneer-vacuum-press-advice.140400/

See also:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256663580387
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256670299987
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/135289904001

Thanks for the responses. Sorry for the delay I don’t have notifications enabled and got sidetracked. The bags and pumps that I found are on airpress.co.uk.

As for the rothenberger pump that you linked, can you see any way that it differs from the airpress to justify price difference?

And besides, do these things suck any better than my shop vac? For the purpose of veneering, what does a proper pump do that my makita won’t?

Thanks

 

[HOJ]

what does a proper pump do that my makita won’t?

Pulling a vacuum for a prolonged period with a "hoover" is very likely to burn it out.

 

[Sachakins]

Vacuum cleaners are designed to suck up bits and rely on the exhaust to keep them cool.
Using to draw a vacuum will pass less and less air over the motor and if your lucky an internal thermal cutout will switch it off, if not it will just burn out the motor, with a possible fire the outcome.