Matt Meiser
11-27-2005, 10:37 PM
On a happier note, I gave vacuum veneering a try this weekend with good success. I created four bookmatched panels for the headboard and footboard of my daughter's bed from some birdseye/curly maple veneer I got during my lumber runs to Chicago earlier this fall. I have a total of about $35 invested in my veneering setup so far. My dad gave me a Gast pump someone gave him several years ago. I bought a Space Bag, some tubing and fittings, and a 1-1/4" pvc pipe cap, which fits perfectly over the space bag cap. I also bought a sheet of melamine to create cauls and a base plate. The space bag did tear in a couple places, but duct tape fixed that nicely enough to get me through. I used Titebond Extend for glue, but will probably use plastic resin glue next time. I have some, but got it on clearance at the hardware store before reading that it goes bad with age, so I didn't want to risk using it. I left each panel in the bag for about 8 hours and they all turned out great.
Now that I've had a sucessful trial run, I'm going to make a good bag as documented on the Joe Woodworker site. I'll probably make a couple other improvements as well, such as getting a longer hose and mouting the pump in some kind of carrier with a good switch and a vacuum guage.
Now that I've had a sucessful trial run, I'm going to make a good bag as documented on the Joe Woodworker site. I'll probably make a couple other improvements as well, such as getting a longer hose and mouting the pump in some kind of carrier with a good switch and a vacuum guage.