Vacuum Bag

[Jay Knoll]

Hi everyone

Anyone have any experience with this "lower tech" vacuum bag from Rockler?

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?Offerings_ID=11315

I'm thinking of taking a stab at veenering a cabinet door(s) depending on my final design and wonder if this would be a bit safer than using clamps.

Don't have a clue what I'm doing so I'm off to the library to look for books.

Thanks

Jay

[Keith Barkhau]

Hi Jay,

I haven't used it personally, but there was a review a little while back on JoeWoodworker which had some pretty good comments.

http://www.joewoodworker.com/veneering/roarockitreview.htm

Granted he's probably a little bit biased, but it did seem to be a fair review. I took a look at the same kit and then decided to build my on venturi based system which has worked out great for me.

[Cecil Arnold]

Jay, I second Keith's recommendation to check out JWW, there is more information there than you need for veneering.

[Keith Barkhau]

Yeah, Joe is great.

He and I emailed back and forth probably 20 times while I was setting up my system. He has quite a bit of experience with veneering and is more than willing to share--even if you're not one of his customers. I did end up getting several items from him, but that was after he had answered several general emails. Oh, and he's gotta be about the quickest responder--typically he answered my emails in a few minutes--even the ones I posted at 2am!

[Jay Knoll]

Thanks guys

Yes, that is an interesting post, (and as an aside and interesting view into the comings and goings in the INTERNET based commercial world).

I'm still thinking, I have a pancake air compressor, so it doesn't look like it will put out the CFM needed for the venturi based systems.

Jay

[Ted Hunter]

Below is a list of in print articles that have been written about our kits. The list does not include the many positive online reviews that are out there about our product. You are more than welcome to have a look at our blog (attached to our Roarockit site) for some of the recent things we have been doing to help demistify vacuum veneering and to make the process affordable for people. There are also 3 tutorials on the blog about vacuum veneering you may be interested in.

As rockler was mentioned above you may be interested in a couple of tutorials they wrote on vacuum veneering and our kits.

Here are the links:
http://www.rockler.com/articles/display_article.cfm?story_id=77
http://www.rockler.com/articles/display_article.cfm?story_id=80

I am more than welcome to answer any questions you may have about our kits.

Thanks

Ted ar Roarockit
__________________________________________________ _____
Better Homes and Gardens WOOD Magazine
(Review of the Thin Air Press) It gets a 5 star rating. With quotes like “the results were outstanding” we must be doing something right.
February/March 2006
USA

Woodworking for Women Magazine (Review of the Roarockit Thin Air Press Kit (for woodworkers)
February 2006
USA

American Woodworker Magazine (spring 2006)

Woodcraft Magazine (Vacuum veneering: a 5 page article by Doug Stowe about Roarockit woodworker’s kit and a project you can build with it)
January 2006
USA

Australian Wood Review Magazine (Review about Roarockit woodworker’s kit)
December 2005
Australia

Spotmag Magazine (Review about Roarockit skateboard deck building kit)
Janaury 2006
Spain

Woodworking for Women Magazine (Vacuum veneering: an article by Anna Thompson on Roarockit woodworker’s kit)
January 2006
USA

The Maui News (Article on Roarockit Skateboard Company and our teaching program)
Summer 2005

Concrete Wave Magazine (Article by Malakai Kingston about deckmaking classes at the University of California San Diego using in part Roarockit deckmaking program and materials)
Summer 2005
USA

Fine Woodworking Magazine (Article by Anatole Burkin, editor. About Roarockit woodworker’s kit)
August 2005
USA

Woodcraft Magazine (Article by Tim Rinehart about Roarockit woodworker’s kit)
January 2005
USA

[John Huber]

I bought the Rockler vacuum kit for veneering and used it for about a half-dozen two-sided veneer panels. IMHO it is a good way to get started in vacuum veneering, which I found to be much more user-friendly than my earlier experience with cauls and clamps.

Back to the hand-pumped bags. The key to success is to get a good seal on the sealing tape. In my experience, Joe Woodworker's excessive pumping was because he had a leaky seal. I found that clamping the sealing tape region between two thick, straight boards worked best for a sure seal. You don't want to be fighting a leaky seal while your glue is setting without any clamping force. I found that thirty strokes on the pump was enough to fully collapse the bag. As JWW points out, without a gage, you don't really know what vacuum you have.

With a really good seal, the next problem is to get the bag open. I don't have enough finger strength to peel the bag and seal apart. I had to cut off the sealed end of the bag to get it open. Rockler and Roarockit are very helpful in supplying more sealing tape. Even if you can peel the seal apart, the surfaces are torn and rough, leading to a leaky seal upon re-use. That is another reason to always start with fresh sealing tape. The trouble with my cutoff solution, is the bag gets an inch or so shorter with each usage.

After making a dozen or so veneer panels, I got convinced that veneering was my future in woodworking. So I swallowed hard and bought a pump-driven vacuum kit from Woodcraft. I am totally satisfied.

Moral of the story: Get started with a hand-pumped vacuum system and learn if veneering is what you want to do. I compare the process from moving from my old Skil circular saw to my new Bosch 4000 table saw with Forrest blades.

[Ted Hunter]

The problem you experienced with the original kit was with the sealing tape being so aggresive. We have changed the tape to a softer, less tacky material that is very easy to open and close. It is also is easy to quickly and completly seal the bag with this material. If you are looking at buying a kit make sure the paper covering on the tape is brown and not white. This is the new stuff and it works very well.

Ted at Roarockit