Thin Air Vacuum Press ??

[Rick Gifford]

Read an article in Woodcraft magazine about the Thin Air Vacuum Press made by Roarocket Skateboard Company.

Look up Vacuum Press Kit at Rockler, they sell them there.

Wondered if anyone has any experience with this?

[Rod Wolfy]

Actually, I saw that article too. I was thinking about buying one and then saw an another one, which was like a curved glue up in WoodSmith (?). I checked their links and found that Lee Valley sold the kit too. The suggestions were to make sure that you got the longer bag and extra webbing material. I might even have seen it on an episode of TNYW, but I'm not sure. It's on my Wishlist for Christmas...

Rod

[Tim Sproul]

If you will do one-off veneering/laminating, it will work. Get or make a "C" clamp - 2 pieces of tubing, one slit and the other not - instead of the the worthless butyl rubber adhesive.

If you need to veneer a few pieces at a time, you may quickly grow tired of the hand pump. The bag size is also very limiting. After a platen or two, you lose width on the bags.

[Jamie Buxton]

There's review of it here: http://www.joewoodworker.com/veneering/roarockitreview.htm

[Rob Will]

Anybody know how much vacuum that an A/C compressor off of a car can pull?

For servicing air conditioners, we have an old A/C compressor belt driven from a small electric motor. It does indeed pull vacuum.....I just don't recall how much.:confused::confused:;)

Any interest in this?

Rob

[Rick Gifford]

Rob that is a good question, and in fact I am interested in that as well. I just bought a small vacuum pump from an auction site used for servicing medical equipment and I want to see what uses I can put it to. Maybe nothing, but it did say it was originally used for a/c testing. It was cheap so if its a bust no big loss.

Jamie thanks for the review link. I found it interesting. I especially give thought when a manufacturer cries foul if they get a bad review. From what I gather the item is ok for small uses, but would be a pain if you intend to do much more than minor hobby work.

[Jamie Buxton]

From what I gather the item is ok for small uses, but would be a pain if you intend to do much more than minor hobby work.

Considering how long it takes to pump down to good clamping pressure, you might want to use the slowest-setting glue you can find -- urea formaldehyde or epoxy.

[Jim Dalton]

They sell vacuum gauges for under $10 that will tell you how much vacuum you are pulling.

[Scott Rollins]

I use my shop vac to pump all the air out and then use the hand pump to finish it off. It still takes about 3-4 minutes or so after you get the bag sealed (which can be frustrating). If using yellow glue you have to be very fast and be very prepared and do a dry run or two. I will be buying a real vac system as soon as money allows.