Darryl Keil Last Activity 2025-09-09 11:09 AM
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Todd Thilges

Posts: 3

Joined: 2007-10-17

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Subject : platform for vacuum bag
Posted : 2007-10-17 12:31 PM
Post #34105
What type of table or surface do most people use to press up panels with a vacuum bag. Do you need to use a torsion box to ensure dead on flat? I would also like to be able to move this table around.

Todd


 
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Brent Longtin

Posts: 37

Joined: 2007-10-09
Location: Natick, MA

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Subject : RE: platform for vacuum bag
Posted : 2007-10-17 1:40 PM
Post #34106 - In reply to #34105
Well I've only been using my VaccuPress for about a month. What I did I buy a 4' x 8' sheet of mellame coated particle board for the platten. Cut it into two 4' x '4's. Made the platten out of one. And I use the second supported by two saw horses as the stand. I just went in and laid a straight edge on it and it seems pretty flat running between the horses. There is a slight dip running the length of the horses that I didn't notice. But I think I could fix that with some little shims. An important consideration for me is to be able to knock the whole thing down and store vertically when not in use. It takes up a lot of space in the shop.


 
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Darryl Keil

Posts: 1455

Joined: 2003-05-22
Location: Maine

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Subject : RE: platform for vacuum bag
Posted : 2007-10-17 8:57 PM
Post #34107 - In reply to #34105
Todd,

Are you talking about the grooved board that goes in the bag called the "platen" or the table that you set the bag and platen on top of?

Darryl Keil


 
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Todd Thilges

Posts: 3

Joined: 2007-10-17

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Subject : RE: platform for vacuum bag
Posted : 2007-10-17 10:08 PM
Post #34108 - In reply to #34107
I am talking about the table that the bag and platen sit on.

Todd


 
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Brian Gray

Posts: 339

Joined: 2004-01-21
Location: Sandusky, OH

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Subject : RE: platform for vacuum bag
Posted : 2007-10-18 5:40 PM
Post #34109 - In reply to #34108
The table that you lay the vacuum bag does not have to be absolutely flat.

Now obviously, I wouldn't just put a sheet 1/4" masonite on sawhorses, but I also wouldn't take the time to make a dead flat torsion box just for veneering.

Any relatively flat surface will work. Before I built my assembly table, I used a ping pong table.


 
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Darryl Keil

Posts: 1455

Joined: 2003-05-22
Location: Maine

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Subject : RE: platform for vacuum bag
Posted : 2007-10-18 7:34 PM
Post #34110 - In reply to #34108
Todd,

Whatever you set your bag and platen on, no matter how flat, will not guarantee a dead flat panel. A vacuum bag just grabs what's in it, as is. The key is to have good flat substrates that you are veneering to. Of course a reasonably flat table is usually sufficient enough.

Sincerely
Darryl Keil


 
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Carl F. Turshman

Posts: 12

Joined: 2004-12-21
Location: Fayetteville, N.Y.

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Subject : RE: platform for vacuum bag
Posted : 2007-11-07 9:18 PM
Post #34174 - In reply to #34110
Hi Darryl,

Do you have a good system for heating the table for the vacuum pressing system other than throwing an electric blanket over it? I'm still in the process of building mine and I'v thought about a heating matt, but that should be immersed in a concrete material for heat transfer or the matt will burn out. It would also be heavy.

Carl


 
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Don Stephan

Posts: 825

Joined: 2003-07-18
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio

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Subject : RE: platform for vacuum bag
Posted : 2007-10-18 7:34 PM
Post #34111 - In reply to #34105
I made a 4x8 torsion box tabletop using 3/4" honeycomb from Vacupress.com, poplar frame around the sides and across the middle, and 1/4" plywood skins. It was glued and clamped in a vacuum bag. I went far beyond extreme lengths to have a perfectly flat surface on which to pglue up the torsion box, and I think it turned out pretty flat (but I've never checked it). The biggest advantage of this torsion box is it's light and easy to carry.

However, the torsion box will flex slightly if placed on sawhorses say 5' apart. When I need to use the torsion box for vacuum pressing, I put it across sawhorses and check carefully for flatness before unrolling the vacuum bag.

Most often I simply place the bag on my 46" x 92" assembly table. It's on casters, and the floor is not perfectly flat. I check the tabletop with winding sticks and shim if necessary to remove any wind.


 
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Michael Melkonian

Posts: 1

Joined: 2007-11-07
Location: NC

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Subject : RE: platform for vacuum bag
Posted : 2007-11-07 10:41 AM
Post #34172 - In reply to #34111
I have been concerned about this too. I recently glued up a couple sheets of 3/4ply topped with laminate to use as the top of a router table, I found that my 4x4 platen (made about a year ago out of 3/4 melamine) has developed a slight curve, probably from storing it upright leaning slightly against a wall. I thought about making a torsion box, but I intended on putting the box inside the bag. Just setting my bag on a dead flat surface wouldn't seem to do me much good, since it's the platen that will be what the item placed inside will conform to (well, technically I guess they will both flex if the platen is curved and the item to be pressed is not)

So does anybody use a torsion box inside the bag? for making dead flat panels.





 
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craig tufankjian

Posts: 308

Joined: 2004-02-01
Location: syracuse ny 13208

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Subject : RE: platform for vacuum bag
Posted : 2007-11-07 11:01 AM
Post #34173 - In reply to #34172
Hi Mike,,this is an idea assuming you have the dedicated space.


what i would do is weld 2x2 tube steel as my table top. then, and i know this is going to sound bizarre, but put an entire granite slab on top as the surface. granite in slab form is cheap, only after fabrication is it expensive.

machinist use granite slabs 8 inches thick as a dead flat surface. again this is for the folks with space. and a little extra cash. but for dead flat it's fool proof.

an example, for granite 3/4 thick and not so popular in design and color its about 400.00
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