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Darryl Keil
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Dear Ed,Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge and experience. This is the kind of feedback that helps us all make better choices and decisions.SincerelyDarryl Keil: For any of you that frequent this forum and work in commercial : cabinet shops that might use the Vacupress system to lay up sheet : good for production, the new flip-top table pressing system is the : real deal. We had established a number of sheets (2 sided HPL on 5x8 : particle board) that had to be laid up in one pressing in order to : make pressing our own versus buying prelaminated goods for a supplier : financially feasible. That number was 5. I am happy to report that : we can easily do 8 at one time. This coupled with the fact that we : don't have to work around a lead time for ordering prelaminated : material makes this a worthwhile investment (IMHO) for any shop which : lays up its own material on a regular basis. The 8 sheets represents : the capacity of the bag with the grid board we are using, which is : thicker than what is specified in the instructions.: For those who may be interested, we are using a cold press glue with : a 20 minute open time (Jowat 124-50) and an 18" roller for spreading : the glue. It takes approximately 30 minutes to get those 8 sheets : from stacks of material to being glued and under pressure, provided : those doing the work are familiar with the process and move along at : a steady pace.: The assembly of the table is straightforward, with well made parts : and clear instructions all provided. I must admit that I was a tiny : bit skeptical as to whether or not the table would provide a big : advantage over our previous method for pressing which involved a : large bag which had to be closed on 3 sides with Vacupress C-clips : prior to applying pressure, but I am a true believer now. The : closure system on the table makes a huge difference in the time it : takes, as well as the fact that anyone can operate this - spread the : glue, close the lid, and flip the switch.: The one piece of advice I can offer in regards to building your table : is to take some time and make a solid, flat table. We used 2x8's : spaced at 16" OC to provide the stiffness I desired in order to be : certain that the table would remain flat under the load it would : carry at full capacity.
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