Question
I am looking to buy my first veneer press and I’m looking at the 10 cfm vacupress. I would appreciate any advice on any must have accessories (cutters, glue,etc) and tips on intro to veneering.
Forum Responses
(Cabinetmaking Forum)
From contributor J:
I had bought both self contained units (unit with its own vacuum pump) and the type that works off your compressed air supply. I feel after having both that I prefer the self contained unit is best due to having the problem of leaving my compressor on overnight. Too many things could go wrong such as air lines leaking and the hose breaking. I manage a large shop and there is always something going wrong when the air compressor is left on overnight unattended.
As for the process advise, use plenty of protection on all corners of the material you are clamping. I have replaced a many expensive bags due to the sharp corners piercing through the vacuum bag. Make all your bending forms with ridged ribbing (1 pc ribs, not an arched upper pc rib attached to a flat bottom brace). They tend to break or compress on my projects. Make a frame press table for large flat panels (a hinged vacuum sheet lid that seals to a vacuum table). It’s a lot easer than sliding large panels into a bag and getting the proper protection on the corners.
I like the clamping jig that you can use with your vacuum pump. They are handy for routing, assembly and cutting when you need that extra hand. Using just the bag for free form bending is one of my favorite things to do with my vacuum press. There is a lot of good info on the web do a search for veneer bending, vacuum pressing veneer.
The second is called "Working In A Vacuum” it deals with curves and shapes. Both can be bought from vacuum pressing systems or at vacupress.com. As far as bags and pumps, you will most likely need two bags. 50" x 50" and 50" x 10'. I bought the inexpensive kit from http://www.constantines.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=702.
It works great as a starter kit and I have used it on many projects and the pump can work just as well on the lager bags. I was planning to upgrade to the better pump but honestly the pump from the kit works so well I have no need to replace it yet and I have had this kit for two years now.
We installed a muffin fan inside the case to help keep the temperature down. We also installed a small vacuum tank to reduce the number of start stop cycles the pump has to make. The tank is made from 4" PVC pipe and fittings. Get the videotapes they are very good. Especially the demo of wrapping maple veneer around the radiused edges of a circular tabletop. The pillows also work amazingly well to help support the inside of forms.
