- Apr 18, 2008
- 14,661
- 28,698
- 6,221
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
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Summer Solstice Sunburst Triple J - Summer Build Off 2024
- Thread starter Barticus
- Start date
Rolling out the silicone mat, so you know what’s happening today 
That’s right, I need the mat, I’m working on a puzzle today
and AXStv was kind enough to put on Nirvana live at the Paramount for me, so the Makerbarn is rocking today even though it’s raining outside
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- Apr 18, 2008
- 14,661
- 28,698
- 6,221
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
That’s some mad scientist stuff for sure. Complete with wicked weather and devil music. 
So a funny story (not really, but…) I get everything ready to glue up. I do my test for. I grab my Roarockit vinyl, vacuum bag, and guess what? I only have the 10“ x 70“ version and my body blank is 11.5” wide and 2” thick, well, that’s not gonna work!
So I go to their website look it up… oh cool there’s a 26 x 28 or whatever, it’s big enough that it’ll fit my stuff so I add it to the cart. It’s only $53 great… I go to check out and discover the shipping is going to be $24!!! Wait, whuuuhhh? They’re just north of me. How could this be possible? So who else carries these that I could just order from? Rockler? Sure, they carry sizes that I don’t need and they want an extra $15 for shipping and who knows how long that will take? Roarockit is not open until Tuesday, so I can’t call them to beg to use pirate ship or some other cheaper method of shipping
I start rethinking other ways that I could actually clamp this down and I look on Amazon for vacuum seal bags and I find the ones for clothing, but maybe they would be heavy duty enough? Well, if I order right now, it’ll be here in the next five hours (same day) and only cost $22 for 12 bags of various sizes way larger than I need, and less than shipping from the specialty company, I’m in.
They arrive late Sunday night, with a pump, pretty heavy, they actually look pretty darn good.
So I mixed up my epoxy, pour the first layer put in the dowels and veneer layer. Put out the next layer, squeegee it out and put on the fancy top with more epoxy on top of that to glue everything together, on top of what I’ve already glued, squeegee it out and throw some wax paper on it and into the bag it goes!
The pump works great and it sucks it down tight and completely flat just like the thin air press kit bag does. but because these are new, I don’t completely trust them. I throw some three-quarter inch plywood, top and bottom and clamp the crap out of that too!!!
So sometime tomorrow we will find out if it was worth the whopping $22 risk to get a whole box full of these bags. If these work well then they’ll help me on future projects too, like the other build. Stay tuned…
So I go to their website look it up… oh cool there’s a 26 x 28 or whatever, it’s big enough that it’ll fit my stuff so I add it to the cart. It’s only $53 great… I go to check out and discover the shipping is going to be $24!!! Wait, whuuuhhh? They’re just north of me. How could this be possible? So who else carries these that I could just order from? Rockler? Sure, they carry sizes that I don’t need and they want an extra $15 for shipping and who knows how long that will take? Roarockit is not open until Tuesday, so I can’t call them to beg to use pirate ship or some other cheaper method of shipping
I start rethinking other ways that I could actually clamp this down and I look on Amazon for vacuum seal bags and I find the ones for clothing, but maybe they would be heavy duty enough? Well, if I order right now, it’ll be here in the next five hours (same day) and only cost $22 for 12 bags of various sizes way larger than I need, and less than shipping from the specialty company, I’m in.
They arrive late Sunday night, with a pump, pretty heavy, they actually look pretty darn good.
So I mixed up my epoxy, pour the first layer put in the dowels and veneer layer. Put out the next layer, squeegee it out and put on the fancy top with more epoxy on top of that to glue everything together, on top of what I’ve already glued, squeegee it out and throw some wax paper on it and into the bag it goes!
The pump works great and it sucks it down tight and completely flat just like the thin air press kit bag does. but because these are new, I don’t completely trust them. I throw some three-quarter inch plywood, top and bottom and clamp the crap out of that too!!!
So sometime tomorrow we will find out if it was worth the whopping $22 risk to get a whole box full of these bags. If these work well then they’ll help me on future projects too, like the other build. Stay tuned…
Holy crap, I've had those fabric storage bags lying around for years and never thought of using them for something like that. Brilliant!
Good thinking. I’m waiting to see how this turns out. You used the pump that came with the clothing bags or adapted your vacuum bag pump?
I used the pump that came with the bags, it really didn't seem much different than the Roarockit, the bags are just a little thinner but still pretty thick. The pump sucked the air out quickly and clamped the layers down nicely just like using the more expensive bag. So it appears to be a winner, I've been here in the shop working on other things and keep checking to see if the bag is losing air and it is NOT and appears to be working as expected. We'll know for sure tomorrow.
At this cost, I don't care if I only get a single use out of them, but they appear that I should get multiple uses from them.
Interesting. I've never used vacuum methods with epoxy... then again, I've rarely gone thicker than 1/8" at a time and could use a heat gun to get bubbles out easily...
Does it offer other advantages?
Does it offer other advantages?
Another good use for those same type of bags is for packing food in an ice chest when travelling. They seal really well and your food won't get soaked from melting ice. Anyhow, sorry to derail....back to this awesome build thread....
Well, the whole point is that you can clamp contoured and uneven layers that you would not otherwise be able to clamp since it can squish a fairly large uneven surfaces... like contoured guitar tops, skateboards, odd furniture and the like.
Ah, I guess I haven't done much of that kind of work... I tend to keep it square and level, lol
Not quite sure how your table reference applies to my build.
I'm gluing and clamping the body + middle veneer + top with all of the laser cut sun pieces together like a sandwich. I'm using epoxy to glue the layers together. The bag is the only effective way to clamp all of this together. And it is all square and level.
I'm gluing and clamping the body + middle veneer + top with all of the laser cut sun pieces together like a sandwich. I'm using epoxy to glue the layers together. The bag is the only effective way to clamp all of this together. And it is all square and level.
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Exactly, I've never done anything like your work... all my stuff is relatively flat... so my curiosity is piqued!
Well, I’m quite happy with the $22 that I spent on the 12 vacuum bags as it worked flawlessly!!!
I came in tonight, 24 hours later, and the bag was still sealed tight like I left it so there was no leakage at all. I unsealed it and the epoxy did not stick to the bag in anywhere, so my bag is completely unharmed and reusable!
So I think I’ll chalk this one up to creative thinking and innovation.
I came in tonight, 24 hours later, and the bag was still sealed tight like I left it so there was no leakage at all. I unsealed it and the epoxy did not stick to the bag in anywhere, so my bag is completely unharmed and reusable!
So I think I’ll chalk this one up to creative thinking and innovation.
Next steps…
I’ll run it through the drum sander to flatten out the unevenness with the different levels of wood then I’ll apply one more coat of epoxy to seal all up all of the cracks between the different woods. Once that has dried for 24 hours, I’ll run it back through the drum sander for leveling and then it’s off to carving!
I’ll run it through the drum sander to flatten out the unevenness with the different levels of wood then I’ll apply one more coat of epoxy to seal all up all of the cracks between the different woods. Once that has dried for 24 hours, I’ll run it back through the drum sander for leveling and then it’s off to carving!
Looking really awesome man! I was really curious how well those bags would work. Glad to know they did the charm. I've never worked with epoxy like that....so the epoxy was in direct contact with the bags, but didn't stick to the bag at all?