Vacuum bagging kit

[Gades]

I've ordered the one from Fibermax.
There were a couple of better options in the States, but P&P was too much, and they didn't take any responsability as soon as the parcel left the US.

I've ordered the whole kit, plus a few meters of different fabrics, epoxy and a couple of tools. It's gonna be early Christmas for me!

[KnottyBuoyz]

Sizing a pump depends a lot on the size of the project. Your small vac pump will work on large projects too if you suck down the layup with a shop vac first. That gets you close and let the smaller pump handle the higher vac levels. I've done it that way and plan to infuse our boat project with my 5 CFM pump you saw in the photo posted previously. I also have a Gast vacuum generator as backup and will likely have a third pump (refrigerator pump) and a generator on hand when we start infusing a boat hull with thousands of dollars of materials on the line.

A vacuum reservoir helps with larger layups as well. You can draw them down before hand. You can see them here in the background. One is black plastic pipe and the other is white. Very simple and cheap to make from hardware store parts. Probably about 1 cu ft total. The white one has a screw out fitting and is used as a resin trap as well.

[Gades]

Originally Posted by KnottyBuoyz

Sizing a pump depends a lot on the size of the project. Your small vac pump will work on large projects too if you suck down the layup with a shop vac first. That gets you close and let the smaller pump handle the higher vac levels. I've done it that way and plan to infuse our boat project with my 5 CFM pump you saw in the photo posted previously. I also have a Gast vacuum generator as backup and will likely have a third pump (refrigerator pump) and a generator on hand when we start infusing a boat hull with thousands of dollars of materials on the line.

A vacuum reservoir helps with larger layups as well. You can draw them down before hand. You can see them here in the background. One is black plastic pipe and the other is white. Very simple and cheap to make from hardware store parts. Probably about 1 cu ft total. The white one has a screw out fitting and is used as a resin trap as well.

Thanks for the tip about the "pre vac" with the shop vac.

How did you make the vacuum reservoir thingy? did you read anything about it first, if so, where?

Thanks a lot!

[KnottyBuoyz]

Originally Posted by Gades

How did you make the vacuum reservoir thingy? did you read anything about it first, if so, where?

If you've seen the videos on infusion you've seen them use a paint pressure pot modified to be a vacuum reservoir/catch pot. Also on the Joewoodworker.com website you'll find plans for the vacuum pump setup and how to make the reservoirs.

You're welcome. Good luck.

[Gades]

actually I've been looking at vacuum videos, but not infusion
now I'm looking for those plans

thanks again