Folks,
I have recently made myself a vacuum table for my next project for the flat panels, c/b and rudder construction.
Cost about $100. Just a sheet on melamine and aluminum frame from 2x2 angle. Vacuum film stuck to the frame with mastic. A self adhesive weather seal stuck to the lower surface from the local hardware store. Seals between the frame and the melamine.
Some line and pulleys to lift the frame up to he roof so I can work on the table.
So simple and it works a treat.
I can pull 22 inches of mercury on this table.
Regards,
Phill
But where are the pictures??? Could we please have some pictures 🙂
Rolf,
Sorry, too busy building to take pics.
The vacuum table is now hoisted to the ceiling of my workshop while I use the table frame as the base of a jig to assemble
the Central mounting module of the Farrier trimaran that I'm building. Last week I made a 5mm thick glass plate on the table along with other stuff it was 800mm x 1200mm which I've cut into parts for the CMM. 9 layers of 450gm alternating Bi Directional and Double Bias cloth vacuumed down with around 10 pounds pressure per square inch.
(Amazing how it adds up that is something like a total of 1536 pounds of pressure.) Based on weight and area measurements I achieved a 55/45% glass to resin ratio.
When I lower the table down to make bulkheads I will take some pics of it.
Regards,
Phill
Hey Rolf,
As requested I took some pics. I've even created a folder for the F-85SR build and added some pictures of the vacuum table in action vacuuming the float bulkheads. F-85SR Build Photo Albumn
Thanks Phill! Mighty interesting, and the scale of the thing makes it look like an industrial operation!
Looks like you are well set up with glass rolls and a nice working table. I will have to do something similar but on a smaller scale in my workshop. Building bags from scratch every time I laminate is time consuming.