On Thu, 16 Feb 2006 10:22:35 -0000, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:

OK, Andy, I can't bear it any more - what's vacuum laminated woodwork and
how do you use a vacuum bag in that context?

Laminated woodwork could be veneer on the outside of a box or it could
be gluing a few laminations together whilst bent, so that they stay that
shape once dried.

You can clamp up with clamps, but that's hard work. You also want to
have a continuous even pressure, not a few point clamping forces - so
you can use a "caul", a flexible sheet pulled tight over the job.

If you use a plastic bag as the caul, and you suck the air out of the
inside, then you can have a few psi clamping force over the whole thing,
practically for free.

It's also easier to make jigs that resitst being crushed, rather than
ones that can hold a pressure bag expanding inside them.