Cool. I'll try the wet sanding with the poly and see what happens.

Thanks!

Greetings! Just took a ski out of the press and it came out great! I have a veneer topsheet and in the layup I coated the top with resin to make sure of good bonding with the rest of the ski. When I took the ski out there were a few wrinkles on top from my plastic sheet. The finish looks great from ...

Dear OAC... I want your job and vacation time!!!

hey OAC! Im researching on building a bladder press like yours. How did you mount the rubber sheet to your top frame? Double sided tape? contact cement? or is it clamped together? Maybe some close-up pics would answer my question. Thanks!

Nice suggestion knights! I got the pump up to 15 inches. I stripped it apart and cleaned it up-a whole lot of fuss for nothing! Maybe i'll upgrade in the future.

I'll try changing the oil but I don't know that it will be able to pull my dense rubber sheet for my bladder/mold table. I have scoured the forums and topics and really don't think my pump will work. I looked at the joethewoodworker stuff and am wondering if their $300 veneer pump is worth it. I hav...

So I have a old gast pump/oil circulated and it used to pull 15 inches of mercury and now it only pulls 5. i don't think the oil is circulating from the glass container. Does there need to be a medal needle in which the oil releases into the rest of the pump? It may need to be cleaned/serviced? I wa...

I've seen a few rubber bladder style vacuum set-ups on the site. Anyone know where to find the rubber sheets?

thanks!

I am looking for software for designing skis and custom design specs. I remember a certain snowboard design website although, I don't remember what the actual web address. I thought it was snowcad. Any recommendations?

Is there a way to make the formica removable from the vacuum mold in order to adjust? I've tried double stick tape, but it's pretty messy. I just don't want to keep the formica on permanently. Any thoughts? Thanks!

thanks for the suggestions. I had a feeling the mdf night be a factor. Does that thin counter-top material (can't remember the name) work pretty well?

My current set-up is a mold with mdf on top. I have a pump and trying to do few tests berfore laminating. My plan is to seal the plastic to the mold with that rubbery bagging tape. I've tried sealing the hose to the plastic and sealing the hose from the side with the tape and putting tape over that....

So would it be best to stain the veneer and allow required drying time then laminate w/resin on top? Then probably poly sealant on top of the resin?

I came up with the idea of using steel cables wrapped around a press instead of using steel clamps. I currently use 2X2 steel bars with bolts connecting the top and bottom on my press. the preoblem is that they are so troublesome to rig-up during lamination. I don't have the time/money to weld a pro...