Vacuum Pressing Help?

1

123+ski

Active member
I have vacuum pressed skis before. Working on a new project now, going to be essentially pressing a longboard. Top sheet, fiberglass, birch/poplar core, fiberglass, top sheet would be the layers going top to bottom (lower topsheet just for keeping out moisture/help avoid scratches/delam on the fiberglass).

For skis, I cover my mold in tyvek, do the layup on top of this (base, vdf, fiberglass, core, fiberglass, topsheet), then put the entire press into a vacuum bag, tape the ends, and then I'm good. Usually just scrape/belt sand/give it an initial tune to clean up he bottom.

Here I can't do that, or I would damage the thin bottom layer. Also, we are pressing flat, which may make the process simpler. I can't seem to find to much info, but my main issue is what to use to soak up extra epoxy and ensure a clean bottom surface. I have seen breather material and release film, but I don't understand the proper way to use it 100% for this application. Anybody have any tips?
 
If you're looking for a means to soak up excess epoxy then you know you're using too much! I used parchment paper in place of tyvek and the results are smooth. i suppose what you could do would be to cut your parchment paper to the width of your layup, then a layer of paper towels that are wider, then another layer of parchment paper that will more than cover the paper towels.

As far as a clean base, go to Michael's or JoAnn fabric and get ConTact paper. Start using that on your skis too, it's great for keeping shit off of your bases and it's wide enough that you wont create any creases.
 
12954640:loganimlach said:
ConTact paper. Start using that on your skis too, it's great for keeping shit off of your bases and it's wide enough that you wont create any creases.
Click to expand...

My life was drastically improved by this stuff. It might see a little steep in price but it's worth every penny. I was using packing tape before, and even without any wrinkles in it, the overlaps screwed up my topsheets.
 
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