So the goal here is made some solid instructions that people can easily follow to start pressing boards on the super cheap.
Currently I’m just using wine stoppers/pump same as roarockit. I think there might be a better DIY solution out there by now. Roarockit came up with the wine pump idea well over a decade ago, and availability of stuff on the internet is so much greater now.
As of right not I’ve not found a better alternative yet, so I’m just moving forward with that.
So where I’m at right now is trying to find a way to interface the valve with the bag without having to have people go out and buy something.
Here’s how Roarockit has been doing it.
Stem on a flange sticking out of the bag sealed with sealing tape.
Silicone tube slipped over to both seal and bring the size up.
And finally the valve slipped on top and held on with a zip tie.
I’d like to be able to bypass the silicone tube step. And I think if the stem is sized right that should work fine. One less thing for people to have to worry about getting, and buying 5’ of silicone tube only to use half an inch of it is super impractical.
What I’m hoping to do is find some part something like this, which can either be sourced off common items that people might already have or can buy super cheaply.
There’s plenty of random plastic stuff thats part of bottles or packaging that may just happen to be a good fit, and it could just be a matter of having enough eyes keeping a look out. So far I haven’t had any luck on my own.
Some more information on the project.
For the bag the idea is to just use food vac bag roll material like this.
https://www.amazon.com/ShieldNSeal-Clear-Vacuum-Rolls-Thick/dp/B07CXJP9ZF
15" wide bags, 50 feet, under $40. Not as robust as a vinyl bag like what Roarockit has, but for the price per bag they’re nearly disposable by comparison. The width is a little limiting, but for 95% of what anybody wants to make in a vac bag it should be fine.
To seal the bag on the closed end you can use either a thrift store hair straightener, or use a torch to heat up a piece of metal bar which you can clamp down to get a nice solid plastic weld.
To seal the open end, thats pretty standard stuff.
You can use butyl sealing tape which can be bought off Amazon or wherever. But I think Blue Tack should also work really well and many people might already have enough of that.
And for the vacuum and seal, as previously mentioned that the wine pump and stopper. $10.
Hard to beat that, and that’s pretty cheap.
https://www.amazon.com/Original-Vacu-Vin-Vacuum-Stopper/dp/B0000DE77D
