Official Luthiers Forum!

Has anyone used a standard veneering bag for vac braces instead of making
a vac frame????

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

there was thred on mimf recently wherein a poster described doing it.

I think John Hall mentioned that that was how he clamped braces. I think he mentioned getting the bags from Grizzly. John H.---> any advice on clamping this way with just a bag and your radius dishes?

John

I have done that Andy. Works fine, just not as fast or convinent as a frame.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

thanks

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

Hi Andy,

I spent about two weeks recently working out how to vacuum braces with and without a frame.
This is what I have concluded.
A standard clear vinyl bag folded over and taped at either end and clamped on the end is sufficient. I place my top on a radiused dish using a pentagonal plate above the x-brace to establish the correct position. A small arm from the plate sits on top of the X-brace to maintain pressure while the top is position, selaed and the vacuum applied.
It usually takes two or three stages to glue all the brace components. Each gluing stage takes about 35-40mins

I can send you some pics if you like.

regards

Tim

Let's see the pics here!

Thanks!

John

I have an awesome vac press (thanks Don Williams!), but prior to getting it I did wonder why it wouldn't be possible to put the entire radius dish (braces tapes into position) into a large vacuum bag and let'er rip. Clearly it is possible to buy commercial bags pre-made in the appropriate sizes. Just a thought.

I'll be interested in seeing the photos as well.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Bagging would work fine. I use a press because it's just easier to use and keep set up. I have a dedicated workbench just for the press. That said, I plan on replacing my current setup with two that will be drawer-mounted ala Taylor, so it will free up some much needed bench space.
The thing I like about a frame is that you can use rubber, which will more unformly get down into all the nooks and crannies of a top's bracing, whereas a bag will do that with a little wrinkling and crinkling.
Building a decent frame setup is more work, but I think it offers some advantages in that way.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

it is also just a lot simpler to do the work of placing the dished form in the frame, the plate and locating the braces, and then simply close it. no worry about doing everything outside the bag, then trying to get it inside the bag, and then sealing the bag.

the only significant expence in building a frame is the rubber which can be had on ebay fairly cheaply.

I've done the bag once or twice. It's cumbersome and slow - forget about using hide glue. I ended up making my own frame press (though it has issues, and needs to be rebuilt).