: Well, I have finally let technology come to the north woods. Got tired of
: looking at cambered Okoume with its blah grain, so decided to try
: something different. I am vacuum bagging decks laminated from hardwood
: veneers and fiberglass cloth. Did the first one yesterday, and have the
: second "in the bag" at this very moment. Will shut off the pump
: around midnight (or a bit later).

: I will give some more details in a couple of weeks in case anyone is crazy
: enough to want to try this. Right now, got to go build boats....Sleep,
: what's that?

: Grant

Grant--

You beat me to it. I bought my vacuum pump in November, but haven't even got it set up. I know you haven't got the time to answer lots of questions right now, but I'll fire off a few now while I'm thinking about it.

Are these typical 1/40" veneers?

How are you bagging? I had planned on creating a female mold.

Is the deck shape still a basic camber or is there compound curvature?

What are your impressions of the various structural characteristics of the lamination compared to the Okoume and strip-built layups? (I am predicting very long strings in the future discussing the relative merits of various veneer-laminate layups, proposing testing methods, questioning whether any of it matters, etc. I'm not interested in opening that can of worms, but I am curious to hear your rough sense about the strength of the three-veneer, three-6oz-cloth layup.

What sort of pump did you use? One of these fancy cabinetmaker's versions?

How much pressure? How much time?

How did you decide on the amount of epoxy between layers?

I'm looking forward to hearing more, and to seeing pictures. The two underway sound beautiful. Great job.

--Will