Vacuum Bagging / Vacuum Press - i550 Sailboat

In order to build some of the composite pieces on the boat, I decided to give vacuum bagging a try. I found vacuum press kits on a woodworker supply website, joewoodworker.com and because I have an air compressor, I decided to build a compressed air venturi vacuum press. The kit included the electrical and brass bits needed to build the vacuum press. A short length of pvc pipe and a couple of boards were purchased at the hardware store.

The venturi vacuum generator is attached to an electric valve to allow or cut off the flow of air through the venturi. The vacuum generated by the venturi is stored in the pvc pipes which are plumbed together by the brass fittings from the kit. A manual valve is attached to the pvc pipes to control the vacuum drawn through a long vacuum hose which gets inserted into the vacuum bag. The kit includes a vacuum guage and an adjustable vacuum control to allow you to manually adjust the level of vacuum you generate.