I have made (for me) an important discovery!
You all know the trouble I have been having trying to get a perfectly sealed bag. I have never got one no matter how careful I have been.
I have used 3 different types of bagging material.
I have used 3 different types of tacky tape.
Spotless dust free work space no go.
Well I tried something different and have had 4 perfectly sealed bags in a row.
Here is what I did differently.
I layed down my carbon layers- peel ply - and then the green flow media.
I then cut strips of vacuum bag and covered over every part of the flow media that was cut with the scissors.
I also cut a few small squares of breather material and put them over the cut ends of the spiral tubing, they are very sharp as well.
I also covered the spiral wrap with the protective strips. Now there is nothing to cut through the main vacuum bag.
I then used regular vacuum bag material and yellow tacky tape to make the vacuum bag.
Bing! no vacuum leaks! I hardly needed to go over the tacky tape. It is amazing!
This is my take on what the problem was. Imagine you took a chain link fence to a giant set of shears and cut it. Can you imagine how sharp the edges would be. The green flow media would look the same under a magnifying glass. As soon as you pull vacuum your going to get a puncture.
In the last infusion I used strips of peel ply laid over every cut edge of the flow media instead of the strips of vacuum bag. It worked the same and a perfectly sealed bag.
Try it and see. Just make sure you don't have even one cut of the flow media exposed to the vacuum bag.
Let me know how you make out.
Fred