Save $ vacuum bagging

First, this is not my idea, I saw it on some forum or blog, could have even been here, but it's worth posting.
Instead of using expensive bagging film and perforated release film, use 1 mil polyethylene from your building supply store. It doesn't stretch but for rocket parts thats usually not a problem for bagging. To make the perforated film, make a needle roller. -- get a piece of thin foam, tag board, etc and put rows of short staples through it. It should be about 5 inches long. Roll it around a 1.5 inch airframe tube and epoxy well. The tube happens to be a perfect fit for a standard paint roller. Lay out the 1 mil PE film on a carpeted floor- it can be several layers at a time - and roll over it. You've got perforated film and it is more flexible than the real stuff, so leaves fewer ridges. The picture is better than my description. The second picture is a 6 foot nose cone in the bag.

Oh, also, I don't use any of the sticky tape. I just offset the edges of the bag film and run a strip of package sealing tape down it. Works great.

Great tips!

Greg

Very creative, I like it, thanks.

Way to make do! I've "made" perforated fill my wrapping the part tightly with saran wrap and poked lots of holes in it with mild success. Never occurred to me to make up a roller with sharp things in it! Now you have us all on pins and needles to see the finished part. Any by the way, that's some nice looking foam you've got going on. I'm a huge fan of glassed foam and will be using that extensively for my L3 bird.
-Ken