Wow - that's pretty cool that a standard vacuum can pull enough to make a decent part. And the household vacuum bags is a great idea.

I made a vacuum pump from an old fridge compressor motor. It's a bit of a Frankenstein machine, as it uses an old vacuum choke from an 80's pickup truck combined with an old relay I had - this turns the compressor motor on and off as a set vacuum pressure. It works pretty well, and the advantage is that if I have small air leaks in the bag set up the compressor will turn off and on but maintain the vacuum pressure. I haven't made a ton of things with it, and its def not strong enough for an infusion set up -- but it works well for plain vacuum bagging operations.