[Brent Deines]

That's a good point. While I always recommend pulling a vacuum to be sure there is no air trapped anywhere within the break, if the legs of the star break go to the surface the resin can flow to the ends without any vacuum.

I guess that was kind of my point. If you pull a strong vacuum on a break that has cracks that come to the surface the result could be the opposite of what was intended.

I think that was why my wife is so good at repairs. She lets it sit in the pressure cycle for considerably longer than I do, which often reduces the number of cycles needed to completely fill the repair.

If you put a vacuum pump on a long crack for instance, you will never develop much vacuum as it will continually draw air from the surface. That is why you cannot get a vacuum style suction cup to hold to the glass if positioned over a crack.