Tin Falcon
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- Jul 9, 2007
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Ok I am off on an other tangent thinking about other technologies and possibilities.
I a thinking about building a vacuum forming press or maybe purchasing.
The technology seems very simple . Make a box with a perforated top hook up a shop vac place a mold or form on top of the box. place a sheet of hot plastic held in a frame over the form turn on the vac and one has a vacu formed part or candy /food mold. It seems a variety of plastic can be formed on a simple vacuum bed.
I see this as low cost and easy to build . The plastic sheet is the membrane so the plastic used needs to be the size of the table
Then I look at vacuuming Kydex and I see something like the vacuum tables I used years ago in the silk screen printing business. A flat surface a frame with a rubber membrane silicone rubber or latex rubber. And driven by a good vacuum pump like 8cfm . No holes in the table a rope giudes the air flow
So i am thinking advantages and disadvantages of the two designs . And I guess As i write i am answering some of my own questions.
It looks like the membrane type is better for expensive plastics where a rope trail can be cut away and the cheaper simple one is best suited to applications where the materials are cheap and or the whole sheet wiill be kept as in the case of food candy molds .
So now that I wrote this I am interested in input from others. Who out there has a home vacuum forming machine and what do you make with it and what type is it. Also what is a good size to build or buy. Or does one need a couple sizes to allow for larger sizes but eliminate waste and material expense.
Tin
I a thinking about building a vacuum forming press or maybe purchasing.
The technology seems very simple . Make a box with a perforated top hook up a shop vac place a mold or form on top of the box. place a sheet of hot plastic held in a frame over the form turn on the vac and one has a vacu formed part or candy /food mold. It seems a variety of plastic can be formed on a simple vacuum bed.
I see this as low cost and easy to build . The plastic sheet is the membrane so the plastic used needs to be the size of the table
Then I look at vacuuming Kydex and I see something like the vacuum tables I used years ago in the silk screen printing business. A flat surface a frame with a rubber membrane silicone rubber or latex rubber. And driven by a good vacuum pump like 8cfm . No holes in the table a rope giudes the air flow
So i am thinking advantages and disadvantages of the two designs . And I guess As i write i am answering some of my own questions.
It looks like the membrane type is better for expensive plastics where a rope trail can be cut away and the cheaper simple one is best suited to applications where the materials are cheap and or the whole sheet wiill be kept as in the case of food candy molds .
So now that I wrote this I am interested in input from others. Who out there has a home vacuum forming machine and what do you make with it and what type is it. Also what is a good size to build or buy. Or does one need a couple sizes to allow for larger sizes but eliminate waste and material expense.
Tin