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Vacuum Former
by dbc1218 on March 19, 2007 Table of Contents Vacuum Former . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Intro: Vacuum Former . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 1: Get the Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 2: The Oven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . File Downloads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 3: The Electrical Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 4: The Wiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 5: The Platen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 6: The Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 7: The Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 8: The First Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 2 3 4 4 5 6 6 7 8 8 9

http://www.instructables.com/id/Vacuum-Former/

Author:dbc1218
I enjoy building things more than actually using them.

Intro: Vacuum Former

This is my first version of a vacuum former and if you skip to the last stem you see why I needed to make some changes. The new version is here Vacuum Former 2 A vacuum forming machine is used form plastic sheet into the shape of a mold. Vacuum forming is used extensively in industry to make all kinds of plastic products. For this instructable I'll so you how to make a vacuum form machine and I hope to do more instructables on things you can make with this machine. If you don't know what a vacuum former is and want to know how it works PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE CONTINUING. My machine is not be exactly like the one on the link but the principle is the same.

Step 1: Get the Parts

This is a basic list of most of the materials I used to put together the machine and a few of the tools I used. Materials: Oven 1. Nichrome wire 2. Hardibacker cement board 3. ceramic standoffs 4. aluminum flashing 14in. wide 5. 1x3in. Wood stud 6. wood screws assorted lengths 7. 8-32 machine screws 8. 14 gauge stranded wire 9. screw terminal block 10. crimp-on connectors 11. 1/4in. thick plywood Control Box 1. 4 gang electrical box 2. 4 600watt dimmer switches 3. 4 dials (radio shack) 4. 14 gauge stranded wire 5. wire nuts 6. extension cord with one bare wire end Vacuum/platen 1. 1/2x3/16in. Balsa Wood 2. 1/4in.Thick Plywood 3. Wood Glue 4. 2x4 Wood stud Frame 1. 1x2 wood stud 2. Two Hinges 3. Two Sash Locks 4. Two 6in. Angle Brackets Tools 1. Jig saw 2. Miter box saw 3. Hack saw 4. Utility knife

http://www.instructables.com/id/Vacuum-Former/

5. Wire cutter/stripper 6. Mulitmeter 7. Drill This is the prototype machine I built before I built the real thing. It used one heated in an all aluminum oven. This is an over/under design, the oven over the platen. My machine will be a flip type machine because the oven and platen are at the same level and the frame flips between them.

Step 2: The Oven

First we will build the oven. The oven consists of a wood frame with an inner layer of hardibacker cement board and an aluminum inner lining. To build the wood frame you will need some 1x3 lumber, which you can get from Home Depot or Lowe's. For the parts of the oven I will refer to the part numbers form the .pdf file of all the parts of the oven. Parts VF-01 and VF-02 and some #8 x 1-1/4in. wood screws will be used to construct the frame. I used a miter box saw to cut my 1x3 to length but a circular saw or jig saw could do the same thing, just make your cut square. Place the wood pieces in a rectangular shape with the shorter ones(VF-02) on the outside. Drill pilot holes through the VF-02 parts and into the ends of the longer pieces(VF-01), the wood will split if you don't do this, plus it will make it easier to run the screws in. A 1/16in. dill bit is a good size to use. Screw the rest of the wood frame together in this fashion, making sure you keep everything square. Now we need to cut the hadibacker board. Hardibacker board is basically drywall for around showers, it used because it doesn't absorb moisture. Its made with cement so its also a good heat insulator which is why its used in the oven. You can cut the hardibacker by scoring it with a utility knife and then snapping it but that can be hard to do when you need long thin pieces. I would recommend using a jig saw to cut this board. I found out the hard way that you can't use a normal jig saw blade to cut cement board, so you will need to get a masonry blade for your jig saw. When you go to the hardware store to get it, look for one that says it will cut tile, thats what you want. The blade doesn't have teeth, the cutting edge looks like a glue/sand mixture just globed on to the blade. I started with cutting the long thin pieces first, parts VF-03 and VF04. First I cut them to the 2-1/2in. width and left them a little long. Then I went and fitted the pieces to the frame, so that every piece fit nice and snug. You want to keep the oven as tight as possible so you don't have to worry about holes or gaps for the hot air to escape. Now you need to make the aluminum inner lining side parts, VF-07 and VF-08. This is aluminum flashing which you can get from any Lowe's or Home Depot. I got a roll that was 14in. wide because the flashing will be used on the bottom panel of the oven which is 11in. wide. Aluminum flashing is very easy to work with and can be cut with normal scissors, I'd recommend a nice sharp pair just to make it easy. Again here cut the pieces to the 2-1/2in. width and a little long, then fit the pieces to the frame. Now screw this all together through the flashing, Hardibacker, and into the wood. I know the animation is not the best but I think it gives you a really good idea how the oven goes together. This is my first real attempt at using SolidWorks. You might be asking how does the large sheet of Hardibacker, VF-05, attach to the plywood, VF-06. That will be explained in the next two steps.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Vacuum-Former/

File Downloads

VF Drawings.PDF (55 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'VF Drawings.PDF']

Step 3: The Electrical Equations

Now that oven housing is done its time to move on to the part that makes it an oven, the heating coils. In the world of vacuum forming machines there are a lot different ways to create the heat, but the simple fact is that you just need a heat source that can effectively heat your entire plastic sheet. I found some Nichrome wire heating elements from a surplus store but there are many other options. You could use electric grill elements, a toaster oven, your stove, a heat gun, and I've even seen a gas heater used. Nichrome wire is the same kind of wire thats in a toaster and works off the fact that as current passes through the wire it heats up. I'm going to run through how I determined how to wire the oven so that it could be run off a normal household 120V outlet. This is specifically how I did it but these same equations and be applied to any other oven like this one. This first equation we need to look at is commonly known as Ohm's law: V=IR or I=V/R or R=V/I In this equation V= voltage, I=current, R=resistance. The units for voltage is Volts, for current its Amps, and for resistance its Ohms. For this oven I want to use 120V, so that gets me one part of this equation. Now its time to measure the resistance of the nichrome wire. This can be done with a common multimeter and for each of my heating elements the resistance is about 74 Ohms. The resistance of nichrome varies depending on the diameter of the wire and the length of the wire your using. If your building your own oven with a roll of nichrome wire this where you can make changes to suit your situation. So lets calculate the current (I), from these two values: V=120V R=74 ohms I=V/R I=120/74 I=1.62 A So if I was to hook up one heating element to the wall, the current through it would be 1.62 Amps. But I want to hook up 8 heating elements not just one. There are two ways to wire the elements, in series or parallel. Each method has its benefits but we are concerned with the resistance of the entire oven. In this way we will consider each element as a single resistor. If I hooked the elements up in series they would all be wired end to end and the total resistance of the system would be the sum of the resistance's of each element. This would mean there would be 592 Ohms of resistance so the current would be: V=120V R=592 ohms

http://www.instructables.com/id/Vacuum-Former/

I=V/R I=120/592 I=0.20 A You would find that this is not enough amperage heat the wire to the desired temperature. This chart at infraredheater.com shows some common wire gauges and the amperage needed to heat them to a certain temperatures http://www.heatersplus.com/nichrome.htm To get more amps through the wire you need to hook up the elements parallel. This equation shows how to solve for the equivalent resistance in a parallel circuit: 1/Req = 1/R1 + 1/R2 + 1/R3 + ... In this equation Req is the equivalent resistance, or the overall resistance of a parallel circuit, and R1, R2, R3 etc. are the resistances of each individual resistor. In this case I have eight individual resistors, or heating elements. So using this equation and the individual resistance of 74 Ohms, the equivalent resistance is: 1/Req = 1/74 + 1/74 + 1/74 + 1/74 + 1/74 + 1/74 + 1/74 + 1/74 Req = 9.25 ohms So the current for a parallel circuit would be: V=120V R=9.25 ohms I=V/R I=120/9.25 I=12.9 A Now this is more like the amperage we need to heat the coils up. I could wire the oven in parallel and call it a day but I would like some more control over the temperature and amperage. To do this I decided to use a regular lighting dimmer switch. A dimmer switch is basically a variable resistor, also called a potentiometer. By changing the resistance of the circuit I can control the amperage flowing through it and therefore control the temperature. I got the dimmer switches from Home Depot and they are rated at 600 Watts. A watt is a unit of power so I need some way of relating this to the voltage, amperage, and resistance. This equation does it: P=VI or P=(I*I)R or P=(V*V)/R To find the amperage: P=600 W V=120 V P=VI 600=120 * I I=5 A So one of the dimmer switches can handle up to 5 amps at 120 V. The current calculated earlier for the parallel circuit was 12.9 amps, this is to much for a single dimmer switch. So I decided used four dimmer switches, each controlling two heating elements. You can see how it was wired in the pdf. If you didn't understand some of this stuff that all right, because here is a calculator that can do it for you http://www.imperial-armor.com/ovencalculations.html This does not work in the same way I figured out my oven though. It asks for your final oven requirements and then tells you what you need. I started with what I had and figured out a way to make it work. I think this is way that most people would do it. The calculator also assumes that you are building a purpose built oven with coiled nichrome wire. If you decided to go that route here is a link that can really help with finding supplies, http://www.infraredheaters.com/

Step 4: The Wiring

So this is how I wired my oven. Here are some of the specifics one how I actually built it. I used a 4 gang electrical box to hold the dimmer switches and an extension cable with the female end cut off to plug into the wall. I used 14 gauge stranded wire throughout the electrical system. Four wires and a ground wire run from the box to the oven and connect to it with screw terminal. From there the wires break off into each of the four sets of heating elements. They are then connected to 8-32 machine screws which also hold the heating elements in place. On the inside of the oven, short sections of uninsulated wire are connected to the heating element mounts and then to the nichrome wire with some 4-40 machine screws. To make the electrical connections easier to accomplish with the least amount of wire running inside the oven, aluminum flashing was used as a conductor. Pieces where cut in such a way to allow power to come in at four different places and then have a common ground for the entire system. The four small pieces on the sides are the power connections and the large piece in the middle is the ground. This idea short of works like traces on a PCB and was based off that idea. You might be asking, Why did you use the aluminum? The heating elements emit infrared waves which is basically heat. The infrared reflects off the aluminum and on to the plastic sheet. This type of heating is known radiation. You may have heard of convection ovens which is basically this same set up but a fan is added to move the air around inside oven. This moving hot air helps to heat the items inside the oven quicker. I am considering adding a fan inside the oven later to see if I can get better results.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Vacuum-Former/

Step 5: The Platen

The Platen is the surface on which the molds are placed and on which the plastic forms a seal for the vacuum. There are many different platen designs but most are designed with many small holes that the air is pulled through to create the vacuum. My platen follows this design. To make the platen I used two sheets of 1/4in. plywood cut to 23in. long and 11in. wide. In the bottom piece I cut about a 1in. hole in the middle so that I could put the PVC fitting in to it. The PVC parts were chosen so that I connect the Shopvac to the platen, and of course this will create the vacuum. In the top piece I drilled a bunch of 11/64in. holes in a pattern. The pattern and size of holes is up to you, just be reasonable. These two pieces are separated by the balsa wood strips. The balsa wood is 1/2x3/16in. and cut to fit around the perimeter of the top and bottom platen parts. Then the whole thing was glued together. The idea here is to keep the volume inside the platen as small as possible. That way when you flip on the shopvac you don't have to pull a bunch of air out of the platen and then out from under the plastic.

Step 6: The Frame

The purpose of the frame is to hold the plastic sheet while it is being heated and during forming. I made the frame out of 1x2in. wood. The inside dimensions of the frame need to be the same as the platen and the oven, so mine was 11x23. To clamp the plastic I used sash locks which you can get from Home Depot, and the hinges make is easy change sheet. When building the frame and the whole machine for that matter you need to consider the size of plastic sheet you want to use. In my case I wanted to use a 12x24in. piece of plastic so the frame, oven and platen need to be slightly small. I choose 1/2in. smaller that's why everything is 11x23in. This size also determines how large of objects you can form. You also need to consider you plastic supplier. Where will you get the sheet from and what size can you get it in. I know you can get 4x8ft. sheets but I believe a standard size at many places is 72x40in. You don't want to waste part of the sheet because your former size and sheet don't match up. As far as plastic suppliers go, a sign store could be a good local source. Online you could try http://www.mcmaster.com or http://www.professionalplastics.com

http://www.instructables.com/id/Vacuum-Former/

Step 7: The Base

The base on my machine is very simple. A sheet of plywood with 1x2's screwed around the perimeter to add support. For the first test run of my machine the oven just sat on the base with spacers and the platen was duct taped in place. I made the angle brackets but similar brackets can be bought from any hardware store. The oven and platen are lined up with the frame when its flipped over on both sides. For my platen there is no seal around the edges, its made so that the hot plastic forms the seal when it is forced lower than the top edge of the platen.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Vacuum-Former/

Step 8: The First Test

Now is its time to test. I got a sheet of .020in. thick Polystyrene from a hobby store. This is a little on the thin side for vacuum forming, but it all depends what you are making. A normal thickness would be between .040 and .080. A thinner material can be formed with more detail but needs to be watched closely while heating. This is the problem I had with my first test. I turned of the oven and let it preheat for a little bit. I cut out another piece of hardibacker to be a cover for the oven while it was heating. Then I put the plastic in the frame placed it over the oven and put the cover on top. When the plastic starts to heat up it will start to warp, then it will start to sag. Usually you can determine when to form the plastic by the amount of sag there is in it. But this learning has to come from experience, your first couple of times might not turn out so well. Due to my lack of experience the first time I used the machine the plastic heated up a lot quicker than I expected, saged to low, touched the coils and caught on fire. As you can see from the pictures it melted all over the oven. This ruined the oven but I can be cleaned up and used again. I don't the time to do it though. I'm living away from home for the summer and won't be able to work on it for a couple of months. So at least for now I learned a lot about how a vacuum forming machine works and how it could be put together. I might try to change some parts of the machine to make it a little more solid and heat the plastic more evenly. If there is one thing I can tell you about build a vacuum forming machine here it is, when you are testing for the first couple of times have a fire extinguisher ready to go.

Related Instructables

Vacuum Former 2 by dbc1218

Make a good, cheap, upgradeable sheet plastic vacuum former by drcrash

How to Make Vacuforming Clamp Frames for Plastic (video) by vacuforms

How To Replace Your Vacuum Belt (video) by toolrepair

How To Replace a Vacuum Power Cord (video) by toolrepair

My Workshop.... (Photos) by superpants

http://www.instructables.com/id/Vacuum-Former/

Comments
47 comments Add Comment

canibalpenguin says:

Dec 8, 2010. 3:46 PM REPLY Good job and nice build. I worked for a company that made items by vacum forming (Sailing Specialties Inc) a few years ago working in the CNC department. First suggestion, stop using styrene, styrene is a light weight plastic that is not very good for heating amd forming. If possible try to PVC, ABS, or even lexan. They are much better suited to heating and forming. Number two, instead of the hinged tray that flips make a tray that slides like a drawer. Which takes me to the third. Instead of the heating elements on the bottom, place them on top, or better yet elements top and bottom with metal plated for heat spreaders (they would also cover the elements and should prevent fire and make clean up easier. Nov 7, 2010. 12:39 AM REPLY Like you said. it sags and then touch's the element. An easy solution to a even and uniform heat is to have say a hotplate with lid that covers all you have. Thus heating from the top down to your styrene. So it is basically a box where your styrene is the bottom and small venting around its perimeter. I have seen a few guys using the top element in the oven. And you can notice when the plastic(styrene) is ready due to the mat finish it receives from heat. If you have at least a 1000W vacuum it will help pull a bit better if it happens to be to the cooler side of readiness. Man vacuum forming is fun. i feel like i am running a sweat shop some days.

mikesnyd says:

kyle brinkerhoff says:

hmmm.... you should try using a heat gun for your heat source. its a bit slower but no flames

Oct 15, 2010. 7:33 PM REPLY

jiganto says:

Oct 5, 2010. 8:24 PM REPLY I think some sort of heat spreader mounted over the heaters would give you more even heating and prevent melting plastic from falling onto the heaters and catching fire. Maybe a sheet of aluminum or thin steel.

EGSMachine says:
you get a x10 in XP for the humble pie you just ate. thanks for sharing!

Sep 2, 2010. 8:16 AM REPLY

Dr. dB says:

Sep 13, 2010. 4:59 PM REPLY Quite agree! "There are no experimental failures - there's just more data..." If I might suggest: Masonite for the platen/vacuum manifold - hard and smoooooth surface, can be had in both solid and perfboard, tolerates heat pretty well, less work, greater hole-pattern precision at, probably, slightly greater expense... Also, some kind of heat-resistant "honeycomb" separator atop the elements would keep the sheet from sagging into the "free-firezone" when it goes too floppy, too fast like that.

bulwynkl says:

Sep 3, 2010. 10:05 PM REPLY I like that while doing your first test and having it catch on fire that you still took the time out to photograph it!! I've always wanted one of theses and now I have a basic design... have you considered using IR lamps instead of the wire heater?

trouble01 says:
We needed a video from your work please add a video !!!

Sep 3, 2010. 6:49 PM REPLY

thesixsmashblitz says:

Sep 2, 2010. 2:14 PM REPLY you know, i think you could have still salvaged this design. Perhaps you could have moved the oven to the top, burners down like you did, but have it roll to one side w/ cabinet rollers or something. That way, you can have your fire safety deal, and even more so, because you could roll the heat aside if it did catch fire. You could also perhaps put some clear acrylic to hold up the plastic-frame-holder thing, so the heat would still stay in (not sure if that's desirable in this application) and you could still see the plastic sag. but then again, perhaps flipping the plastic would ruin it. idk.

thesixsmashblitz says:
additionally, this would take up a lot of space. More than your new design, but i think it's still simpler.

Sep 2, 2010. 2:16 PM REPLY

sturmey says:

Sep 2, 2010. 11:21 AM REPLY Very cool idea. I like how you hinged the material holder to make the switch from heater to vacuum plate easy. I may borrow this idea for some of my projects. Also, congratulations on a successful test of your fire suppression system. I hope your next test goes better.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Vacuum-Former/

Spokehedz says:
Oh wow... That took guts to post your epic fail. Bravo.

Sep 2, 2010. 10:53 AM REPLY

alcurb says:

Sep 2, 2010. 8:09 AM REPLY Great project. I would like to see the conclusion. I'd like to suggest to use a chicken wire screen over the heating elements so that the plastic melts, it will drape over screen instead of the elements. You can always cut another piece of chicken wire screening, if the first one proves impossible to clean.

jegner2 says:
vist www.tk560.com/vactable4.html there you will see something similar, based on Thurston James' machine.

Sep 2, 2010. 6:19 AM REPLY

GM2009 says:

Sep 2, 2009. 11:51 AM REPLY I want to build something similar but will use Quartz heaters from small oven. Backerboard is nice but the problem is that is to big in my opinion to buy. You use only one portion of it and have big leftover. It is bulky to transport to and not so easy to cut. Another solution is to make your own concrete boards with concrete mixed with sand and fiber (search 'concrete board' here). That way you can make any size you want. You can also make one piece shell (in steps). This method has its own benefits. When mixture is poured, wooden pegs can be added for screw holes. I think that Vacuum Former Design 2 is better than this one. Most industrial formers are done with heater above (plastic sagging and melting problem). I've made few of my own forming machines and none was as good as I wanted. Forming is simple, but I have to repeat few key points for success: -Good uniform heater. Working with kitchen oven is fine for tests but for good results good custom made oven is needed. -Good plastic holder frame. Has to be robust and accurate, otherwise vacuum will not be achieved. I always add strips of 150 Al sand paper around to hold plastic better. -Good and accurate frame sliders. It is important that frame with heated plastic be transferred to vacuum plate quickly and accurately. -Good vacuum plate. Having good seal is even more important than vacuum source. Vacuum cleaner can produce enough of vacuum for forming but only if there is a good seal. High end vacuum pumps will help if finest detail is needed (but only if all above is achieved).

fleazy421 says:
a circular saw with fine blade is the best for thin strips just make sure to setup a fan to blow the dust away

Jul 29, 2009. 5:27 PM REPLY

vernonstien says:
OOOPS, Awsome, I thnk yoou did a good job for your first time!

Apr 14, 2009. 5:42 PM REPLY

vernonstien says:
NIICCCCE!

Apr 14, 2009. 5:32 PM REPLY

vernonstien says:

Apr 14, 2009. 5:28 PM REPLY So far so good, could figure the Wattage of the burners from ohm's law. can I make a suggestion? Don't use a fan to help heat the material, it blows the sag and makes it wavey that causes imperfections in the part when it pulls. If youwant to use a fan, use it to help cool the part after your pull time is done. I rettro fitted a former at work, changed the the heat source from "cow rods" to inferred ovens, added a PLC for the controls, and wished I would have made the material move over the heat source instead. It came out fine, been wanting to make one for home to tinker with, I have a heat source and that's about it....

vernonstien says:
I'm with you so far......

Apr 14, 2009. 5:05 PM REPLY

jpatano says:

Feb 25, 2009. 7:08 PM REPLY I'm building something VERY similar to what you have here, and i have a question about the nichrome wire mounting... what are you using there to isolate the wire from the frame of the box ? does it matter if it's metallic, or conductive ? i guess being pretty conductive, most metals wouldn't alter the resistance factor too badly, so it shouldn't affect your heat output... i'm just curious as to whether you could possibly short the system out.

dbc1218 says:

Feb 25, 2009. 7:34 PM REPLY The wire I had came mounted in the x-shaped ceramic mount. I've seen other guys use ceramic stand-offs. I would not use anything conductive, the chances of some thing being shorted would be to high. Your dealing with many amps of current you need to be as safe as possible.

jpatano says:

Feb 26, 2009. 5:46 AM REPLY ahh ok, thanks for the quick reply! i couldn't tell from the pic if that "X" shaped mount was metallic or not. i was planning on using some sort or ceramic insulator... anyone here know anything about using plaster for such an application? i've heard of people using it for lower temp installations, and if i can't use it on this, I have another project that is low temp ( <200 degrees F ). You did a good job on this project though, looking forward to seeing your final design!

dbc1218 says:
My final design is on instructables too http://www.instructables.com/id/Vacuum-Former-2/

Feb 26, 2009. 7:20 PM REPLY

http://www.instructables.com/id/Vacuum-Former/

deanlol says:

Feb 23, 2009. 9:14 AM REPLY Does anyone know how to make something enclosed? Everything on these types of vacuum formers have a 3d front and no back. I want to make something that has a 3d front and 3d back with a seam along the side. I know I'm not explaining very well, but the first thing that comes to mind is hollow plastic toys with a seam on the side and a small hole in the bottom. I'm trying to figure out how to make plastic pink flamingo's that can be staked in a yard.

dbc1218 says:

Feb 25, 2009. 7:28 PM REPLY Toys that you see with a seam and a hole are injection molded. Those machines are much more complicated than a vacuum former. If you need two sides you could make two molds, one for each side, then vacuum form them and stick them together.

thatoneguydavid says:
What gauge wire did you use for the burners?

Nov 14, 2008. 10:31 AM REPLY

slim_jim says:
Finally! An intellegent, useful instructable. Lots of useful detail. Nice work!

Dec 8, 2007. 10:07 PM REPLY

Grey_Wolfe says:
Finally?

Aug 16, 2008. 12:46 AM REPLY

slimguy379 says:
he must be a new member, ha ha

Sep 10, 2008. 2:59 PM REPLY

Grey_Wolfe says:
LOL!

Sep 12, 2008. 11:39 PM REPLY

slimguy379 says:
whats a good site to get polystyrene? and are there any substitutes? I need a few 12" X 12" sheets. hopefully cheap

Sep 10, 2008. 3:01 PM REPLY

Eclecticos says:

Jul 26, 2008. 3:13 AM REPLY I would recommend heating your styrene plastic in the oven until it sags instead of building a stove. Would have liked to se a better seal around the base. Good Instructable none the less. Nov 30, 2007. 10:02 PM REPLY do you have a layout for the nichrome wiring for a 24 by 24 inch oven? I could use that. Im trying to source up prefabbed heating coils, but if I cant Im going to have to build my own oven. I could use some help with this, its my only hurdle on this build

ydeardorff says:

dbc1218 says:

Dec 1, 2007. 8:18 PM REPLY I haven't see any type of prefabbed coils for that large of an oven. If you just want a layout so you can build it yourself use the oven calculator, I put the link on the equations page. Check out the tk560 forums for other ideas for the oven.

ydeardorff says:

Dec 2, 2007. 12:15 PM REPLY Equations page? I'm new here. Dont know where that is. I'm looking for as much prefabbed stuff as I can also price is an issue so I can keep the overall price down. I have the layout of what I'm building, I just need to find heating coils 110vac that will provide even coverage. I'm needing to have a heating coverage for this large of an area, so I can perform pulls on larger items like costume chest plates, and prop weapons. Id like to stay away form the nichrome wiring as it would take alot longer, and be more complicated to do.

dbc1218 says:
The equations page is step three of this instructable

Dec 2, 2007. 6:23 PM REPLY

fjr122 says:
This is a really great and detailed instructable! Good Job...

Jul 2, 2007. 1:42 AM REPLY

I was thinking earlier today (dangerous I know). Couldnt you just use some burners such as http://www.everythingkitchens.com/toastmaster_range_burner_6420.html ...only you know from a department store and only $10? Seems like your heater setup is far more complicated than needed. :P Otherwise the design is awesome. --Fjr

http://www.instructables.com/id/Vacuum-Former/

dbc1218 says:

Jul 2, 2007. 8:20 PM REPLY The heat source is just that, something that gets hot. If your thinking about building a machine using one of those check out this post http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=621858 This came from dcrash who also has a vacuum former in the in the laser cutter contest.

drcrash says:

Oct 18, 2007. 8:10 AM REPLY Another good choice for a small vacuum former (about 12 x 18 inches) is the $30 Uniflame portable electric barbecue grill from Wal-Mart. One nice thing about the portable grill is that it doesn't have any internal controls under the hot part, so you can put it upside down on stilts right over your platen. You could use two for a larger machine (about 18 x 24 inches). That not only reduces the footprint of your setup, but lets you use different sized plastic with your oven, with no hassle. (With a bottom heater, hot air rises around undersized plastic and escapes, so you need stop the opening down to the size you're using, or use a lid. With a top heater, the hot air rises into the oven instead of escaping, so less-than-full-size plastic isn't a problem.) Any time you use a prefab heater that doesn't put out just the right amount of heat, evenly distributed, you generally need to do something to even out the heat. Links on my web site show how to do that for a two-burner hot plate or a portable electric grill. (Go to www.VacuumFormerPlans.com and see the links in the sidebar.) For a large machine, the best cheap way of making an oven is to string nichrome coil yourself. (You can get enough nichrome coil for a 12 square foot oven for about $30.) That's not actually hard to do well if you know a couple of tricks. There's a bunch of people over on the tk560.com who've built their own vacuum formers that way. If your oven is metal-lined (aluminum flashing is good), you need high-temperature (ceramic or mica) electrical insulators to hold the hot wire, but you can scrounge those from old waffle irons or toasters from Goodwill.

keenan says:

Oct 14, 2007. 12:18 PM REPLY I plan on building my own vacuum former today (most o it anyway). I want to build my hydrofoam racer out of a more durable material than Styrofoam (http://www.zippyvideos.com/4603120202347646/hydrofoam/ pardon the corny music). I found a local supplier for the plastic but I have two questions. 1) My "toy" came in a protective Styrofoam case which I think I can use to make casts for the pontoons by pouring mold material into. Do you know of any fast setting molding material that does not react with Styrofoam? 2) With respect to the plastic sheeting, I need something light. The transparent stuff I bought from the local supplier worked well on my shoebox experiment but I fear it may be too heavy. What is the lightest commercially available sheeting that has the best impact resistance. Great posts by the way. My remedial experiment taught me some things but I have really sidestepped some unnecessary trial time purely by reading your posts. Keep up the great work. Regards, KKB

dbc1218 says:

Oct 14, 2007. 2:41 PM REPLY I can't really help with the fast setting mold material, I never really used that type stuff to much. As far as the plastic sheet goes look into polystyrene also called High-Impact Polystyrene. This company sells it Professional Plastics You could save weight going with a thinner material but too thin and it will be to weak. You'll just have to find that balance for you application

keenan says:

Oct 14, 2007. 8:11 PM REPLY yeah i did a quick drive by at home depot and picked up some LePage Poly Plaster of Paris powder. $3.48 for 1 kg mixing ratio for 4:3 (h20). and it's fast drying (60 minutes but I'll leave it in all night). I'll keep updates if your interested.

Geordiepom says:
Just what I'm looking for thank you. For the heater, I think I'll use a bank of light-bulbs with a dimmer switch.

Aug 9, 2007. 5:46 PM REPLY

dbc1218 says:
Check out these two forums too see some other formers. tk560 CNCZone

Aug 9, 2007. 7:52 PM REPLY

burningmunk says:

Jul 2, 2007. 2:20 AM REPLY If you put the heater facing downward above the plastic would allow you to not let the plastic hit the heating element. Then either have a sliding track that you can pull the plastic straight down onto the platen with the vacuum just as it is now. Then if it starts to sag, it won't be hitting the heating coils. I remember watching an episode of Mythbusters where they were vacuum forming parts and did it in this fashion. Other than that, I think that this is a pretty good setup. Even easier for your setup you currently have is to maybe add another set of boards on top of the border of the heating element, nail it to the plastic holder and that way it moves with the piece of plastic so that you can use your current setup with minimal modification! Hope to see updates!

dbc1218 says:

Jul 2, 2007. 8:10 PM REPLY There are many different things I could to make the machine better and easier to use. I think placing the oven upside down with the platen below it and moving the frame straight up and down would be best. There will definitely be updates but probably not till the fall. Thanks for the suggestions.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Vacuum-Former/