John Rodgers on fri 31 oct 03
I just came into possession of a big thermal vacuum forming machine. It
has the capacity to vacuum form 2 inches deep, 24 inches wide, and 48
inches long.
If any one has any project suggestions .....clay or otherwise ....to
which I might apply this machine, I would appreciate the suggestions.
Thanks,
Regards,
John Rodgers
Chelsea, AL
wayneinkeywest on sat 1 nov 03
John:
Would it be possible to create a "drum" of plastic (latex?) like perhaps a
large
piece of plastic (or latex) sheeting wrapped around a cardboard ring and
apply the
vacuum to "suck" the plastic down to form a "bowl" for shaping slabs of
clay?
The parabola of the bowl could be varied depending on your particular
requirements by adding or releasing vacuum
to alter bowl shapes, depths, etc. That might be one use...
YMMV,
Wayne Seidl
> I just came into possession of a big thermal vacuum forming machine. It
> has the capacity to vacuum form 2 inches deep, 24 inches wide, and 48
> inches long.
>
> If any one has any project suggestions .....clay or otherwise ....to
> which I might apply this machine, I would appreciate the suggestions.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Regards,
>
> John Rodgers
> Chelsea, AL
.
John Rodgers on sat 1 nov 03
I can make bowl forms of the type you suggest. I will play with this and
see what comes of it.
Thanks for the idea!!
BTW, I used to live in Marathon Shores. 1967-68 Moved from that island
to Wrangell, Alaska in the summer of 1968 ...... another island. I liked
the country there better. Stayed 30 years.
Regards,
John Rodgers
Chelsea., AL
wayneinkeywest wrote:
>John:
>Would it be possible to create a "drum" of plastic (latex?) like perhaps a
>large
>piece of plastic (or latex) sheeting wrapped around a cardboard ring and
>apply the
>vacuum to "suck" the plastic down to form a "bowl" for shaping slabs of
>clay?
>The parabola of the bowl could be varied depending on your particular
>requirements by adding or releasing vacuum
>to alter bowl shapes, depths, etc. That might be one use...
>YMMV,
>Wayne Seidl
>
>
>
>>I just came into possession of a big thermal vacuum forming machine. It
>>has the capacity to vacuum form 2 inches deep, 24 inches wide, and 48
>>inches long.
>>
>>If any one has any project suggestions .....clay or otherwise ....to
>>which I might apply this machine, I would appreciate the suggestions.
>>
>>Thanks,
>>
>>Regards,
>>
>>John Rodgers
>>Chelsea, AL
>>
>>
>.
>
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larry sullivan on sat 1 nov 03
Hi John I can tell one of the things not to do. I came across one of them
about fifteen years ago and made a mold and cranked out some product that I
sold for about $600 and then found out that I had used $1000 in electric.
Larry Sullivan
> I just came into possession of a big thermal vacuum forming machine. It
> has the capacity to vacuum form 2 inches deep, 24 inches wide, and 48
> inches long.
>
> If any one has any project suggestions .....clay or otherwise ....to
> which I might apply this machine, I would appreciate the suggestions.
May Luk on sun 2 nov 03
Hi there;
I saw this method in a mould making demo at Aberyswyth. Tavs of Denmark cut
some wood disks and then screw them together. From the top, it's like a
contour drawing of a mountain [topograph?]. Then he vacuum form with a
plastic sheet. He make plaster mould out of that plastic bowl. He said, this
way the plaster is easier to get out rather than from the wood form.
You can see the form in the upper left corner of the photo:
http://yamerica.users.btopenworld.com/Backstage_Folder/pages/tavs.htm
I once have a olive oil plate like that, the staggering edges show off the
colours of the liquid inside a bowl and it's very nice.
Regards
Mayinluk
wayneinkeywest wrote:
>John:
>Would it be possible to create a "drum" of plastic (latex?) like perhaps a
>large
>piece of plastic (or latex) sheeting wrapped around a cardboard ring and
>apply the
>vacuum to "suck" the plastic down to form a "bowl" for shaping slabs of
>clay?
>The parabola of the bowl could be varied depending on your particular
>requirements by adding or releasing vacuum
>to alter bowl shapes, depths, etc. That might be one use...
>YMMV,
>Wayne Seidl
Daniel Sommerfeld on tue 4 nov 03
John,
I have been working in the Thermoforming industry for 9 years as a
designer. I can give you some in-depth information if you need it, but I
thought I would share a couple bits of information.
You can make molds from many different types of materials: Wood is the
most common to make patterns, but it will degrade, dry and split with use
(material selection plays big into this), epoxy can be used, bondo can be
used and is used widely to fix cracks. I like polyurethane foam which
comes in many densities. Long term molds are typically made from
Aluminum. Shorter run molds are sometimes made from ceramic-based
materials.
All molds must have vacuum holes drilled into the mold surface to pull the
plastic into the mold, placement can be difficult, but it is usually easy
to add as needed. An added benefit of polyurethane foam is that the whole
surface acts as the vacuum without the need of drilling holes. You must
make a vacuum box below the mold that is sealed around the perimeter.
I would recommend a styrenic based plastic like polystyrene for forming.
It heats quick and dissipates the same heat quickly from the mold. We use
Polyethylene(PE) based plastics and they are widely used, but they take
longer to heat and must set on the mold longer to set. A basis for PE on a
cooled tool(which your's most-likely wouldn't be) is to cool one second for
every thousandths of thickness, so .25" would be on the tool for 250
seconds, but much longer for a non-cooled tool.
The biggest draw back to using your machine is the depth which sounds
suspect? Two inches is quite shallow and it would be difficult to make
even a simple hump mold at this depth. I would guess the machine must have
been used to make thin walled decorative pieces like those halloween and
christmas plastic wall reliefs - faces and trees and such, but machines can
be used almost anything.
The most important piece of advice I can give is to watch your draft. Male
tools are more detrimental than female, and the last thing you want to do
is pull the tool apart while trying to release the formed part. We have
successfully bonded plastic to wood in some brighter moments. Watch for
and remove all undercuts.
If you've been in a pedal boat in the last few years, or a Portajon in the
last year you may have used one of the products I have designed. Not that
I brag about the portajon - while I was designing it I heard all the jokes.
Hope this helps,
Dan Sommerfeld
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