My Vacuum forming table and my easy heating solution
- Thread starter XRobots
- Start date
LoveofCountry
Member
This may be a bit of a silly follow up question but what's most best method to cut out your pull from the sheet of plastic after it's formed?
SChristides
New Member
Very good. I'm wondering if it's worth it to rip apart some heaters to build the elements directly into the box?
ALso, now it's been some time since you made it. How have you found the MDF to hold up to the heating?
ALso, now it's been some time since you made it. How have you found the MDF to hold up to the heating?
SChristides
New Member
Not that I have done it but in most videos I have seen people tend to use utility/stanley knives and such to rough cut it out then clean it up with various tools etc.
Smiling Demon
Sr Member
Looks like I am finally going to have a vac table. Your design may be simple but it can do heavy duty things. You can use different size plastics with it. All that one needs to do is make sub-frames to fit inside the main frame for the different sizes.
Great idea and thanks for making it easy enough that a dummy like me can make it work!! :lol
Kenny
Great idea and thanks for making it easy enough that a dummy like me can make it work!! :lol
Kenny
Kurtis876
Well-Known Member
Ok, just going to throw this out there for my USA counterparts... I don't see that anyone has asked... it seems that a 1,500 watt heater (not sure if quartz is even necessary) and a shorter box should heat the plastic faster and still be safe and even. has anyone tried this? Might have to do it. This is an awesome setup!
Thank you very much James!!
Thank you very much James!!
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cavx
Master Member
So after building mine, I discovered that my single heater was not enough. I am looking at other solutions and also thinking about an inverted heater.
This might be OK if re-worked to house two heaters side by side.
Given the cost [not very much], I'll probably just re-build this as a rectangular prism with open ends.
This might be OK if re-worked to house two heaters side by side.
Given the cost [not very much], I'll probably just re-build this as a rectangular prism with open ends.
cavx
Master Member
2 days ago, I replaced by Quartz heater (strip bar wall heater) with a single element bench top stove. Both units are about 1500/1600W. I also moved the stove unit closer to the plastic by building a small shelf inside my heating flume. Whilst this heated the plastic faster, I lost surface area and went down from 550mm x 500mm to about 350mm.
What about a gas cooker? Given how much heat a gas flame can produce, is there any reason this would not work?
cavx
Master Member
3d-builder did this.
I did this yesterday and it works a treat. He said he needed to box the thing so he didn't melt the controls. My stove is a flat unit with the controls to the side, so it was easy to do.
I also had another play with the quarts strip heater and some plastic that folded when it slipped out of the frame on yesterdays stove top adventure. So today, I used the quarts strip heater, heated the plastic and was able to recover the sheet. I also learned something about just how much heat you can put into this stuff.
You should be fumes coming off the plastic and it even at that point, it is not about to catch fire. So previously, I just was not allowing the plastic to get hot enough.
I'm ditching the single element stove top I bought the other day (actually I should keep it for warming stuff) and will buy another one of these heaters so I get a larger heated area. After today's play, I am also going to do a flip over heat arrangement so that the plastic is heated over the platen, then flips up to just past 90 degrees whilst I do the pull.
I am working on making my frame raise up and down on 4 draw slides and the hinged heater will be above that. This will also ensure that my frame lines up with the platen each time to get the best seal.
Getting there.
PropArtist
Well-Known Member
Great video!!
Thank-you!
Thank-you!
TerryMcIntosh
Well-Known Member
A wonderful video that has educated this novice in the basics of the technique. Thank you for sharing and I'll be sure to check out the others that I see that you've created as well!
Best,
Terry
Best,
Terry
XRobots
Well-Known Member
It's a tricky question because mine just worked fist time with the first heater I tried and the first heater diffuser box and table I built. I think the time it takes to soften the sheet of plastic is comparable to commercial units so I guess the size/power match is about right.
hey all. as a first post, i'm afraid my account might get suspended by posting this, as it may come across as advertising. apologies in advance if this is offensive...I'm not posting a link to the product...just a video of it. no affiliation.
VACUPRES 620 CoolTec Demo - YouTube
i just stumbled across this and even though it's not very attractive to the DIY market (+USD$8K !!!), it is an awesome looking piece of equipment. I am in a high-volume production environment and may be seriously looking at this thing if i can justify the cost.
i'm just passing along the find if anyone finds it interesting.
VACUPRES 620 CoolTec Demo - YouTube
i just stumbled across this and even though it's not very attractive to the DIY market (+USD$8K !!!), it is an awesome looking piece of equipment. I am in a high-volume production environment and may be seriously looking at this thing if i can justify the cost.
i'm just passing along the find if anyone finds it interesting.
tarapotamus
New Member
LOVE your heating solution and good to know your Dyson is the vacuum! I hate the clunky shop vac...ttly going to use my dyson now!
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