My Vacuum forming table and my easy heating solution

[familyman]

Awesome work, thanks for posting.

 

[RGPFX]

Thank you for this. I was going to go with the know and wire heating element. But this looks so much simpler. Have you tried heating 3mm sintra (ABS)?

Ummm, Sintra is not ABS at all. It is a brand name for foamed PVC sheet. It certainly will not work with plastic solvents the way ABS does and I'm not sure if it is used in vacuum forming. Our Laser cutter who does thick acrylic for us all the time on a 4'x8' bed machine will not laser Sintra because of the toxic fumes.

 

[RGPFX]

Having trouble understanding the audio when you ID the heater. What kind of heater is it?

 

[magneto1138]

Great table and a well done video! Very informative!

 

[XRobots]

Having trouble understanding the audio when you ID the heater. What kind of heater is it?

It's a quartz patio/workshop heater, they come in various shapes and sizes:

quartz heater - Google Search

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared_heater#Quartz_heat_lamps

 

[clonesix]

So, no one commented on the vacuum cleaner? C'mon guys, A Vacuum cleaner! This should be on one of those Dyson infomercials: "So powerful, it sucks the plastic onto 3-PO's pants. No other vacuum cleaner can do that"


Nice Video. 20 minutes to heat a piece of plastic?

 

[XRobots]

Nice Video. 20 minutes to heat a piece of plastic?

It takes just 3 mins.

 

[clonesix]

3 minutes is perfectly reasonable.

 

[TruBlood]

Great thread! Thanks for sharing.

 

[TallDarkandDisfigured]

Very cool video, makes having a Vac forming table a little less space consuming!

 

[Christoph2]

Very good idea. I am a plastics engineer and thereof know that this is one of the most practical heating forms in the industry --> using infrared beamers. It enables a good distribution of heat over the surface.
It is sometimes hard to find the right parameters like heating time, thickness and so on. It is supposed to be low enough in viscosity to enable forming without to much elastic recovery. At the same time not as low that the sheet material starts melting.

 

[MiDri]

Is there any specific reason you chose to make the heating tunnel that tall? I'm a bit low on space to put things, I could get away with something maybe half that size =/

 

[XRobots]

Is there any specific reason you chose to make the heating tunnel that tall? I'm a bit low on space to put things, I could get away with something maybe half that size =/

As far as I remember that was the size of the MDF from my local DIY store. Obviously you need to heat the plastic so it through softens without burning it straight away, and also diffuse the heat so that the two bars in the fire will spread enough by the time they get to the plastic. I guess you'd have to experiment.

 

[RGPFX]

It's a quartz patio/workshop heater, they come in various shapes and sizes:

quartz heater - Google Search

Infrared heater - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

OK. Thanks for posting that info.

 

[tk1055]

This just made my life a whole lot easier! Arkham Armored suit Here I come!!!!

 

[Idaho Jones]

Cool idea, instead of using wingnuts have you thought about using quick-release toggle clamps? Make the bottom layer of your plastic holder bigger to attach the clamp to and use some guides to line up the frame over the plastic.

 

[buhatkj]

you made it look so easy, surely the sign of having really put the time in to perfect your process. Nice!

 

[D9Prawn]

Ive been using 2 electric BBQ grills as heating units for the last 7 years on my vactable
there is also no chance of the plastic melting into the grills as they are upsidedown in a frame and the plastic sheet is under them way safer than heating the plastic over the heating unit

 

[paplooo]

thanks for all the info !

 

[Arkive Dave]

Awesome idea, Im building a large vac-form table to build a UFO for a short film and heating was the only thing stoping me because of the size and cost, You have just made my day !!!