Help vacu forming for Vader

jcgardea

Active Member

• Feb 12, 2018

• #1

Hi every one, I am doing a Vader, so I was planning to vacu form the lenses and the button covers. But I’ve had zero success with my test pulls , I don’t know what I am doing wrong. I dont know if its too much heat, or if not using the correct plastic.
I am using polypropylene like the one that comes with mead notebook covers, it is slightly less than 1mm thick.

Any pointers would be appreciated.

As you can see im getting holes sucked out Tried to use a heat gun to hest up un formed areas, no luck.

Cheers!

 

sskunky

Sr Member

• Feb 12, 2018

• #2

The heat application is totally uneven. You are never going to get consistent heat to the whole area like that I’m afraid. If you use a heat gun to compensate again you are going to get hot spots which will suck through the mesh giving you holes.


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jcgardea

Active Member

• Feb 12, 2018

• #3

sskunky said:

The heat application is totally uneven. You are never going to get consistent heat to the whole area like that I’m afraid. If you use a heat gun to compensate again you are going to get hot spots which will suck through the mesh giving you holes.

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Any suggestions to get even heating?

 

sskunky

Sr Member

• Feb 12, 2018

• #4

If you are using this system then your oven is the best bet. Heat the plastic in a preheated oven at about 175. The surface of the plastic will begin to ripple and drop. Then it will tighten back up and smooth out flat. Once it’s flat pull it out and push it over your mould and hit the vacuum. Try that.


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jcgardea

Active Member

• Feb 12, 2018

• #5

Is polypropylene ok for pulling?


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sskunky

Sr Member

• Feb 12, 2018

• #6

Out of all the plastics that’s probably the hardest to heat. Your best bet will be ABS or HIPs.


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sskunky

Sr Member

• Feb 12, 2018

• #7

If you are after a clear then PETG or clear hips.


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jcgardea

Active Member

• Feb 12, 2018

• #8

I did a test with clear pet, and definitely worked alot better than polypropylene. Same rig, still failure, but definitely improvement. Will look for a better heating source. Thanks for the tips!


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