Thermo forming madness
Thermo forming madness
That 2x4 and plywood machine sucked big time, and was a little small, so here are a few pics of my NEW machine, not totally complete, but you get the idea!
This machine is made almost exclusively out of garbage from a scrap yard, and crap lying around my house, so forgive the crudeness. Ingredients include- an old computer mainframe tower, metal shelving, patio door hardware and rollers, dodge caravan rotors, a snow shovel, garage door parts, an old oven, and random metal scraps.
To finish this machine, I need to mount the heating elements, and the table which are next. Im still gonna use the principle of using the wet dry vac for suction, but this thing should eliminate most of the transfer PITA and move it all into one big motion, and Im gonna put the trigger for the wet dry vac into a foot pedal of some sort.
some pics-
how it works- the home process breaks down into three components, heat the plastic, press it air tight over a mold, and suck it down onto the mold shape.
The way this contraption works is that the large arm swings up and down, and slides the rectangular cage straight up and down inside the blue frame work. The plastic is clamped inside the rectangular frame. Up top will hang heating elements from an electric stove (working on bracketry), and below will be a MDF topped table with a seal for the frame to seat against.
You would swing the frame up and lock it to heat the plastic, place your mold, once the plastic is hot, swing it down in one motion and hit the wet/dry vac to suck it down. The size and weight of the arm will allow you to put minimal force on it for ensure a nice hard seal, which will be household weather stripping.
Got some work left to do, but hopefully I should be able to churn out some random plastic stuff pretty soon! Best part is that im in the hole less than 150 bucks on this thing, and 75 was the oven! we will see what it takes to add the finishing touches, ill be pissed if I have to buy something new.
the space is about 2.5 x a little less than 2 and will allow almost a 1.5 foot high mold. (I had to keep the machine a reasonable size for the home, its as big as a fridge right now)
Suggestions on what kind of molds I should try and make once its done and works?
ideas so far-
1. Ive got my headlight doors
2. definitely a pillar pod, probably about a dozen types
3. I want to rig up some kind of cup holder. As an American, I DEMAND a place to put my coffee, screw this European fetish against drinking in the car.
4. I want to try and make the taxi dash thing, or a bastardized version
Anyway, suggestions on what to make, and any improvements on the machine would be much appreciated!
1974 240D 617 turbo swap, W201 5-speed, in the works project
1983 240D 616 stock, DD
1989 Chevy Astro, 617 turbo swap, T5 5-speed, 4.56 diff, work van
So in this thread- http://www.superturbodiesel.com/std/vacu...t-879.html, I made a couple of weird headlight panels using vacuum/thermo forming of plastic polystyrene sheeting. Aside from the crudeness of the mold and process, the parts turned out decently enough for me to continue and make a better version.
That 2x4 and plywood machine sucked big time, and was a little small, so here are a few pics of my NEW machine, not totally complete, but you get the idea!
This machine is made almost exclusively out of garbage from a scrap yard, and crap lying around my house, so forgive the crudeness. Ingredients include- an old computer mainframe tower, metal shelving, patio door hardware and rollers, dodge caravan rotors, a snow shovel, garage door parts, an old oven, and random metal scraps.
To finish this machine, I need to mount the heating elements, and the table which are next. Im still gonna use the principle of using the wet dry vac for suction, but this thing should eliminate most of the transfer PITA and move it all into one big motion, and Im gonna put the trigger for the wet dry vac into a foot pedal of some sort.
some pics-
how it works- the home process breaks down into three components, heat the plastic, press it air tight over a mold, and suck it down onto the mold shape.
The way this contraption works is that the large arm swings up and down, and slides the rectangular cage straight up and down inside the blue frame work. The plastic is clamped inside the rectangular frame. Up top will hang heating elements from an electric stove (working on bracketry), and below will be a MDF topped table with a seal for the frame to seat against.
You would swing the frame up and lock it to heat the plastic, place your mold, once the plastic is hot, swing it down in one motion and hit the wet/dry vac to suck it down. The size and weight of the arm will allow you to put minimal force on it for ensure a nice hard seal, which will be household weather stripping.
Got some work left to do, but hopefully I should be able to churn out some random plastic stuff pretty soon! Best part is that im in the hole less than 150 bucks on this thing, and 75 was the oven! we will see what it takes to add the finishing touches, ill be pissed if I have to buy something new.
the space is about 2.5 x a little less than 2 and will allow almost a 1.5 foot high mold. (I had to keep the machine a reasonable size for the home, its as big as a fridge right now)
Suggestions on what kind of molds I should try and make once its done and works?
ideas so far-
1. Ive got my headlight doors
2. definitely a pillar pod, probably about a dozen types
3. I want to rig up some kind of cup holder. As an American, I DEMAND a place to put my coffee, screw this European fetish against drinking in the car.
4. I want to try and make the taxi dash thing, or a bastardized version
Anyway, suggestions on what to make, and any improvements on the machine would be much appreciated!
1974 240D 617 turbo swap, W201 5-speed, in the works project
1983 240D 616 stock, DD
1989 Chevy Astro, 617 turbo swap, T5 5-speed, 4.56 diff, work van
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