Re: [EE:] Home vacuum-forming by Roland .

>BTW, the hard parts of vacuum forming seem to be the matter of an oven big

>enough for the work and creating a vacuum source (or is it sink?) with

>enough volume to draw down the material before the material cools out of the

>plastic condition...

Hi 

I've watched vacuum forming done, and it was a very simple set-up. They

were forming polystyrene(not foam!)

The positive/pattern was simple wood fabrications, and there was no oven,

rather a big element and a few fans blowing the air down. I think the

vacuum part was just an industrial blower, as a sucker.

The force required will depend on the temperature, depth of draw required,

thickness of sheet, resolution of pattern. Although a nice convoluted

surface can be obtained, the edges always pose a problem, same with

fibreglass moulds. Trimming them to an exact size, and polishing to hide

the work, is almost impossible.

>A home vacuum cleaner arrangement is not really up to the task. Besides, my

>earlier experiments with home vacuums lead me to believe a lot of air FLOW

>is essential to avoid toasting the motors.

maybe a powerful blower and a venturi will be better??

Regards

Roland Jollivet

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