Vacuum molding

[digger303]

The newer upgraded way of doing vacuum molding. I want one, but it's always the shekels.


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[Twokidsnosleep]

It is a fanci pants vacuuformer
I got a dental one, but this one looks pretty slick with a wider useful field

[MarkSzeman]

It is a fanci pants vacuuformer
I got a dental one, but this one looks pretty slick with a wider useful field

I've been looking at those dental vacuformers on Aliexpress recently, the smallest ones look usefull for home use, the problem is the shipping is as much as the machine even through aliexpress I'll probably just build one myself eventually.

[digger303]

It is a fanci pants vacuuformer
I got a dental one, but this one looks pretty slick with a wider useful field

I've been looking at those dental vacuformers on Aliexpress recently, the smallest ones look usefull for home use, the problem is the shipping is as much as the machine even through aliexpress I'll probably just build one myself eventually.

With this one I think the inbuilt heating makes better molds.

[MarkSzeman]

Problem is I've tried vacuum formers that use shop vacs, and other home vacuum cleaners for suction, and they just don't match what you can get from a real vacuum. This is waaay overpriced for what it is. I could build a machine that has an actual vacuum pump, tank and better heating elements than this for the whopping price of 699 US dollars.. Its much like the way 3d printers started off, prohibitively expensive for home use, give it a few years and they will have this down to the more accetable price tag of max 200 green backs Don't get me wrong, its a nice unit for small to medium sized workshops that don't want to shell out the minimum 4-5000 dollars for a more commercial unit and are happy with what this can handle, its just too pricey for the hobbyist. If you want to do vacuuforming at home, a box with holes connected to your vacuum, a frame to hold your thermoplastic and a toaster oven is all you need to do what this machine does, its just premade

[digger303]

Problem is I've tried vacuum formers that use shop vacs, and other home vacuum cleaners for suction, and they just don't match what you can get from a real vacuum. This is waaay overpriced for what it is. I could build a machine that has an actual vacuum pump, tank and better heating elements than this for the whopping price of 699 US dollars.. Its much like the way 3d printers started off, prohibitively expensive for home use, give it a few years and they will have this down to the more acceptable price tag of max 200 green backs Don't get me wrong, its a nice unit for small to medium sized workshops that don't want to shell out the minimum 4-5000 dollars for a more commercial unit and are happy with what this can handle, its just too pricey for the hobbyist. If you want to do vacuum forming at home, a box with holes connected to your vacuum, a frame to hold your thermoplastic and a toaster oven is all you need to do what this machine does, its just pre-made

I did think it was way too expensive for myself and most people.

[MarkSzeman]

I was more in the prop and costume area of making for years as I work part time for a friend of mine that has a Production company, and so I followed a number of people in that sphere. The likes of Bill Doran from Punished props and Harrison Krix aka Volpin props (this dude has some mad skills) have made and used DIY vacuum formers for a while, and I have myself made several different sized versions of the most basic bare bones vacuum forming box as in Bills video.





For small to medium sized parts, making a flat mould or a mould jacket, this DIY setup is great and takes no more than 20-30 dollars worth of materials to get you off the ground. And you can of course go further with it and spend a few hundred and make a table of your own which would give you way more possibilities than whats commercially on offer for much much more

[vintageteesonline]

I know these vacuum forming machines are pricey but i saw a better one than Mayku, it's called Vaquform www.vaquform.com If i decide having one, i wouldn't mind paying a bit more to get Vaquform. Everything is built in: the vacuum motors with industrial strength, as they advertise, and the heater. I don't need to attach any vacuum cleaner or need an oven to heat my material. Settings are already programmed for the different kinds of plastic sheets that can be used.

Also, i found this guy on YT making RC bodies using Vaquform.. kinda cool! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9R1oLOoGZg