Holy crap, that looks easy to do! Thank you for posting up that video! I was going to build something like Volpin built, but that seems like a much better entry into vac forming.
This is a way cool piece of kitbashing to make a functional shop item. Believe me I love saving money. The toy company Mattel made a vac-u-form set back in the 1960s, that had exactly the same function. It died due to advanced safety directives for toys (you’ll put your eye out). I never had a vacuformer as a kid, but I bought a Thing Maker used at a garage sale and had lots of different molds. eBay probably has these available, but I am just too lazy to look. I guess the modern 3D printers have the same function, with a lot more detail and full modeling.
Wow, that's trippy. My dad had almost the exact same rig many years ago to make bodies for slot cars. (It had an avocodo-colored toaster oven and one of those silver vacuums that look like a jet-pack). He used larger clear plastic sheets because styrene's not flexible enough for that, and that made it really unweidly and difficult to work with.
One of the issues he kept running into is that if you let the plastic get too saggy or don't hit the seal evenly, it can fold over itself and make large creases over the form. Also, if you're making a larger or more detailed shape, it can help to drill holes through the form itself on the areas you where want good coverage.
3 comments:
Holy crap, that looks easy to do! Thank you for posting up that video! I was going to build something like Volpin built, but that seems like a much better entry into vac forming.
This is a way cool piece of kitbashing to make a functional shop item. Believe me I love saving money. The toy company Mattel made a vac-u-form set back in the 1960s, that had exactly the same function. It died due to advanced safety directives for toys (you’ll put your eye out). I never had a vacuformer as a kid, but I bought a Thing Maker used at a garage sale and had lots of different molds. eBay probably has these available, but I am just too lazy to look. I guess the modern 3D printers have the same function, with a lot more detail and full modeling.
http://www.ohgizmo.com/2009/02/18/mattels-1960s-vac-u-form-playset-damn-you-modern-safety-standards/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vac-u-form
Wow, that's trippy. My dad had almost the exact same rig many years ago to make bodies for slot cars. (It had an avocodo-colored toaster oven and one of those silver vacuums that look like a jet-pack). He used larger clear plastic sheets because styrene's not flexible enough for that, and that made it really unweidly and difficult to work with.
One of the issues he kept running into is that if you let the plastic get too saggy or don't hit the seal evenly, it can fold over itself and make large creases over the form. Also, if you're making a larger or more detailed shape, it can help to drill holes through the form itself on the areas you where want good coverage.
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