Hey Guys,
I'm looking for some plastic sheets(polymers, lexan, mylar etc.)that can
be heated up in an oven then formed over an object and hold that shape when cooled.
Does anyone know what these are called and where I can get some?
I want to make some custom covers for my stepper motors and such.
Thanks for your help, Hoss

Generaly called thermoform, or thermoformable type. Some types are, HDPE, Styrene, Kydex, US Plastics has it. Google thermoform plastics.

Thanks Speedre,
US Plastics seems to have exactly what I'm looking for.
Awesome, Hoss

Kydex is going to be the easiest to work with, if you want to form by hand. The final shape can be "touched up" with a heat gun.

Thanks tsalaf,
I found some Kydex at
http://interstateplastics.reachlocal.net/materials/detail.aspx?ID=Kydex-Ca2009
Perfect
Thanks Hoss

I suppose it depends on how ghetto you want to go - PVC seems to work well when hit with a heat-gun - my coolant tray is lined with the stuff. Even lower down the cost spectrum, plastic 2-pint milk bottles seem to fit a stepper like a glove, and they should be heat treatable too.

Just make sure you leave plenty of room for ventilation above the stepper - you don't want it heat forming its own cover!

I did actually try thin alloy sheet for a stepper cover - it kept them dry but resonated and amplified their noise ten fold!

Hoss, I use a 3mm PVC that I got from a local sign shop. I've heard it called expanded PCV or Sintra. You can use a hair dryer to soften it, mold it however you like, then let it cool and it'll hold it's shape.

FWIW,
Jay

Hey Jay, Thanks for the tip,I'll look for some.
Cool, Hoss

Hoss, I use a 3mm PVC that I got from a local sign shop. I've heard it called expanded PCV or Sintra. You can use a hair dryer to soften it, mold it however you like, then let it cool and it'll hold it's shape.

FWIW,
Jay

I'd never have thought of a sign shop, but thinking about it, they might even have sheets large enough to form a whole one-piece coolant tray :)

Cheers for the tip! :cheers:

The sign making industry has a lot of very interesting materials. Sometime take a look at the workstations MXTRAS made out of a product called "Alpolic". It's an awkward name, but check them out in his thread:

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14398

Alpolic is an "aluminum composite material." That means relatively thin Al sandwiched around a plastic. There are other materials in the same class such as something called Dibold. When I went looking for this stuff it all showed up at places catering to sign makers.

Go figure!

Best,

BW