Newbie need help with vacuum forming

[Rob1970]

Hi Guys,

Iam in the process of making a vacuum forming machine. I have made up the platen which is 400mm Wide x 250mm L x 100mm Deep. I have tried using a shop vac for the vacuum and it just doesnt have enough vacuum. I have seen other people using a vacuum pump with a reserve vacuum tank which seems to work very well. So I have decided to use this approach. I already have a vacuum pump (rotary vain) which is a 3cfm unit. As for the tank I have decided to make one from PVC pipe. I already have 250mm pipe so only need the end caps for it. Apart from this all I need is the valves, connections and hoses. My question is I have no idea what size the tank needs to be?


Picture below of basic vacuum system.

Am I missing anything, any suggestions.



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[jdougn]

Nice drawing of your setup! Tank volume will depend upon the types of parts being made. If the plastic tents across the mold leaving large quantities of air that need to be removed then a larger tank will be needed. Just a rough estimated for your platen size I would guess around 5 gallons or 20 liters. What did you end up using?
dn