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Thread: Wanting a Vacuum Former, new or Homemade Australia

  1. #1
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    Default Wanting a Vacuum Former, new or Homemade Australia

    I’ve seen the Mayku for around $1200AUD but feel it’s very expensive for such a small usable area. I’m hoping to find one with a usable area of at least 30cm on 1 side.

    Hardest part I feel to achieve will be the Heating so if any one in Australia has found a good heating source please let me know as I am capable of building something if I have all the hardware sorted. I can look at larger then 30cm just need to work around available plastic sizes.

    Also happy to hear from people who have made successful Vacuum Formers that I can buy for up to $2000aud

    thanks in Advance

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  2. #2

    Default Re: Wanting a Vacuum Former, new or Homemade Australia

    Hello! I have bought, and built a few large machines over the years. If you have a supplier of 80/20, or similar type Aluminum extrusion, I can tell you that it's very easy and inexpensive. You can also use super strut which is available at literally every Hardware "big box" store.

    Depending on what type of size you're talking about, there are a few methodologies to consider.

    first is vacuum system. My current 48x48 inch machine is using a 10CFM vacuum pump, and 2 4 gallon compressor tanks.. this creates a vacuum reserve that will pull when you open the valve... The thing I do not like about this, is that you have a finite vacuum reserve, and if you make a mistake, you just blew through a sheet of plastic.

    I found that a central vac pump for an in-home central Vac system works famously!

    I use these for vacuum hold down on my 2 CNC machines, and they'll stick a poker chip to a table through a 3/4" sheet of MDF.

    the best part is, they are very inexpensive.

    so, with a $10 foot switch, and a vacuum motor, I have about 10X the pulling power of a shop vac. this is plenty of power for forming even 1/4" ABS at 48x48.

    I like the foot switch, because I can control the vacuum to avoid webbing, and make small manual adjustments to the plastic as it draws.

    these are the parts I'm referring to:

    https://www.amazon.com/Ametek-Lamb-1...gateway&sr=8-6

    and

    https://www.amazon.com/URBEST-Moment...s%2C175&sr=8-4


    For the heating, it's a very simple system, and very effective. I use a 2 element heater I made. I am using 2 1000 watt (i believe) oven elements in parallell.

    Here's an example of Pid wiring diagram

    https://goo.gl/images/8Jc3Lb

    this is all less than $100 so far.

    you can make the heater roll back and forth using super strut as the track, and affixing large "skate wheel" style bearings to the sides... (see the video below, and you'll understand what I mean)

    I made my platen raise using an air powered linear actuator.

    something like this:
    https://www.mcmaster.com/6453k109

    I use a 4 way air switch to raise / lower it

    https://www.mcmaster.com/6650k8

    This is not completely mecessary, but i like this config.

    My heater is on rollers.... it rolls over the clamped plastic until it's hot, then rolls back, and the platen rises up into the plastic. my platen is a sealed Plywood box with the vacuum plumbed into the bottom. I sanded the edges nicely, and wiped a nice bead of silicone around all of the edges to make sure that it seals nicely once the mold is pushed up into the plastic. it simply self-seals when it makes contact.

    this configuration has been working for me for 5 years. I do about 100 pulls a month for parts of a robot I manufacture.

    the whole thing can be made for about $500 if you're smart about it.

    To get an idea of my inspiration... here is my first machine I bought. When I needed another, I simply made my own.

    This one was $13,000. my second one was built for $500, and I use it daily.

    https://goo.gl/images/nWDms3

    And... In action, here's a video...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GqjE3a7dgI


    I hope all of this helps...





  3. #3

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    Default

    The TAGMOLD company produces Injection mold service, maybe can help you.



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Wanting a Vacuum Former, new or Homemade Australia

Wanting a Vacuum Former, new or Homemade Australia