Vacuum Forming Set up -Cheap-
- Thread starter psychotiller
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psychotiller
10 kW
furp said:Ok, will try that then, thanksthat is 3-5mm for us metric guys. I thought you would use thinner ones, but I don't have any experience with abs and how strong it is.
The thinner stuff doesn't work for me. Also, it's nice having a sturdy electronics enclosure. Let me know how it turns out
PracticalProjects
10 W
Nice, the battery boxes turned out great!
cwah
100 MW
Nice but what about bigger bike parts?
sl33py
10 kW
cwah said:
"bigger"? what size and depth? You are really only limited by the size of the sheet that fits in the oven, and enough vacuum to pull it down over your form/part.
If you need mondo sizes you likely want to get a membrane system and dedicated vacuum surge tank. Starts to get spendy quick. A good 3-5CFM vacuum pump usually is 150-300$ alone. His setup here is genius, simple, and cheap. Kudos again!
psychotiller
10 kW
cwah said:
What dimensions specifically?
Those battery enclosures are a thing of beauty!
One of my friends in Newcastle makerspace has just build one of these, we were testing it last night, and it works amazingly! i'm planning on making motor and belt guards as well as a battery enclosure.
One of my friends in Newcastle makerspace has just build one of these, we were testing it last night, and it works amazingly! i'm planning on making motor and belt guards as well as a battery enclosure.
psychotiller
10 kW
magiced said:
Nice! Let us see some pics when you get them made.
I can't imagine any part that will fit on a power board that couldn't fit in a large stove, but...There's a great tutorial with pics on how to make a large heated box (any size), insulated, and they blow-formed a clear plastic bubble for a recumbent velomobile, looked like somethinbg for aircraft, but easily re-purposed to form any shape you wanted. Its the website that made the wisil missile. Whether you blow onto one side or vacuum on the other, you heat the flat sheet till its soft, and blow/vac to get it to form against a wooden shape
(*googles furiously...) Found it! http://www.recumbents.com/wisil/Bubbles/hpvbubbles.htm
(*googles furiously...) Found it! http://www.recumbents.com/wisil/Bubbles/hpvbubbles.htm
psychotiller
10 kW
here's a new enclosure I did today.
sl33py
10 kW
very nice Psychotiller. what's the sheet size that fits in your oven?
torqueboards
1 MW
Nice one. That's nice.
psychotiller
10 kW
sl33py said:
I'm @ 20" x 12". I cut the screen frames to fit into the grill slots of my oven.
Here's a glossy one:
Did my first vac form today! Used a OSB box, tin foil and an old stone grill thing that I was about to throw away. Applied some heat with the heat gun from above and put it on the form when i thought it was ready. Heating seemed to work fine, but the heat gun is not that practical for 3mm material, I think it just heats the surface but not much more. Most parts of the form formed out well, but a 90° angle did not work out.
Seeing your shape, maybe I should have let it bake a little longer to get the abs soft enough? Can you tell the amount of 'sag' the sheet has when the temp is good?
Another thing I will change is adding a row of holes for the airflow right around the mold. In your setup, is there only a single big hole below the mold for the vac and the mold is slightly lifted from the table?
Have you ever tried reusing a mishapen sheep of abs?
Pictures will follow tomorrow!
Seeing your shape, maybe I should have let it bake a little longer to get the abs soft enough? Can you tell the amount of 'sag' the sheet has when the temp is good?
Another thing I will change is adding a row of holes for the airflow right around the mold. In your setup, is there only a single big hole below the mold for the vac and the mold is slightly lifted from the table?
Have you ever tried reusing a mishapen sheep of abs?
Pictures will follow tomorrow!
sl33py
10 kW
not super familiar with ABS, but the all knowing wikipedia says it's "glass-transition" state is 221F (105C). Basically that's when it becomes rubbery and probably should be your goal temp for molding.
For Kydex (which has a higher temp) it's usually 350'ish to mold. I have used one of the non-contact laser thermometers from amazon for a good way to gauge temp of the material.
It's worth a shot to re-use a sheet of abs. Worst case you waste some time and still have to toss it. good practice either way.
HTH - GL!
For Kydex (which has a higher temp) it's usually 350'ish to mold. I have used one of the non-contact laser thermometers from amazon for a good way to gauge temp of the material.
It's worth a shot to re-use a sheet of abs. Worst case you waste some time and still have to toss it. good practice either way.
HTH - GL!
Will try to reuse my first sheet tomorrow, will see how that works out! i think I will give the temp sensor of my el cheapo voltmeter a shot for that reused sheet since I don't have a laser thermometer and will go on vacation for 3 weeks on monday, so no use ordering anything now
psychotiller
10 kW
furp said:Will try to reuse my first sheet tomorrow, will see how that works out! i think I will give the temp sensor of my el cheapo voltmeter a shot for that reused sheet since I don't have a laser thermometer and will go on vacation for 3 weeks on monday, so no use ordering anything now
You know? I have a semi formed sheet that I keep eyeballing...Maybe I'll try to do something with it as well. I let the sheets sag about 5" below the frame in the oven. Also, I like to feel the sheet from the underside before I form it. It gets pretty gooey when it's ready. It took me a few tries to see how hot to get it. 220-250 sounds right.
psychotiller
10 kW
furp said:
Haha! Yeah it almost starts to look like an upside down bubble. Let me know how it goes. Have any pics?
torqueboards
1 MW
You want ABS to sag pretty low except once you notice it bubbling it's way too hot.
You kind of have to get use to the material and oven you are using and count how long it takes to get ready.
Some ABS material you can re-use if it wasn't damaged much. Ex. Sag too low, bubbled and got to hot. Some you may need to throw away but you can try to re-use it. If it's not as pliable as it was originally it's probably done with.
You kind of have to get use to the material and oven you are using and count how long it takes to get ready.
Some ABS material you can re-use if it wasn't damaged much. Ex. Sag too low, bubbled and got to hot. Some you may need to throw away but you can try to re-use it. If it's not as pliable as it was originally it's probably done with.
psychotiller
10 kW
torqueboards said:
*Note when I said bubble, I meant shape of a bubble I.E. 1 big bubble, I didn't mean bubbling material.
I reused my uncompletely formed sheet today and it worked quite well!
This is the first try when I put it on the vac too early and it did not have enough sag. The left side should be a 90° angle and some of the corners should be sharper. You can see some burn marks the heatgun left when I tried shaping it with hot air on the vac. It did not heat the ABS well enough to form.
Drilled more holes around the mold which worked way better. For the next one, I will add even more holes and/or dremel tiny grooves.
Reheated the badly shaped form and allowed it to sag way more than before. Some of the corners looked still a big too sturdy, but it worked out. Mind you, I used the exact same mold and placement of the sheet again, so the corners went on the corners again (if that makes sense, heh).
2nd time it worked way better, but at the 90° angle it could still need more holes or a tiny grove to get a perfect angle. I am not sure the reused sheet would have worked out that well if it was used for a different mold than the first one but for this one, I see no downside to reusing it. Could be that it will degrade a little with every reuse, but one more should be fine.
My oven is a simple 22mm OSB box covered in tin foil and some kind of stone grill inside (sans the stone) which works pretty well. The wooden frame with the ABS clamped between just goes atop the box with not much wood exposed to direct heat, so no problem there either (I kept a fire extinguisher around anyway). The cost of the whole setup was probably about 10€, so below the cost of a 3mm 50x30cm sheet of ABS. The MDF mold releases very well from the plastic, no sticking at all there.
Will carry on with this project when I come back from vacation. Next step: Need a case that is about 10-15cm long that this case can slide into. One doenside of the ABS tho might be that I can not simply epoxy stuff onto it like it would be with wood.
This is the first try when I put it on the vac too early and it did not have enough sag. The left side should be a 90° angle and some of the corners should be sharper. You can see some burn marks the heatgun left when I tried shaping it with hot air on the vac. It did not heat the ABS well enough to form.
Drilled more holes around the mold which worked way better. For the next one, I will add even more holes and/or dremel tiny grooves.
Reheated the badly shaped form and allowed it to sag way more than before. Some of the corners looked still a big too sturdy, but it worked out. Mind you, I used the exact same mold and placement of the sheet again, so the corners went on the corners again (if that makes sense, heh).
2nd time it worked way better, but at the 90° angle it could still need more holes or a tiny grove to get a perfect angle. I am not sure the reused sheet would have worked out that well if it was used for a different mold than the first one but for this one, I see no downside to reusing it. Could be that it will degrade a little with every reuse, but one more should be fine.
My oven is a simple 22mm OSB box covered in tin foil and some kind of stone grill inside (sans the stone) which works pretty well. The wooden frame with the ABS clamped between just goes atop the box with not much wood exposed to direct heat, so no problem there either (I kept a fire extinguisher around anyway). The cost of the whole setup was probably about 10€, so below the cost of a 3mm 50x30cm sheet of ABS. The MDF mold releases very well from the plastic, no sticking at all there.
Will carry on with this project when I come back from vacation. Next step: Need a case that is about 10-15cm long that this case can slide into. One doenside of the ABS tho might be that I can not simply epoxy stuff onto it like it would be with wood.
psychotiller
10 kW
This stuff will bond to it. I've even used it to fill in holes I cut in the abs that I didn't like. It's a two part system.
http://www.amazon.com/Alumilite-Amazing-Casting-Resin-16-Ounce/dp/B0058V9KMK
Good job Furp!
http://www.amazon.com/Alumilite-Amazing-Casting-Resin-16-Ounce/dp/B0058V9KMK
Good job Furp!
Thanks! Will try that stuff when I get back. At first glance it looks like some kind of epoxy but if you got good experience with it I will give it a shot. I just read that Uhu acrylit should work well too. The glue would be used for abs-wood and abs-ec5 plug plastic.
psychotiller
10 kW
Here's a glossy low pro enclosure I did today. I may have to make them glossy more often!
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