What is Vacuum Forming?
Vaccum Forming Is a Simple and Cost Effective Form of Moulding Plastics through the process of heating a sheet of plastic and vacuuming it around a tool or mould to produce a variety of products from Prototypes, Storage Trays and Retail Display products to Vehicle Parts.
The Vacuum Forming Process:
Clamping frames are used to ensure the flat sheets of extruded plastics are held in place during forming. Bespoke frame sizes can also be designed to better suit your project brief.
A singer heater is used to heat plastic of a thickness up to 6mm and a twin heater is used to heat plastic sheets of up to 10mm thick. The heaters are infra-red generated, ensuring a uniform amount of heat is applied to the whole surface area of the plastic.
It is important to ensure that the plastic is properly cooled before being released. If the plastic is not properly cooled it could result in deformation or damage to the plastic. Fans are often used to speed up the cooling process.
Once the product has been cooled any excess material is removed. Any cutting, drilling and routing are required in the design is then completed using various techniques such as CNC Routing.