emsfactory
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| posted on 23/12/05 at 04:20 PM |
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vacuum forming
Anyone doing this?
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froggy
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| posted on 23/12/05 at 04:45 PM |
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wouldnt it be cheaper to go and buy an acrylic bath than make one? thats the only thing i can think of thats vacuum formed. i used to laminate for a
living years ago and eveything from speedboats to bus bodies is hand lay up or chop sprayed, ehat are you thinking of making?
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smart51
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| posted on 23/12/05 at 05:52 PM |
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Vacuum forming is used for lots of things and would be great for nose cones, bonnets, scuttles, wheel arches...
Plastic body panels would be lighter than GRP too. Not exactly a do it yourself job though as the moulds would need to be quite pecial I should
think.
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ReMan
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| posted on 23/12/05 at 06:08 PM |
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What were you thinking of?
www.plusnine.co.uk
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JoelP
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| posted on 23/12/05 at 07:48 PM |
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my friend has one, and uses it to make gauge pods etc to sell on ebay. A neat little device.
[Edited on 23/12/05 by JoelP]
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erwe
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| posted on 23/12/05 at 08:05 PM |
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I had the same idea because I hate working with GRP.
Modern cars use it much ofter for bodywork, there must be a reason for it.
Advantadges:
Very strong if you use ABS like bumpers
very fast production, lighter, ABS bends and does not crack in 1000 pieces
a wooden jig (or whatever you call it) does not need to be smooth.
Disadvantage:
You need a big heater and vacuum device.
I am really looking if this can be a method of making bodywork, I have quite some experience with plastics in my company.
I have the following in mind:
A big vacuum box 100 x 200 cm (ABS plate)
A compressor for vacuum
Infrared elements for heating (80-150 degrees) I am looking for second hand screenprint drying units
Something to move the jig up (pneumatic?)
[Edited on 23/12/05 by erwe]
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Volvorsport
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| posted on 23/12/05 at 08:32 PM |
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i dont think you can vacuum form nosecones without return flanges ... ditto everything else .
injection mold would be different . tooling cost would be expensive .
ABS cracks worse than fibreglass , and is harder to repair
you can get wheelarches already like that !!
centre consoles and things like that can be done , but for any decent quality scuttles and bonnets nosecones would be expensive , simply because of
the tooling and the huge machine they would have to use to make them .
www.dbsmotorsport.co.uk
getting dirty under a bus
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emsfactory
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| posted on 23/12/05 at 09:24 PM |
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I'm thinking for bodywork.
Cycle wings should be easy. I dont see how much harder the other panels can be.
Even making a vacuum former shouldn't be too much trouble. Its a heater, a frame, a seal and a pump.
Injection moulding is a different beast all together.
Just thinking out loud. Ive still got my trailer design to finalise.
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Volvorsport
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| posted on 23/12/05 at 10:15 PM |
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well , you need to go visit a factory and see the quality , and the size of some machines to vacuum form something that big .
I did 3 years at BTC doing polymer science - its not gonna be cheap to tool up - how many units do you want to sell ?
the quality will be nowhere near good enough for bodywork with a large surface , since you stretch the plastic too much .
look at the inside of a fridge , if its plastic that will have been vacuum formed .
www.dbsmotorsport.co.uk
getting dirty under a bus
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Triton
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| posted on 23/12/05 at 10:18 PM |
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Then it will need painting which costs a fortune these days.....who wants a plastic pig anyway!!!
My Daughter has taken over production of the damn fine Triton race seats and her contact email is emmatrs@live.co.uk.
www.tritonraceseats.com
www.hairyhedgehog.com
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erwe
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| posted on 24/12/05 at 05:19 AM |
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What about Renault Espace? There are a lot of plastic panels on it.
I think that anything you can make from GRP in moulds you can vacuumvorm (I am always hard to convince..)
I think I will make a little test unit with a bathroom heater.
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Marcus
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| posted on 24/12/05 at 10:16 AM |
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I wouldn't vac form a bonnet!
As soon as the heat from the engine / manifold gets to it, it'll sag like bugger!!
Marcus
Marcus
Because kits are for girls!!
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erwe
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| posted on 24/12/05 at 01:39 PM |
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I agree if you use plastic but with a good type of ABS it can handle more then 100 degrees....
Look at ABS bonnet vents and air intakes, they are mounted on a bonnet too.
A bonnet gets hotter (if it is dark painted) from the sun then from the engine.
Your rear bumper is very near to the exhaust and it keep in shape....
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emsfactory
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| posted on 24/12/05 at 02:20 PM |
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I'm still not sure one way or the other. It cant be that hard. Should be simple enough to make cycle wings. Could use those as a tester.
I'll have a gander through my plymer book and see what it says.
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Peteff
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| posted on 24/12/05 at 04:08 PM |
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ABS plastic suffers more from cold than heat. It cracks easier when cold, bike fairings etc. are the biggest things I've seen it used for.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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trextr7monkey
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| posted on 27/12/05 at 08:00 PM |
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Hi
I work in a school technology dept we have a small vac forming machine made by a firm calle Clarke from Wrexham, I think. If you visit their website
they have a massive range from small things like mine to the more industrial sorts which is what you'd need for the body panels.
Biggest problem I see is that for things to be strong in daily use you need thick abs and that takes a fair bit of heat and vacum to pull into
anything that is deeply shaped, once you start stretching the sheet too deep you get stress lines and thin bits also if your mould is not tapered or
well made you get webs of plastic and difficulty extracting the former from the plastic, not wishing to dampen your barbecue but hope this is
helpful
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Volvorsport
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| posted on 27/12/05 at 09:11 PM |
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the money invested , it would better to do some GRP molds
www.dbsmotorsport.co.uk
getting dirty under a bus
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