Hi my name is Sean with MakerBot learning.
Vacuum Forming is a really powerful form of manufacturing, and tons of things in your
home like plastic containers, or packaging are made using Vacuum Forming.
So in this video, we're going to cover some of the basics on how you can 3D print molds
for Vacuum Forming saving time and money.
While we used an industrial vacuum forming machine to achieve our application, you could
also build one at home to achieve the same effect.
In order to vacuum form, you'll need the following supplies, some of which can be seen here:
vacuum forming machine, sheets of vacuum forming plastic, forming frames, an oven or heating
element, a 3D print, heat insulating gloves, eye protection, and a cutting tool.
We will start by designing the form for our vacuum mold in 123D Design, a powerful free
modelling software from AutoDesk.
When designing a mold for vacuum forming, it's important to consider what are drafting
angles are which will allow you to remove the molded part from the form after the process
is complete.
For easy removal from the form, your drafting angle must be between 3 and 5 degrees from
90 degrees on any vertical surface.
When printing a vacuum forming mold, there are some print settings that will ensure your
part does not deform under heat or pressure.
We chose to increase the number of shells to 4 and print our part with 25% infill.
This will also increase the lifetime of your mold.
Other ways to increase the lifetime of your mold are to: form at lower temperatures, increase
the number of shells & infill in your mold, allow your mold to cool between shots.
If you find that over time your mold starts to deform, it should be replaced.
For our vacuum forming plastic, we started with 12 x 24" sheets of white polystyrene
approximately 3/4 mm thick.
And then we worked up to 1/4" thick sheets of PET-G. Because we used an industrial vacuum
forming machine, we also needed to secure our mold firmly to the fixture shown.
Using this process, our plastic was heated automatically based on the settings programmed.
Typically, the plastic is heated evenly somewhere around 400 degrees fahrenheit.
Once the plastic is heated evenly, it is pressed against the 3D printed form and the air is
removed through reduction.
Hold the sheet in place for a few seconds until all the air between the plastic and
the form has been removed.
Once the air has been removed out of the plastic, the plastic begins to cool.
Once its fully cooled, it can be removed from the form.
Once the form has cooled to touch, the form can be removed and used for another run.
You can form several objects in a row.
When examining your final parts, look out for slight imperfections such as deformation
or webbing that can occur when the plastic is overheated, stretched, or left on the vacuum
forming platform for too long.
After you have successfully molded your object, any extra plastic will have to be cut away.
This is called flash.
Industrially, this material is cut away with a computer-controlled cutting device, or manually
as shown here.
Once you have formed, cooled, and cut your part to shape, you should have one more many
of your desired objects.
Here you can see all of our final products.
You just learned how to take your prints beyond the build plate.