Vacuum form tooling

[LIGHTNING_]

Hello All,

My boss has done it again. Getting into something we never had any experience doing. One of our customer has the need to for us to make Vacuum form tooling for many projects they have going on. What they provide is the finish model of the part. Well they need the form tool made.

 

For a person who has little understanding on how to make a tool for them. How does one get info on how o create a form tool. And where to begin to create a model of the form tool. And just where to begin besides at the beginning.

 

If there any sites, or reading material out there that explains the process, and how to go about make the form Tools.

 

Thanks

Lightning

[Colin Gilchrist]

I assume you are vacuum forming plastic sheet into some sort of tray like part. That is the *typical* application for vacuum forming although there can be many others. Vacuum forming is accomplished by making a male (positive form) of the shape you wish to create inside the plastic. Let me give you a simple example.

 

Let's use a candy tray as an example. You want to take a flat sheet of plastic say 12" x 12" and form a tray that holds 9 pieces of candy. Basically when you are done you want a tray with 9 square pockets in a grid. You would create 9 positive bosses, probably square in shape, seperated by some distance say .500. These bosses would need to be tapered(usually around 5 degrees, but that depends on the depth of the draw and the thickness of the material) so that the vacuumed formed sheet would seperate from the form. You will also need very small air holes in the form if you need to suck the plastic down into recesses.

 

You can watch a very nice video on the web here:

 

MultiAxis.com

 

Cimtech Inc. (multiaxis.com) also sells vacuum forming machines as well. I highly recommend buying one, you DO NOT want to attempt to build your own. There are a lot of mechanical/electrical/temperature/timing issues that go into building one. Plus the UL seal of approval means you won't have the fire department hassling you. Here is a link to the machines:

 

Cimtech Inc. Vacuum forming machines

 

You can also reach Cimtech Inc. by phone at 253-922-8770. Ask for Steve Kidd the owner and tell him I sent you.

 

 

Good luck on your project. Vacuum forming is fun and fairly straight forward once you get the hang of it.

 

Thanks,

 

Colin Gilchrist

[TKDBB]

Tools are usally made of aluminum for heat transfer. More elaborate ones have water cooling lines built in. Simpler ones use air cooling. On deep draw parts you may need a plug assist. You need to allow for the shrinkage of the plastic as it cools and you need to design the part/tool based on draw depth, plastic thickness, etc, etc.

 

Drop me a file at [email protected] and I can give you some specific pointers.

 

Mike

[Smit]

By form tool do you mean the actual mold, or a tool that will cut the shape required on the mold?

 

If it's a tool to cut a shape, I usually cut a slice through the middle of a solid, them delete the lines that are not required to make the tool.

 

We have a tool grinding shop produce the form tools we need.

[Jack Neelands™]

you may have to look at getting the part to a router if it needs trimming...there is also a website you might want to check out where i used to work as the mould tech and designer in Brisbane

http://www.egrgroup.com were i tooled them up with ali moulds and designs as they were in their infancy for large procution runs of over 10,000 parts and the wood moulds were not holding up for very long and recutting the same pattern 10 times for a part was getting expensive

[LaszloK]

I would think you need the tooling specifications from the customer. Most vacuum forming machine have specific requirments for mold size, mounting holes, auxillary equipment like plug assits. I would visit the customer and look at some of the tooling they already have to get a better feel for their expectations. You want to give them a tool that will meet their needs and not your bosses.

[betts]

Actually several of you guys are talking about thermoforming. this may be what they are looking for, but it could be they just need a simple vaccuum tool. I guess a part shape and material is what is needed to determine process.

[Bruce Kanzelmeyer]

Lightning,

 

There are many variables you need to establish before you can design tooling. Are the parts thin gage or heavy gage? Will they be trimming with dies or router/robot? Are you making a few parts or many parts? Will it be multiple-up tooling or one shot at a time? Shrink factor of material being formed? All of these go into determining best kind of tooling for thermoforming. Good luck...

[Glenn Bouman]

quote:

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My boss has done it again. Getting into something we never had any experience doing.

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That's what keeps your job from getting too boring.

[New Job]

Glenn:

 

quote:

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quote: My boss has done it again. Getting into something we never had any experience doing.

 

That's what keeps your job from getting too boring. [smile]

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Amen to that!