Vacuum Forming Plastic Thickness

The thinning down of the sheet s original thickness is not necessarily uniform.

Vacuum forming plastic thickness.

The key to good part design in thermoforming is understanding the need for a proper size radius or chamfer. Each plastic material has a variety of different properties and they form at different temperatures. Vacuum forming thin plastics works best they will adhere and take in better detail but 90 abs plastic is what everyone uses for stormtrooper armor and other props when they vacuum form i think westerfields armor uses 65 thick not sure though. Vacuum forming plastic choices styrene high impact poly styrene hips generally the best version of thermoforming plastic for modelers.

The acrylic petg and polycarbonate sheets are normally clear can be special ordered in colors however the polycarbonate may have to be heat dried prior to the vacuum forming temperature phase depending on thickness. Vacuum forming material selection guide. Because all vacuum forming starts from a flat sheet the wall thickness of the formed part will have a variable wall thickness as the material is. The thermoforming process requires a critical forming temperature window and all of our forming machinery utilizes precision electronic controls for maintaining part to part consistency.

This plastic is very friendly to and its use is well known by the modeling community. The thicker the plastic the stronger but the less detail. So if 15 mil material is required for a specific project or application the fill thickness will be specified as 15 mils nominal after forming many manufacturers simply utilize heat and vacuum to form the sheets as this is the least costly technique and the most rudimentary to operate and maintain. All thermoforming techniques are stretching processes.

This vacuum forming material selection guide is part of our free help with vacuum forming it lists most common vacuum forming materials their basic properties in standard grade some advice on costs typical uses for formings made from each material type. Thermoforming vacuum forming and pressure forming are considered thermoforming processes. Thermoforming is the forming of heated plastic on a mold to create a desired shape. Because the plastic is fairly low density it is easy to work with small hand tools.

Often confused with injection molding and rotational molding thermoforming processes are. One of the most difficult features in thermoforming is the three sided sharp corner in a female mold. Engineers often do not really understand plastic forming processes. This is accomplished by putting a piece of plastic into some type of clamping mechanism heating the sheet up to a forming temperature.