Our Newest Toy: A Vacuum Former!

One of the few pieces of equipment that Xerocraft doesn't have that gets a lot of requests is a vacuum former. That's a machine that creates plastic molds of items for reproduction.

From Wikipedia:

blockquote>p>Vacuum forming is a simplified version of thermoforming, where a sheet of plastic is heated to a forming temperature, stretched onto a single-surface mold, and forced against the mold by a vacuum. This process can be used to form plastic into permanent objects.../blockquote>p> p>Well, we finally got one!p> p>Thank you to Earle at Calsak Plastics, who donated to us an Ampak SA240 vacuum former from American Packaging Corp. We also received a large donation of plastic sheets to create our first molds. The Ampak can seal over even large objects with its 20" maximum film width. However,p> p>The vacuum former is working but not fully functional yet!p> p>Our new toy needs some work. We need to clean it up, check over all of the parts, make sure they're working and install the vacuum suction. If you're excited about vacuum forming and want to help us get the new machine funtional, please come down and get involved.p> p>Calsak Plastics is Tucson's local supplier of plastics and acrylic sheets our members use on on the laser cutter and for building their projects. Please visit them on Huachuca Dr off of Grant Rd.p> p>UPDATE: David has got the vacuum former nearly ready for public use. Check out the new video below.