Homemade vacuum former

Jeddychan · Mar 31, 2011

I've wanted a vacuumformer for the longest time, but up untill recently, I really didnt have any use for one, but since I've made my fiberglass splicer masks from bioshock, I wanted a cheaper and easier way to build these masks.

I havent vacuumformed any masks yet, since I dont know where I should buy my plastic. I know I need black and/or white polystyrene, and hopefully in 24 inch by 24 inch increments (thats the size my former uses) to save on waste.

If anyone knows a good and inexpensive supplier, and hopefully close to cape cod, to keep shipping down, I would greatly appreciate it.

Anyways, on to my former...

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this is the vacuum box, made mostly out of wood, and the top is polyurethaned for a smooth surface

and the flange that my shop vac fits into, made out of pvc pipe that was heated and forced over my shop vac's hose

the white switch is for the vacuum, and the red for the oven

and the white outlet is for the vacuum, and again, red for the oven

these are the controls of the toaster oven I took apart for the oven

and finally, the inside of the oven. the box is made of cement board and the seams are sealed with foil tape. The thermostat is shielded inside a box made of aluminum, and the supports holding the heating elements are made of some thinner aluminum.

and again, anyone who knows a good supplier of polystyrene thats close to the cape, let me know... I'd really appreciate it and I'll post pictures if I ever get to vacuumform some splicer masks

CyberPaddy66 · Mar 31, 2011

That's a neat homebuild well done, are the heater elements from an oven or were they also from your toaster?

Jeddychan · Mar 31, 2011

CyberPaddy66 said:
That's a neat homebuild well done, are the heater elements from an oven or were they also from your toaster?

thanks,

all the wiring for the oven, is from the toaster I used. its wired exactly the way it was inside the toaster, only spread out with some extra wire and the switch to change from broil to bake was removed. The plug was also changed to a plug with a longer cord, that way it could reach the outlet underneath the vacuum box

CyberPaddy66 · Mar 31, 2011

Cool... not literally though :lol

The reason I asked is your elements look totally different to any toaster I've seen over here in the UK, was it a toaster/oven?

Jeddychan · Mar 31, 2011

CyberPaddy66 said:
Cool... not literally though :lol

The reason I asked is your elements look totally different to any toaster I've seen over here in the UK, was it a toaster/oven?

yeah, it was a toaster oven, sorry about the confusion.

a normal toaster uses coiled nichrome wire for heating elements, just like a hair dryer, which could be used for a oven, but it was easier just to rip the elements out of a toaster oven instead of buying some nichrome wire online...

TD2253 · Mar 31, 2011

Very nice setup for a hobby vac-forming machine! Did you take the thermostat out of the wiring scheme? Because once it reaches a certain temperature, it will shut on and off just like it did when it was a toaster oven. You'd want a constant supply of heat to accomplish what you need. Can't wait to see your first pull from this!

Jeddychan · Mar 31, 2011

TD2253 said:
Very nice setup for a hobby vac-forming machine! Did you take the thermostat out of the wiring scheme? Because once it reaches a certain temperature, it will shut on and off just like it did when it was a toaster oven. You'd want a constant supply of heat to accomplish what you need. Can't wait to see your first pull from this!

I figured the thermostat would regulate the temperature better than just a dimmer, but if the thermostat doesn't work well, I can always scrap it and go buy a dimmer.

As for my first pull from it, I already have a few fiberglass splicer masks I can use as molds, but sadly the only plastic sheets I have are PVC, which doesn't get soft enough to even get close to getting a decent pull. Any idea where I can get some polystyrene without breaking the bank? I live on cape cod and have no clue where to even start...

Spartan 051 · Mar 31, 2011

I dont know of any that are close to your area but i have used usplastic they ship out of ohio very good to work with even with mistakes you make they will fix it. I shipped a 3 sheets 2ft by 4ft for about $8 give or take a few cents

Jeddychan · Mar 31, 2011

Spartan 051 said:
I dont know of any that are close to your area but i have used usplastic they ship out of ohio very good to work with even with mistakes you make they will fix it. I shipped a 3 sheets 2ft by 4ft for about $8 give or take a few cents

it seems like usplastic is a bit cheaper than Professional Plastics the only downside is that I could only get three 2 foot by 2 foot squares out of one 40" X 72" piece... can you order custom sizes with usplastic? and if you can, does it cost more to get a custom order?

TD2253 · Mar 31, 2011

I've used high impact polystyrene sheet (HIPS) on my homemade vac-former which is best for thermo-forming other than ABS plastic. The only downside to HIPS is that it can become brittle and crack overtime compared to ABS which is more durable but a bit more costly. You can always fiber glass the inside of the formed HIPS to make it more durable. I got my HIPS from HERE which is by far the most economical for me but I don't know how much they will charge to ship out to Cape Cod. I think they can cut the sheets for you for a fee.

BTW, below is the picture of what I made with the HIPS. Shredder from TMNT.

Jeddychan · Mar 31, 2011

TD2253 said:
I've used high impact polystyrene sheet (HIPS) on my homemade vac-former which is best for thermo-forming other than ABS plastic. The only downside to HIPS is that it can become brittle and crack overtime compared to ABS which is more durable but a bit more costly. You can always fiber glass the inside of the formed HIPS to make it more durable. I got my HIPS from HERE which is by far the most economical for me but I don't know how much they will charge to ship out to Cape Cod. I think they can cut the sheets for you for a fee.

BTW, below is the picture of what I made with the HIPS. Shredder from TMNT.

thats actually really cool... did you vacuumform all the spikes on the shoulders and arms?

TD2253 · Mar 31, 2011

Thanks, no I sculpted the blades (big and small) using Apoxie Sculpt over a styrene foundation. Then I molded a couple of big blades and a couple of smaller blades and cast them out of casting resin. The shoulder bells were the only part that was vac-formed from the machine but the shins and forearms were heat bended by hand over a curved form.

Spartan 051 · Mar 31, 2011

Jeddychan said:
it seems like usplastic is a bit cheaper than Professional Plastics the only downside is that I could only get three 2 foot by 2 foot squares out of one 40" X 72" piece... can you order custom sizes with usplastic? and if you can, does it cost more to get a custom order?

To my knowledge you can get up to 48 x 96 so you could get ruffly 8 2x2 sheets

I need to call them an asked about if they carry black HIPS been looking for (.75mm) a cheap an a decent amount

Jeddychan · Apr 1, 2011

Spartan 051 said:
To my knowledge you can get up to 48 x 96 so you could get ruffly 8 2x2 sheets

I need to call them an asked about if they carry black HIPS been looking for (.75mm) a cheap an a decent amount

the only problem is that .187" might be a little to thick to form a splicer mask...

plus I dont really have the money to buy almost $100 of plastic, unless I had a few people lined up who wanted splicer masks...

I know one friend who is interested in getting one for her sister, but she would want a cohen mask, and usplastic doesn't have black polystyrene listed on their website. If you find out that they actually have some black polystyrene, please let me know and maybe, just maybe I could sell a few cohen masks to recoup the money spent on the plastic...

by the way, like my new avatar picture? its me wearing my welcome to rapture shirt with my splicer costume ontop of it...

Homemade vacuum former

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