Plexi or acrylic thermoforming 2

[vortilon]

Hello all
I am a self proclaimed technician/ flintstone designer, I have been working on a corporate jet for over a year and flew it yesterday. The landing light lenses are yellowed and cracking and are not available. I am building a vacuum form machine to form some new ones, I have built the table from 1/8" alum. and have framed up the machine, I have a large stainless O2 bottle that will serve as a surge tank and a welsh duo seal pump. The heater I am hoping to use is propane infared overhead. Has anyone had experience with such a project? I am in somewhat uncharted waters, I have had some experience with vacuum in the aircraft fire detection industry but that was many years ago.

Rick

 

[dwightdixon]

There are a number of people who do small run vacuum forming on the Hobby molding website. They usually make their own machines cheaply. they might be of assistance the link is:

http://hobbymolding.com/modules.php?name=Forums

 

[ornerynorsk]

Have you tried any of the boneyards? Phoenix AZ and William Strube come to mind.

 

[drcrash]

DIY vacuum forming is popular among Star Wars fans who make their own stormtrooper costumes, etc. They might be of assistance, too.

http://www.tk560.com

has flip-flop vacuum table plans and a discussion board where people talk about alternative designs (e.g, over-and-under configurations, gas fired ovens, etc.).