3rd attempt at vac forming today

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Having never heard anything from the people who sold me the vac former, I have been trying all kinds of stuff to make it work again (it worked fine to make the body for my Land Speed Record car a few years ago), I think I have it on the run this time. Better suction, thinner material, etc, should make a winner this time. Photos to follow.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

7 runs, 7 failures. I think what the jerks who won't answer my emails failed to tell me is that polycarbonate requires some serious vacuum. I tried 2 shop vacs, a fancy Electrolux, a Dirt Devil, and mashing the damned stuff by hand. The styrene I formed before worked great with a little small shop vac. The polycarbonate just wrinkled and laid there like a dead fish. I knew a girl like that once... But even she was more satisfying than this thing.

[Jesla]

Are you getting the polycarbonate hot enough?....I think it needs to be
sagging quite a bit to work well.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

It sagged all the way to the bottom and touched the floor, every time. That's 11 inches, I measured it. Damned thing looked like a bucket.

I think I'm going to cut out big pieces of virgin polycarbonate and send them flat to everybody who wanted some of these windows. This project is a bomb. On the other hand, one of the donor window cars is getting a makeover, and that's going quite well. I should be able to post some pictures soon.

Thanks, RMin, but I have used up every option. I need a lot more vacuum to make this work.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

This is huge 400 degree oven, extra large space, and the sheet started out 13 inches above the elements, sagging way down to very close. The sheet never lost integrity at all. In fact, all of the attempts were made with the same sheet. I kept putting it back in and letting the wrinkles fall out into the familiar sagging belly. It has to be the vacuum. It was so soft it actually swayed when I moved it from the oven to the vac platform.

[ddyke]

Here is what the micromark ad says, "Works with clear, white, black, tinted or opaque plastic sheets up to .040 inch thick. Note: Not for use with polycarbonate."

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Dan is that the nifty little one they started selling recently?

This one is 12" X 12", and you clamp the polycarbonate in a frame, then stick it in the oven until it bellies way out. Pick up the frame and drop it down on the platform, with the vacuum set up and running, and presto. Like I say, with styrene and the other materials, it works great.