Vacuforming Question

Treadhead · Post by **Treadhead** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 11:13 am

Are there certain types of styrene that are not amenable to vacuforming? I bought this large sheet -- years ago. It seemed more like acrylic than styrene (not really sure).

I had a monster of a time vaucforming the stuff. It heated fine, but didn't sag like heated plastic normally does. When it pulled over tha pattern, it didn't seem to pull all the way. It even stayed hot after it pulled down.

I checked the vacuum suction and it seemed fine. I've never had this kind of a problem before. Anyone have any ideas?

DX-SFX · Post by **DX-SFX** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 12:21 pm

What colour is it? Genuine styrene is very forgiving and the easiest of plastics to vacform. It does sound like you have a sheet of acrylic or something similiar. Clear styrene will vacform but tends to get very brittle. If it's clear and you bought it from one the big DIY stores, it could be either since both acrylic and the cheaper styrene is available in sheets for glazing garden greenhouses.

Try putting some solvent cement intended for styrene on a small sample. If it's acrylic, the glue shouldn't touch it unless you're using one of the stronger solvents intended to do acrylic as well.

Treadhead · Post by **Treadhead** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 12:22 pm

It seems that the material I was using was acrylic sheet rather than styrene. It didn't heat form very well and because I've had it laying around for a number of years, it was very brittle.

The copies I did manage to vacuform weren't all that great because the master had flaws that I didn't know about until they showed up on the copy.

For a hobby that's supposed to be relaxing... this has sure caused me a lot of grief and stress

jack wendt · Post by **jack wendt** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 7:13 pm

Treadhead wrote:laying around for a number of years, it was very brittle.

does not sound like styrene. i have some out in my shop here in central texas. some over 25 years old.

remember those plastic dividers for LPs?

remember LPs?

The copies I did manage to vacuform weren't all that great because the master had flaws that I didn't know about until they showed up on the copy.

For a hobby that's supposed to be relaxing... this has sure caused me a lot of grief and stress

you can pour resin in the vacuformed piece and when set, you can redo the "new master" to fix flaws in the original blank.

you can order genuine styrene from interstate plastics if your local hobby store don't have your size.