I saw this awesome product on Kickstarter today and wanted to share. Has anyone used anything like this in products/crafts before?
I have ideas for so many things!! For starters - space marine poutine made with Warhammer space marine shaped cheese curds 
We have a vacuum former in the Fab Lab. There are plans in process to making it more usable.
We do? I had no idea!! If anyone knows how to use it, I’d love to try!!
A few of us in FabLab have been looking into vacuum forming a lot recently!
The problem we’re having is finding thermoplastic sheets the right size to fit the awkwardly-sized 14” x 20” frame without having to buy massive (and expensive) sheets and cutting them down. We’re looking into making inserts for the frame so it can handle smaller, more standard size sheets so it will be more affordable to use and create less plastic waste.
I’m working on a wiki page for our vacuum former this weekend, and hopefully it will be ready to use in a couple of weeks or so. When it’s ready to go, we’ll probably have some drop-in sessions in FabLab for anyone to learn how to use it.
What I did with my home brew vacuum former was to make it so the unused area could be blocked off. I bought full sheets of abs and kydex and cut it down. Like other materials, it’s far more cost effective to buy in bulk. It’s still easy to spend a lot on plastic, which is going to seem expensive no matter how you look at it.
I’ve only done one Kickstarter and that was for the peachy printer. Lost the $100 or so I put in. Supposedly one of the partners ran off with the money, but in hindsight, it could’ve been a sham all along. I’m a little hesitant to try it again.
I should’ve done a better job on the form but in the end we were just happy to get it done and painted 1 hr before trick or treating. Learned a lot and spent way more than a Halloween costume should cost but it was fun.
Hopping Gnome brewing did a Kickstarter years ago and I chipped in. They offered a lot of stuff for the amount of money requested and they’re a fun little brewery to visit. I think a person takes a pretty big risk for most/many Kickstarter projects.
Hi @gemma
The contact I referenced the other day doesnt have any material as thin as the specs you showed me on the wiki.
They recommend Regal Plastics here locally at 316.263.1211 or Laird Plastics out of KC 816.452.7771.
Either may be accommodating ro smaller quantities or sizing thats needed.
John
I don’t know what place you are referencing. Maybe I missed it. I’ve bought sheet plastic in a few places. Lustercraft. Regal. The yard. That’s abs, hdpe, kydex. Sometimes it has to be ordered.
Thanks for checking with them, John. I’ll give Regal a call.
Dave…
I have a friend that has a thermoplastic company that does aerospace component manufacturing.
That is an impressive pull, especially with no webbing. You should be proud of that!
Thanks. It wasn’t the first attempt. Lol
