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Re: I wonder VACUUM FORMING
By:John Monfoe
Date: 1/23/2001, 6:46 am
In Response To: Re: I wonder VACUUM FORMING (Eric Schade (shearwater boats))

: Sorry, Spidey's kayak won't work as a mold for a clear boat.

: Vaccum forming is a neat thing.. I made a model of a piece of a navy ship
: with a clear skin to show the internals from....I dis-remember the species
: of plastic, not poly carbonate or acrylic...something else.

: I made a wooden mold for it. shaped the plastic great but we couldnt get it
: clear...the surface was always roughend by the surface of the mold,
: polishing didn't help, the molder (professional plastic molding house)
: tried all he could think of. I think that The mold must be metal to chill
: the surface of the plastic instantly before it can mold itself to the
: texture of the mold.

I built a vaccume machine back in the 60's to use on a side business. For the molds, I use epoxy (high temperature & oven baked)regular epoxy sags with heat, aluminum and plaster molds. But it looks like you would almost have to become a manufacture to do this because of the expense. The plastics I bought had to be a minimun of 500' on a role. The heaters would be large and expensive to cover the length and width of your kayak and you have to either lift your mold into the plastic or drop the plastic down over the mold. I used air cylinders to lift mine. You have to get the exact heating time to make a good forming. You have to have a large strong tank that won't crush to hold a lot of vacuume and too much of a draw makes thin spots. I see a lot of headaches.

John

Messages In This Thread

Glass Kayak
Johnnie -- 1/21/2001, 1:32 pm
Not suitable for scottish paddlers! :) *NM*
Marcelo -- 1/24/2001, 11:06 am
Re: Not Fiberglass Thank God!
George Cushing -- 1/23/2001, 2:33 pm
Re: Glass Kayak
Ken Brunton -- 1/23/2001, 2:30 pm
Re: Check this out, Lexan kayak from Innovex Corp
Grant Goltz -- 1/23/2001, 12:23 pm
Re: Glass Kayak
Johnnie -- 1/22/2001, 10:29 pm
Re: Glass Kayak
David Dick -- 1/23/2001, 6:57 am
Re: Glass Kayak
Don -- 1/22/2001, 10:16 pm
Re: Makes me wonder
Shawn Baker -- 1/23/2001, 10:44 am
Re: Makes me wonder
George Cushing -- 1/24/2001, 6:11 am
Re: Aren't Trees Amazing?
Shawn Baker -- 1/24/2001, 10:22 am
Re: Aren't Trees Amazing?
Grant Goltz -- 1/24/2001, 12:36 pm
Re: Aren't Trees Amazing?
Shawn Baker -- 1/24/2001, 12:55 pm
Re: Strip-deck C
Grant Goltz -- 1/25/2001, 12:49 pm
Re: Makes me wonder
Don -- 1/24/2001, 2:35 am
Re: Heat Treating Plastic
Shawn Baker -- 1/24/2001, 10:17 am
Re: Glass Kayak
John Schroeder -- 1/22/2001, 9:58 pm
Re: Polycarbonate *Pic*
Shawn Baker -- 1/22/2001, 11:29 am
Re: Polycarbonate
Lee -- 1/23/2001, 1:06 am
Re: Reading Material
Shawn Baker -- 1/23/2001, 10:31 am
Methyl Methacrylate
Pete Rudie -- 1/22/2001, 4:39 pm
Re: Help Pete!
George Cushing -- 1/23/2001, 3:00 pm
Re: Help Pete!
Pete Rudie -- 1/24/2001, 1:05 am
Re: Allright Smarty Pants!
George Cushing -- 1/23/2001, 2:56 pm
I wonder
mike allen -- 1/22/2001, 5:31 pm
Re: I wonder VACUUM FORMING
Eric Schade (shearwater boats) -- 1/22/2001, 7:30 pm
Re: I wonder VACUUM FORMING
John Monfoe -- 1/23/2001, 6:46 am
Re: Big Aluminum Billet
Spidey -- 1/23/2001, 1:31 am
Re: I wonder VACUUM FORMING
mike allen -- 1/22/2001, 8:06 pm
Re: Glass Kayak
Spidey -- 1/22/2001, 1:14 am
Re: Glass Kayak
Arlen -- 1/22/2001, 11:32 pm
Re: Thickness Shear Strength
Spidey -- 1/23/2001, 12:35 am
Re: Thickness Shear Strength
Ken Brunton -- 1/23/2001, 2:16 pm
Re: Glass Kayak
Victor lapostolle -- 1/22/2001, 1:54 am
Re: Glass Kayak
John Monfoe -- 1/22/2001, 6:17 am
Re: Both Glass Kayaks! :)
Spidey -- 1/23/2001, 12:16 am
Lexan Kayak
Paul G. Jacobson -- 1/21/2001, 11:33 pm
Re: lots of suntan lotions
Tony -- 1/22/2001, 6:48 pm
Re: Glass Kayak
daren -- 1/21/2001, 10:14 pm
Re: Glass Kayak
David Hanson -- 1/22/2001, 12:29 pm
Re: Glass Kayak
Jon -- 1/21/2001, 7:54 pm
Re: Glass Kayak
tom preska -- 1/21/2001, 9:38 pm
Re: Glass Kayak
Johnnie -- 1/21/2001, 10:13 pm
Re: Glass Kayak
David Dick -- 1/21/2001, 11:25 pm