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VACUUM FORMING ACRYLIC: First failed . . .

Trash80toHP_Mini

Trash80toHP_Mini

NIGHT STALKER
68040
. . . attempt made today. It was a half-@$$ed attempt, so I was unsurprised by the nasty results . . . but still . . . :-/

I built the frame, some spacers and a flange so I'd have flat surfaces to mate the face and tube halves of a fake 9" Compact CRT.

I was about half finished when I decided to try the heat gun method instead of building a frame for the oven heating method . . . no joy in Suckville. I did learn how to boil the surface of plexi to get some really interesting bubble effects though . . .

. . . but that probably won't be part of any finished project parts. ::)

I've been documenting the process, but I ain't sharin' until I finish the rest of the apparatus and have something just a bit less fugly to show for my efforts.

It's time to kick back and watch a mindless movie, all in all, it has been a fun day! [:D] ]'>

 
Ah, Suckville - never wanted to visit the place, but I too keep ending up there, when I make a wrong turn on the Project Highway.

 
What's a NetFlix?

VCR, $1 VHS tape, classically bad Steven Seagal and his very hot wife in: Hard to KILL circa 1990

It's rewinding now, I may have gotten halfway through it already and bailed . . . :p

Two medium pepperoni pies and a 3 Liter Soda . . . TTFN. :lol:

 
Officially jealous of you after that last line.

Feast now for I await pics of progress after you attempt some more.

 
Back in jr. high my shop teacher built a vacuum forming machine. He made a box with a platform made of pegboard with a lever that would raise and lower it and a shop vac to provide the vacuum. The lid was a sheetmetal box with a heating element from a clothes dryer (I think) stretched out and crisscrossed on ceramic pegs. You would stick the form to the pegboard, set a sheet of plastic over it, lower the lid and turn on the heat. When the plastic got soft, you lift the lid, pull the lever that lifts the platform with the form so that the base is level with the ridges that hold the plastic sheet, then hit the vacuum and presto. I wish I had some pictures of it.

 
Sounds cool, here are lots of links about vacuum forming available, this one shows the process I'll be using.

http://warmplastic.com/#vf

They spec a higher temperature/shorter time cycle for heating than most . . . we'll see.

My HowTo shots of this project are focused more upon using simple, basic, inexpensive tools to make the toys for the most part. Sort of like "The Woodwright's Workshop" get'er done just good enough to do the job with the basics of a "My First Toolbox Kit" vs. "Norm Owns the Delta Tool Company & Workshop" model of here's how to do a perfect job using a gazillion dollars worth of tools with $100 and beaucoups time spent just on making the jig to do it that way.

Of course, a few of the tools I've used aren't inexpensive, but you can make due with the simple versions where I've run out of patience with the K*I*S*S & under budget methodology.

I used to enjoy both shows, but my son and I watched the The Woodwright's Workshop and Wood Carving with Dick Butz together every Saturday morning together, so that approach has a lot of sentimental value.

I'll be heating the plexi in the kitchen oven inside the aluminum frame I just half-made. My vacuum frame is built to sit on a 5 Gallon Dough Pail so it's at a comparable work height for me sitting on a $4.99 Oak Stool from Goodwill while watching the acrylic droop.

The bucket also makes for a lot of space underneath for the neck of the CRT . . .

. . . they're usually free, even in food grade if you keep your eyes peeled, but they're only a couple of bucks at a DIY Emporium . . .

. . . if the oak stool makes my @$$ sore, I've got a nice soft "bucket" seat top for another dough pail! [:)] ]'>

No $60 Japanese Saws have been used in the project . . . so far . . .

. . . now if I could just find my hole saws! :-/

 
Pictures please...

Mr .. Burpin,,, Pizza eatin.... 3 liter guzzlein... VHS pron watchin... err i mean... lol I bet you have a beta max too.....

 
:lol: good one! I ran out of coffee so I had cold pepperoni pie and dr. perky for breakfast and then took a two hour nap! :approve:

Hard to Kill was excellent for the genre BTW. Kinda like Road House without the charm with a tragedy/coma twist.

No BetaMax or LaserDisk players, but several VHS players in stock as backup and for loaning movies to the technologically impaired.

No time for pic-postin' for now, gotta get some results TODAY!!!!! Just takin' the pics of the process may push it into a third day as it is.

 
. . . #2 fail! But it's gonna look really cool when I cut it to size on the bandsaw and fit it into the ZipPlus for a piccie! ;D

Lower temperature/longer time cycle needed: 350 degrees/5 Minutes put the molten, bubble-boiled slag of plexi on the floor of my baking pan. :O

I need to get a new light bulb for the oven and some bricks to set the frame on so I can see it better.

I'm gonna have to finish the frame up so it'll clamp the plexi on all four sides and put a gasket around the edge of the vacuum frame . . .

. . . maybe just one more try for tonight though . . . the still oven's hot . . . }:)

 
Third try isn't exactly charming, but it's lookin' a lot more presentable!

CRT-VacuForm_00.2p.jpg

Several lessons learned:

Don't pay the site in the link above much attention when it comes to time/temperature . . .

. . . 250°F/longer heating time should work better for 1/8" clear plexi . . .

. . . 300°F still caused a few bubbles to boil up in the plexi, but none nearly as bad as having a dead pixel . . .

. . . when using empty cans in an oven to hold up the frame . . . remove the paper first . . .

. . . it may not be Fahrenheit 451, but 300°F will squeeze some smoke outta can labels for the first couple of minutes! :O

We knew this already from a link posted earlier: thinner material should be used to form a "Plexi CRT Face" for an LCD . . .

. . . but I'm trying to tweak the process for making a MacQuarium Face. }:)

Pics of the plexi inside the ZipPlus sometime tomorrow evening.

Gotta get to bed . . . this MON-TUE "weekend" has drawn to a close and 7AM is "Monday morning" in my work life. :p

 
I'm home with new materials to complete the frame, but too pooped to play. I'll try to figure out how to take some shots of blank #3, I got some O Rings to smoosh in between the plexiglass face and a #10 washer under the retaining bolts, I've got great contact top and on one side, decent on the other side and a small gap all across the bottom, but not bad at all.

I'll work on getting some pics up before I fall asleep . . . |)

 
This is just attempt #3, so be kind . . .

. . . I went way out of my way to light this to make it look as bad a possible . . . :p

. . . just wait'll you get a load of the first two! :lol:

There are a pile of factors that could be why this turned out with a lot of flaws, but I'm really happy with the progress made in three attempts . . .

. . . best foot forward . . .

CRT-Vacuform_01.2P.jpg

. . . better than anticipated, especially when smoke billowed out of the oven from the roasted can labels! 8-o

Decent lookin toes on best foot . . .

CRT-Vacuform_02.2P.jpg

. . . nice fit on top and right sides . . .

CRT-Vacuform_03.2P.jpg

. . . nice top edge fit . . .

CRT-Vacuform_06.2P.jpg

. . . nice right edge fit . . .

CRT-Vacuform_05.2P.jpg

. . . rough fit on the left edge . . .

CRT-Vacuform_04.2P.jpg

. . . bottom edge had a definite gap as well . . .

. . . but the bolt holes got screwed up so there's next to nothing holding the lower left corner . . .

. . . so the bottom and and left sided attached to that corner aren't fitting well . . .

. . . we'll see what happens when I finish the frame, mount the foam gasket around the edge of the base and tweak time/temp curves . . .

. . . and use the four concrete bricks I brought home for non-flammable supports! :approve:

 
THX, I figured out that each of the lumps coincide with a bubble that increased the thickness of the plexi. They showed up great in the pics, not nearly as noticeable IRL

I prefer Dr. Pizzaz, actually, both have adequate amounts of caffeine and sugar to keep me going. Water if I don't need those two active ingredients.

 
You could buff out the imperfections since it'll be behind the bezel, right? Then you'll have a nice, smooth fit. Though to tell you the truth, I think it looks fine anyway. Not sure the CRT was that tight of a fit, either.

 
So what's the goal here, acrylic over glass? Or is this another fish tank in the making?

 
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