Vacuum Forming Sandtrooper Backpack Parts
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- Опубликовано: 20 авг 2013
- Vacuum forming parts for the Sandtrooper Backpack using HIPS (high impact polystyrene). Seed trays, radio faceplates, mushroom caps, toilet cistern parts, twinkies, nipples, mortar tube endcaps and control panel.
The vacuum forming table is based on plans published in the Thurston James Prop Builders Molding and Casting Handbook, and expanded upon at tk560.com 
Хобби
This build is badass. The problem solving for heating a large sheet as well as the mechanism for delivering to the buck is impressive. Also, Star Wars.
THE FUCKING AUDIO IN THIS. IT BLEW MY EARS
way cool! You spent a lot of time in planning out your build. I can only hope mine turns out half as well. Great vid also.
Very nice. Great machine you have there
Nice set up
Great video, We're covering Vacuum Forming in college at the moment and this video as a perfect example of the process! Many thanks!!
I am very impressed by your setup. Results look great too!
Cool...thanks for sharing!
Thumbs up for the tee shirt alone.
Hah-hah, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the video and it relates to your college studies! I was surprised to learn how many items are vacuum formed - food containers such as yogurt cups, small Pringles cups, plastic fast food containers, containers for computer parts to hold sticks of memory or hard drives - all kinds of stuff! The clear plastic for packaging action figure cards, and almost everything displayed with a cardboard backing is vacuum formed.
Your rig is epic! Thanks for sharing this helps me quite a bit with the rig I'm building.
How hot does your heating system generally get and how long does it typically take for the plastic to get warm enough to use?
Thanks for the compliment! I believe the oven coils get anywhere from 350° to 400° and the plastic gets close to 325° when it is ready to form. The amount of time depends on the thickness of the plastic. 1:30 for .060", 3:30 for .090", and 6:00 to 7:00 for .125"
So satisfactory
what are you using for a method of heat? I am looking for a good alternative to my conventional oven (gotta find alternate source before my wife finds out I'm using the over...lol). Any help will do, thanks
is there any way to get the edges sharper and not so smooth in detail?
This is so satisfying to watch. I just ordered a vacuum formed Mandalorian helmet for my kit. How expensive is it to make one of these setups and have you used it on any thing else besides armor?
The actual vacuum forming table wasn't too expensive to build, maybe around $500 while using a shop vac. The upgrade to a real vacuum pump and tank was another $500. Buying the plastic was challenging since many suppliers have a minimum order and you have to pay for shipping - that's a big financial commitment! Sandtrooper backpacks have been my bread and butter, but I've also pulled Star Trek models and radio control car bodies on the vac table.
Very good work! I recently just used my homemade vacuum former to make some ghostbusters parts. I am dealing with some webbing issues on the shells, do you have any tips on filling in webbing once the shell has hardened?
Hi Lord of Bees! If you're using ABS plastic, you can create "sludge" by shaving bits of ABS into a glass jar, then slowly adding acetone and stirring with a metal screwdriver until it becomes like pancake batter. Then stuff the sludge into the webbing from the inside, and sand the webbing smooth. If you're using HIPS, you might try filling in with milliput or Loctite Repair Putty.
Awesome video! Can I ask how you trim your final part? Keep up the good work
I make the initial rough cut with a huge Stanley FatMax utility knife. Score the plastic a couple of times, then flex and snap. Depending on the shape of the part, for the final cut I'll use the score and snap with the knife again, or a Dremel with a large cutoff wheel - watch out for flying hot plastic globs!
Thanks for the video. I've seen a lot of the webbing/folds between and up the sides of parts. Do you know why that happens and how to prevent it, or how to fix it on the final part? Thanks!
Webbing is a symptom of a couple of errors - Heating the plastic so it becomes too stretched out (2:37 - Big Bubble, lot's of trouble!), then the excess is pinched together when applying vacuum. Or, if your mold has vertical sides or hard corners, the plastic will pinch together as it is being drawn down. Add a little angle to the sides of your mold, or use "risers" - the little spacers under the mold.
To fix the webbing in the pulled part, backfill the inside with epoxy resin, then sand down the pinched plastic.
ABS plastic is more challenging to work with because it forces you to follow good vacuum forming techniques - don't put too many molds on the platen, use plenty of space between molds, and use a timer to consistently heat the plastic. I haven't had as much trouble with webbing since switching to ABS.
That's one of the limitations with vacuum forming. Unless you heat the plastic more, or use thinner plastic, the edges will be rounded and soft. Overheating the plastic, especially ABS, can damage the plastic sheet, making it brittle and prone to cracking. If you want sharp edges, then you need to use resin casting or injection molding.
Or make a relief buck!
Two molds total.
As vacuum pulls plastic into pos the other mold is pressed over top.
How much vaccum pressure u r creating
@@niranjanrawle3488 I evacuate the old water heater tank down to 27" to 29" of mercury for the initial burst when the plastic contacts the mold. The Gast 1065 pump maintains that vacuum level as the plastic cools.
unless you blow hot air into the hot plastic, so it makes a balloon, right after you shut down the heaters, press the plastic down, shut the fan, start vacuuming. voila, no thin sides.
superb 5 / 5
Saadouni Said 5/7*
gostei muito parabens
Obrigado!
Are you storing the vacuum charge in compressor tank in the corner? The pull seems very slow. I built my 2x4 vacuum former from plans I bought at the Toledo Hobby show 15 years ago from the guy that runs build-stuff.com It's a pricey machine to build and he over charges for the heater elements but it does work great. I made many improvements and modifications. When I form a 2x4 HIPS .060, if you blink you missed it getting formed. I would of thought heating from the bottom would be better as my machine has top heat only. I use an Edwards high Vacuum rotary vane pump that I bought at a junk shop that can max my gauge to 30hg I use a one way valve to store the charge in a 150 gallon compressor tank also bought at a junk shop. I use wire braid 1-1/2" hydraulic hose and a big ball valve. This seemed (even to me lol) over kill when I built it but when I see machines built the same way the plans want you to build it my machine outperforms. I will post a video when I finish my next mold.
Yes, the vacuum charge is stored in the hot water tank in the corner. I usually take it down to 29"hg before making a pull. The Proto-Form is a great machine, really well designed and engineered. I have built a newer vac table very similar to the Proto-Form. Since it is an overhead oven, there is a lot of heat loss out of the sides. The major advantage is the plastic doesn't travel through as much air, and comes straight down on your molds. The flip flop style (like in this video) cools the plastic before it hits the table, and it contacts the molds at an angle.
This forming platen was made from two sheets of MDF sandwiched together with a 1/8" gap to act as a plenum. Then I placed .020 aluminum on top and drilled 560 holes for the vacuum to pass through. The aluminum sheet was not sealed to the MDF very tight, and the MDF allowed air to leak through as well. I upgraded to a single hole platen made from 1/8" aluminum, and the pulls became much faster and tighter.
The companies that make the smaller machines and especially the DIY plan ones are overemphasizing and exploiting the "heating element mystery" segment of the machines. It isn't THAT difficult to create your own as long as you use sound methods and common sense.
Good evening ,great video 😀😀 could I ask do you sell these backpacks if so where can I get thanks
+x23pfa Why yes, as a matter of fact I do sell the Sandtrooper Backpacks as a complete kit! Here's all of the components that go into the kit: tk386.com/sandtrooper_backpack_kit/ I'll send you a message with pricing information.
Men thanks for you video, please tell me What Is the thickness of the HIPS and the work temperature, and for the ABS too??
The black plastic is .080" thick, and the white plastic is .060" The oven heats the plastic to around 300° F HIPS is a great plastic to learn how to vacuum form since it will tolerate over heating and still produce a decent pull. Use a timer to get consistent results.
Thanks a lot my friend!!!!!
Where can I get hip plastic in the uk?
Have you ever used PVC , if so, what thickness? How was the end product as far as detail?
Initially, I tried working with 3mm Syntra, a brand of foamed PVC sheet popular with sign making shops. I was able to use a heat gun to bend it in one direction, but it was very difficult to create compound curves like you would find on a chest plate. By the time I built a vacuum forming machine, I had moved on to using HIPS and ABS.
From my experience with Syntra, I don't think you would get any detail to come through. Certainly no detail like the ribs on the white plate at the end of the video!
I know the plastic is going to stretch and ,thin out with taller ,large objects but you still got ALOT of wasted plastic in sections that could utilize smaller low height items. Keep in mind, doing vacuum forming of OTHER projects unrelated to each other too. Not everything on the platen has to be STRICTLY for just that one project.
You'll also have less webbing by providing "transition" forms.
The briquettes are from wood Thanks for the response
this is too cool, is there anyone that would help me make one of these?
Hello, do you know any place that I can get a transparent dome made that I’d (24”L x11.5”W x6.25”H) ?
It sounds like you're looking for an oval dome. I've ordered from this place and the quality is fantastic!
www.eztopsworldwide.com/ovaldomes.htm
how much would you charge for a few custom molds if i bought the acrylic sheets?
It would depend on the complexity of the molds. Also, I found working with acrylic to be rather challenging - either it cooled too fast before I could get a good pull, or I overheated the sheet which the created lots of bubbles in the plastic. Send a message to crashtoob@gmail.com and we can talk about the project further. Thanks!
Nice machine. About how long does it take for your plastic to heat up? Are you using 110V or 220V?
The oven is running on 110V at 20 amps. At 0:52 seconds you can see some notes for heating the plastic: HIPS .060" takes 1:30, & .080 takes 3:15. I've upgraded from the stopwatch to a kitchen countdown timer. Now if I'm distracted with trimming parts, the alarm helps me to avoid burning the plastic :-)
crashmannn Ah I see the times now. Didn't catch that until you mentioned they were written down. Thanks for the repy
I have an air compressor, is it suitable for emptying the air? Thanks for the reply
Usually an air compressor adds pressure to a vessel and is not designed like to extract air like a vacuum pump.
Can you please answer this question? How do you arrange shrinkage? I have tried abs thermoforming and it shink by 3% which is too much. Is it about fast cooling, over cooling or less cooling? Thank you
ABS can be very tricky to vacuum form, and the rubber content makes it want to shrink more than HIPS The shrinkage is just something you need to compensate for. My parts do not require that level of precision, so I don't worry about it.
You need to vacuum form with larger platen area to compensate for the shrinkage..plus do all you can to ensure equal heating all over the sheet. If that means adjusting your heating element or more numerous smaller hearing units then do that. But uniform heat is the key.
what are the moulds made from? How many times can they be used? and do you need air holes on the moulds as well? e.g. on cup-shaped parts.
The large box molds are made from MDF, with birch wood strips on top. The white parts are HydroCal plaster. The gray radio faceplates are BCC Kwik Kast two part epoxy resin. You definitely need holes to help evacuate the air through the molds, especially for the detailed parts like the radio.
You can get a lot of pulls from the molds - 100's! But it also depends on the shape and thickness of the mold, and how difficult it is to extract from the pulled plastic. I usually bang the plastic on a piece of foam or rubber floor mat to cushion the landing when the mold pops out. A light coating of tire shine (use the cheap stuff) eases the extraction as well :-)
Thank you so much!
The large brown molds are made from MDF glued together, shaped and sanded. The white molds are HydroCal plaster which can break if you're not careful during extraction. The gray radio faceplates are BCC Kwik Kast urethane resin, specifically designed for vacuum forming. Depending on the shape and how vigorously you bang on the plaster molds, they could go for 100 pulls. The MDF and urethane are still going strong today - hundreds of pulls!
To get in the nooks and crannies of the molds, you must have air holes. Otherwise the plastic will not be drawn down into the concave space.
I see you use abs, too. But I am not good at chemistry ;) so I dont know differences of them. Forexample, hips and eps.. I know they all polystyrene. ;)
I can find plexiglass sheets here. So I wonder can I use it and get fine result or not..
Hi again
I see you use hips. But it is difficult to find some materials in our city. What kind of plastic sheets can we use in this project? Abs, eps, plexiglass, acrylic, etc..
It depends on the final shape of your project. If there are nice flowing organic curves, then plexiglass should work. However, if you have sharp angles, then plexiglass would not give you the detail you need.
crashmannn hmm.. that means we must use abs or hips because of details and textures on surface. Thanks a lot..
If I needed several (1300) one-inch square pieces, would it be more economically viable to have them made professionally or build my own system?
It depends on the precision/quality required for the 1300 squares, and how quickly you need the pieces made.
If you're talking about flat squares, then have a plastic supply company cut them for you.
To build your own system would take quite a bit of time. Sure, you could put together the system quickly, but don't forget about the time and cost of learning how to use it, tune it to heat the plastic, and also the space required to build the machine and store the plastic.
Vacuum forming works best with objects that have tapered sides.
Vacuum forming is not good for making objects with vertical sides and corners. You will run into trouble with webbing on the corners, where the plastic gathers, then pinches together ( similar to 2:37). Plus you'll spend more time trying to extract the mold from the pulled plastic than actually heating and forming the parts!
That makes sense. Ugh! I need another way to make molds then. It's either that or buy my own 3-D Printer.
Razendra Bahadur There's loads of ways to make vac formers for near no money and use a vac cleaner to suck the air out, you can heat the sheets with a paint stripper gun, easy.
Razendra Bahadur There's loads of ways to make vac formers for near no money and use a vac cleaner to suck the air out, you can heat the sheets with a paint stripper gun, easy.
Nice
Please tell me vacuum pump power for 8*4 feet area?
It depends on how much air you need to vacuum out and if you are using a surge tank - highly recommended for that much volume! The Gast 1065 will vac 8.5cfm and get down to 28 in-mg
Check out BeloVac professional grade vacuum formers. It is what we use in our shop. Given they are expensive, they cut the molding time in half, and use a lot less energy. plus one person can operate it without any problems! Nice packs, pretty clever use of the machine.
what thickness do u recommend and material for a prop helmet good enough to wear and toss around
I prefer ABS plastic since it is more durable than brittle HIPS, but heating too long will cause an orange peel finish. Go with thin .060" if you need a lot of detail to come through in the pull. Otherwise, .090" is a nice balance between durability, weight, and cost. .125" is good if you plan on banging heads with other folks :-p)
Thank you
whats the song? very nice press btw
The song is composed by Ian Bryden and is called Nitrogen. I like the bass line :-) Thanks for the compliment on the vac table!
Que material son los moldes??
Hola! The brown rectangles are MDF wood. The white circles are plaster. The gray rectangles are special urethane resin - BC8009 Slow-Kast
sorry mi friend,how many liters per hour sucks that engine?
The vacuum pump is a Gast 1065 that can draw 14.4 m3/h www.gastmfg.com/product_detail.aspx?ProductID=135&ProductTypeID=21
you need to add another air compressor to take it out of vaccum stage so that you can add or shoot pressure back in so you won't haft to beat on your project , but nice work .
Yup, industrial vacuum forming machines have a separate valve to shoot compressed air back into the vacuum mold to release the plastic. I haven't figured out how to add that to my machine, yet...
Hello,may i ask the vacuum pressure is?
@1:12 you can see the vacuum is down to 24" of mercury and continuing to drop. Usually it is down to 29" when the plastic is ready to be formed
what is the CFM of the vacuum pump, i need to built it, thanks
The Gast 1065 vacuum pump will pull 8.5 cfm (cubic feet per minute). It will evacuate the 50 gallon hot water tank down to 29" of mercury in about 5 minutes - pretty quick! Some folks have used air conditioner vacuum pumps that run a little slower, but are just as effective. Good luck with your build!
crashmannn thank you very much, in this video you have used the 8,5 CFM pump or it is higher? what is the size of the vacuum table, i will build the same vacuum as the yours, thank you very much for replying.
The frame for the plastic is 32"x24" and you can get 6 pieces from a single 4'x8' sheet. You can read all the sordid details of how I started the table with a shop vac here: www.tk560.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=193&highlight=#193
How to get a positive (the real work) from this mold ?
I'm not sure I understand your question.
The original forms (also known as "bucks") are created using a variety of materials. MDF wood glued together, then cut with a saw and sanded smooth. Or PVC pipe from the hardware store. Or, hard foam shaped with saws and files, sanded smooth, then covered with fiberglass resin.
However, if the master is made from hard foam, I will vacuum form the plastic over it, then use that to create the production mold from two part resin. The gray nipples and mushroom caps were created in that manner.
Hopefully that answers your question :-)
crashmannn Oops, my current bucks are made of two part resin. In the video above, the molds for the white mushrooms, nipples, and Twinkies are cast in plaster (Hydrocal). The gray radio faceplate buck was originally created using plastic rectangles and clay. I made a silicone mold of the master, then poured two part resin to create the gray bucks for the vac table.
crashmannn 1 gün önce · Herkese açık olarak paylaşıldı
How to get a positive (the real work) from this mold ?
Çevir
3 YANITTAN TÜMÜNÜ GÖRÜNTÜLEYİN
crashmannn
21 saat önce
+crashmannn Oops, my current bucks are made of two part resin. In the video above, the molds for the white mushrooms, nipples, and Twinkies are cast in plaster (Hydrocal). The gray radio faceplate buck was originally created using plastic rectangles and clay. I made a silicone mold of the master, then poured two part resin to create the gray bucks for the vac table.
Devamı · Çevir
SuperPicasso05
11 dakika önce
+crashmannn so sorry for my unintelligible question. we named the mold "negative" and the finished work "positive" in our art school :))
As I understood at the end; black materials you vacuumed (polystyrene sheet?) are original parts you used on clone troopers.
I thought they were molds!
We have some original clay works. We want to get molds with that vacuuming technic. And want to get finished works from these molds with the same technic.
But the last step is the problem. I think we can't use vacuuming to get a male (finished work) from a female mold. We must not vacuum the air, we must compress it into the mold.
What do you think?
thanks for answers..
SuperPicasso05 It sounds like you need to create a "female" mold. Read the discussion here to learn the various ways to make the mold:
www.starshipmodeler.net/talk/viewtopic.php?t=100977&sid=03d5f118a15ed49406092cb826efb7a0
The danger is that you may lose your original clay master when making the mold. The benefit is you will have great surface detail when drawing the plastic down into the mold. I've used this technique with Star Trek spaceship models.
crashmannn thanks. That's what I look for.
Welcome, how do I install the wind system, thank you
0:15 Mount a plumbing flange connector on the bottom of the platen, under the hole in the center. Then use standard plumbing fittings leading to your control valve and vacuum pump.
@@matthewstrait5182 I have an air compressor, does it fit for the vacuum system
@@h.s76 Not usually. Air compressors are designed to add pressure. Vacuum pumps are designed to draw air out of a system.
Where do you get your plastic from?
+Dylan Harris Sabic Polymershapes in Jessup Maryland (301) 604-3623. Ask for Andrew and tell him Charlie sent you!
+crashmannn does he ship state wide?
Dylan Harris Certainly! Sabic Polymershapes is a nationwide company, and they have production facilities across the US. They will cut the plastic down to the size you specify for your platen, then ship it via FedEx or UPS.
+crashmannn thank you for telling me about him, hopefully I'll get some plastic from him soon.
Friend, this plastic is polypropylene?
I'm using HIPS (high impact polystyrene) and ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene). Polypropylene can be vacuum formed, but it is resistant to solvents and glue, which is needed to assemble the Sandtrooper Backpack. Check out Wikipedia to compare the three different types of plastics.
Friend, what is the thickness of the ABS card you use? Want to use a millimeter, but here in Brazil is hard to find. Hugs. Raul.
Raul César Del Priore The white ABS is .060" thick, which converts to 1.5mm. Good luck in your quest!
Where do I get transparent sheets? 🤓🤓🤓
www.polymershapes.com/ has all the varieties of plastic you could possibly desire!
It's a little big for me, So I'll go to Amazon and buy the desktop version
9gag? Anyone?
yep
Do you sell this system ? Want to buy !
Unfortunately I do not sell the system, but if you go to tk560.com, you can find all the information to build your own.
What is that plastic? Can you help me?
The black plastic is .090" HIPS (high impact polystyrene) and the white is .060" ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) What kind of help do you need?
How much vaccum pressure u r applying
@@niranjanrawle3488 I usually pull 27" to 29" of mercury with the vacuum pump and water tank vacuum chamber
Your vacuum pump power detail sir
Look up the specs on the Gast 1065
9gag brought me here
Alhamdulillah
2mm or 3,5mm
The white HIPS in the video is .060 inches which converts to 1.5mm - pretty thin. The black HIPS is .090 which converts to 2mm
Belinya di mana harga berapa
where did you get the pattern from?
Are you asking about the molds, aka "bucks?" They were custom fabricated using MDF (the brown wood), sculpting foam, or clay. We based everything on screen captures of the Sandtroopers from Star Wars.
Oh thank you :D
In my school is a vacuum forming machin. Maybe i can do something like this too😃
Hi 9GAG :D
in coming 9canzur community on 3... 2... 1...
Do you have trooper backpack for sell?
Yes I do!
I most certainly do have Sandtrooper Backpacks for sale! You can find me on MEPD.net, or send a message to crashtoob@gmail.com. Thanks!
Sell sets ? Pm me
Hi randallace, I"m not finding a way to PM you through RUclips, so just shoot me a message using crashtoob@gmail.com. Then I'll send you all the information about my current sandtrooper backpack kits - lots of parts have been improved!
Ха-ха, с браком :-)
I very strongly advise against using your kitchen oven. The heating plastic leaves nasty fumes that will get into your food later. Eww!
My oven uses coiled nichrome wire, stretched in a spiral around a 28" x 36" base of Hardibacker cement board. The coil is electrically split into 5 segments that are connected between the neutral and hot lines from a 120 volt AC power outlet, and it pulls 20 amps. All of the sordid details can be found in this posting on TK560.com www.tk560.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=193&highlight=#193