While looking for an inexpensive local source of vacuum forming plastic for experimenting, I’ve started taking notice of plastic “to go” food containers and the plastic disposable picnic plates. The large plates and containers have flat areas that might could be used for making small parts. Anybody tried using this material? They look like they may have been vacuum formed themselves.
funny you say this. being easter i have noticed the packaging used for the easter egg’s have really nice “vacuum formed” shapes. i almost started cutting shapes out…
these “to go” packaging shapes are a nice cheap why to create shells etc for robotic projects. a bit a spray paint and they would work perfectly.
enen been looking at the vacuum formed packaging for kids toys, as the have more detail.
I’ve been generally eyeballing the flat unformed surfaces of the black bottom/clear top “to go” containers and the large plastic disposable plates. Eight 8" plates are $1 at the local DollarTree store. I think I’ve seen larger flat bottomed disposable plastic party trays at Walmart that have a larger flat bottom. I’ll look for the party trays when I go to the store tonight. Just remembering how the plastic plates behave when accidently heated in an oven, they might vacuum form. 
you can only try…
i ordered some thermoforming plastic sheets, but once i started heating
them i soon realised they wouldnt form as they folded under the heat
rather than create a nice soft floppy sheet.
its best that you find the right stuff.
the plastic you find in packaging “the pre-vacuum formed” is ok to use.
just make sure that if you are going to use these flat areas to form from,
that you keep the room vented!
Im new here and im not shore if anyone is still watching this tread
but i just finished building my vaccume table and to test it i used some cheap “for sale” signs they fit my small table perfict so far i have tested diffrent thickness of plastics from hobbytown about .08 to .04 and those do well just the thicker the plastic the longer you have to heat it.
i use a wagner heat gun from wal-mart was about 20$ usd and has high and low settings low is 750f and high is 1000f i heat it on high and have found that you can apply heat while you are forming to work in spots that my need it
Got a picture of your table? I would like to see it.
yea i will take a pic at lunch 2 day its a lil crude but it gets the job done 
yep I do the same thing with the heatgun used to apply monocote to my r/c planes. 
ok here are some pics of my vacuum table
this is the table and media holding frame i just staple the sheet to the frame
http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo35/lokiwizz/DSC00734.jpg
this is with the media holding frame laying in place
http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo35/lokiwizz/DSC00735.jpg
this is with the for sale sign to show the size
http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo35/lokiwizz/DSC00737.jpg
this is with adapter for shop vack
http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo35/lokiwizz/DSC00738.jpg
That looks very easy to make. Thanks for taking the time to snap those pictures. Is that black nossle for a wet/dry vacuum?
yes its a easy diy project i just watched sum videos on youtube about them
an set out to build mine
the adapter came with our sears/craftsman wet/dry shop vack
also i made it to fit the size sheet i could get at my LHS
the sheets are 11x7.5 if i remember correct.
tower hobby also has the same sheets
Very neat! have you made anything with it yet?
not for my brat project but have been working on a cd/dvd drive cover for my lil bro’s xbox 360 we put in a old dell case
This looks like a easy to build tool to make great looking robot parts! I’m in for some pics of parts made by it!
im still testing it for the most part i think im going to attach the media holder to it with some hinges and put a gasket on for a better seal
i built it with my brat in mind but im not shore what kind of parts to make
any ideas or pics of something to help spark my creative idea prosses
and i will def post some pic of the parts when i make (um what ever they might be)
Well you asked…
One of these days I’m going to make some BRAT robots that look like these guys…
hay i remember that movie i was like 2 when it came out
that would not be to hard to do i dont think
but not realy what id like to do thanks you tho and good luck with that.
These guys were well cool. a remake would be good. “Batterys not included” was the prob what influenced me into robotic’s. well apart from terminator, and jim’ you could always build the “T100”!
I’ve been scrounging around for parts to make a vacuum former using a heat gun and vacuum cleaner I have. I’ve got some of the 9" thin disposable plastic plates for a plastic source. For the test vacuum table I’ll try a 7"x11" metal cooking pan with a piece of plywood on top with the air holes drilled in it. Since the plates are round I can have a hole in the corner of the plywood to insert a short piece of clear .5" plastic tubing to connect to the inlet of the vacuum cleaner. Some thin foam weather stripping around the outside parameter of the holes to make an air seal when the plywood plate holder is pushed down on the top of the table will be added. To make an “oven” to hold and heat the plastic plate I’m going to try making a gizmo that looks something like a boy scout stove made from a large ~1 gal. tin can (or maybe a round charcoal starter). On the closed end of the can will be a hole for the heat gun nozzle to be stuck into. On the open end of the can will be a piece of thin plywood with a large hole that is ~ the size of the plastic plate so the plate can be stapled to the plywood covering the open end of the can. Around the open end of the can some hot air exhaust holes are needed which can be made with a “church key”. The idea is to heat the plate using the heat gun until it gets soft and saging, then place it on top of the table which has the mold on top of it. The hardest part will probably be cutting the round heat gun hole in the end of the can and the large round hole in the thin plywood. First thing to do is see how the thin plastic plates behave when heated with a heat gun, then assemble the table and test how much vacuum is actually applied to something placed on it. An alternative to the heat gun and can will be to staple the plate to its plywood holder and place in a hot oven, depending on how much smell is generated.
wow sounds like a good diy vacuum table to me. i would like to see it
when your done. if you have good heat gun i think you can get away with not making a “oven” gizmo. i just heat mine in open air holding the heat gun about 2 to 3 inches away working from the outside to the inner of the media and repeat until it is sagging in the middle. the only part of your build im not shore on is the .5 tubing. is it the tubing like the kind used in fish tanks, if so i think you should reconsider altho i may be wrong but to me i would want to use the biggist diamiter tubing i could find. to provide a grater volume of air to be pulled. the better it flows the
faster you table will pull the media down and form. agian i my be wrong thow anybody care to add or correct me if im wrong. other than that one thing i think you should be on your way to some custom parts given you plastic plates work out.