I am swaying t'wards Thurston James' ideas for building a 24"X24" vacuum forming machine. Most of the people who build them are making "armor" or science fiction costumes. I'm building one for the sign industry...

Has anyone here made one? Seen a made one? Have a vacuum pump for *ahem* Give away?

refrigerator pump will work we made one in high school for shop project but that was sometime ago not sure if the newer ones work on the same principal but should

The newest Make Magazine had an "How to build section on this."


Regards,
Traynor

Depending on the detail you want, height of your mold, thickness of the material, type of material etc..
A shop vac will do the job just fine.

Thicker material, to a certain extent, forms better than thin material because it holds heat longer.

You can make a simple box that your shop vac hose will plug into. Put a two or three inch hole in center of the top plate of the box. Cover the top plate with a coarse screen material, this lets the suction draw evenly. Make a frame to hold your plastic. The frame should be a close fit around the outside of your box. Clamp the plastic to the frame. Throw the frame and plastic, Do This ONLY after the Wife has left the house , into the oven. Set the frame up on some bricks and watch for a good sag in the plastic. Turn on your vac, pull the framed plastic out of the oven and watch the magic.

By the way you might want to wear some gloves.