Vacuum Forming, Does anyone here do it, or know of Options

[DonTraver]

Does anyone on this forum do vacuum forming of plastic or know of anyone that does?

I have this RS emblem I would like to get made as Porsche doesn't make them anymore. The original ones are hollow, I'd like them solid. I would also probably like about 100 of them to post for sale on the RS America website. They would be sold by Keith V. who ownes the RS America site, he doesn't try to make a lot of money off the site, but just enough to keep the site going.

Here's a picture of the emblem, Thanks, Don

[Mueller]

i'd say those are injection molded if plastic...i've only designed parts that come out of the molds, last 4-part cavity we had made cost $25K, the piece parts are dirt cheap (something like .06 each for PTFE)

how about having those cast in aluminum or a pot-metal substance...paint or powder coat them afterwards.

too expensive to machine those from solid...

[MecGen]

Hi
Sorry I can't help with the emb, but I do have some experience in fabricating stuff....Aluminum cast for sure.
You can probably find a local shop to give you a price. Funny thing is just today I had started to inquire about prices for a set up for stuff like that. I was thinking for a sideline (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/aktion035.gif)
Hope it works out for you.
WBR
Joe

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/party.gif)

[MattR]

I work for a company that does vaccum forming (rc car bodies), and like mike said if you want a solid part dont do vaccu forming. I would have to agree with cast parts. Its inexpensive, short production run, and has a nice finish. The only problem is the tolerances are tough to keep with the type of casting I'm familiar with (not typical die casting). But this doesnt matter for a badge.

You could injection mold it too. 25k is really steep for a mold, even with 4 parts. Our most complex mold involved about 8 slides, and probably 20 ejection pins (pretty complex) and cost around 10k including programming. That badge couldnt cost more then 5k, but again, if you're looking at doing 100, its not worth it. I agree with casting though.

[DonTraver]

Pot metal may be too heavy, aluminum might work, I forget what the shrinkage rate is for aluminum.

They are attached with double sided tape, and it's real easy to catch the emblem when you're washing, drying, or dusting the car with a car duster, hence, they break.

I was thinking vacuum molding for a form, then maybe a two part epoxy plastic, maybe JB weld even, just so it's light and will stay on at speed.

I think that would be good for a couple of them, but too have enough for the other guys who've had theirs break like mine did, some other process might be available and at a reasonable price.

Any other ideas, Thanks Again, Don

[scotty b]

If you know someone with a cnc mill he could write a program and let it cut all day. At $30.00 a piece you could prolly sell several and make a little $

[Mueller]

QUOTE (scotty b @ Feb 17 2005, 06:55 PM)

If you know someone with a cnc mill he could write a program and let it cut all day. At $30.00 a piece you could prolly sell several and make a little $

laser or waterjet to cut the outline (2D), then run a CNC program to add the rounds to the outside edges... (2.5D)

[DonTraver]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'll start looking into some of them tomorrow.

Any other suggestions would also be appreciated.

Thanks again, Don

[dmenche914]

Make a silicone rubber mold, and cast them out of two part urethane See Tapp plastics for materials

[MecGen]

Hey dmenche914
You got alink to that place ?
You can PM me
Thanx
Joe

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/rock_band.gif)

[rick 918-S]

QUOTE (dmenche914 @ Feb 17 2005, 06:28 PM)

Make a silicone rubber mold, and cast them out of two part urethane See Tapp plastics for materials

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/agree.gif)

[lapuwali]

Eastwood has a kit for making molds and plastic parts from them just like this.

[redshift]

Talk to a custom jewler in your area.

Lost wax casting was made for that part, and cheap to setup.

[scotty914]

heck i could do a rubber mold and a cast on those and it would cost a buck a peice at 100 peices, but thats no profit, i would do em for 5 to 10 a piece. and you could have the mold afterward. then you just need to figure out what finish you want, i would say you could take em to a body shop and get a nice silver paint on all of em in one shot for 50 bucks, if you waited till the shop had to do a silver car.

[Dr Evil]

I could get them made out of acrylic by my friend with a laser lathe.

[scotty b]

QUOTE (Dr Evil @ Feb 17 2005, 08:38 PM)

I could get them made out of acrylic by my friend with a laser lathe.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/sad.gif) I need to move to Cali, you guys have all the cool toys (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif)

[DonTraver]

Talked to a friend this morning, they'd done stuff like this before, so I went to Michaels Craft Store. They had a small latex kit, with casting resin. So I'll give that a try, while it rains this weekend.

Thanks everyone for all your help, if it turns out ok, I'll post a picture.

Later, Don

[DonTraver]

Well, here's a picture of the one I made and the real one. I think it turned out pretty good. Made the mold out of latex, so it's reuseable. Took 2 days to make the mold, the latex dries real slow, even with heat. The fiberglass resin was ready in about 30 minutes, then filing and sanding, painted it with black primer, all I had available. Think black satin finish will match original better.

Oh yeah, the original stills has release agent on it. So don't cap on that. I was kind of in a hurry to see how it would turn out. This one is the 36.5mm emblem. Now to talk Keith out of his 40mm emblem to make a mold of that.

Thanks everyone for you help, Take Care Don

[Dr Evil]

Very cool, Don. I need to cast me a 2.7SC emblem.

[GWN7]

Looks Great (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smilie_pokal.gif)