Remaking plastic parts

[Twilight]

Well seeing as im going to be cut a lot of hours because of a torn rotator cuff. I want to see interest if anyone wants me to try some repro parts. Now to be honest, I am surprised that not too many people have tried it. You can make the machine with 6 hours of time and about 300 bucks. My last one after reading into it was poorly made, so im going to be re-making the whole thing.

So here it is, in a month or so im going to be doing this. My old table was what I thought 20x20, but I must have been a idiot to think that, because its 15x15. New one will be 24x24 probably. I didnt take any pictures but this time I will. Also I can do a quick explanation of what it is;

1) Make the vacuum side. Its basically a box. My first one was a 15X15. I used a piece of wood for the base with a hole for the vacuum hose., some 1x4's for the sides and pegboard for the top. After sealing it and getting it all together, you have your vacuum side.

2) Make the frame, should be a half inch bigger than the vacuum side. this for me was metal...which was stupid, but w/e. All it has to do is seal the plastic to the vacuum side. When I was done I put some high temp sealnt on it.

3) I used my oven, GF doesnt like that though as it smelled bad, and kinda ruined the inside, but anyway, i placed the piece of plastic in the oven on the frame until it was hot enough to ripple with my touch...yup. Then when hot enough used oven mits to remove it.

4) Turn your vacuum on... I used a shop vac with like 2HP...bleh. Get the plastic out of the oven and place it ontop of the mold of what your making, make sure the sides seal and use some gloves to press it on to any grooves or indents.

After about 6 times I got something I was happy with. Just to let you all know I made it when I was 15 for science project. After all the years the pegboard is broken, frame is bent, doesnt seal in some places..yeah. So i scrapped it.

But with all these parts showing up, I want to make something better that will help to reproduce. Only problem is the molds, molds are sometimes hard to make, but if anyone here can. I will build a better vacuum-former and get to work. The plastic sheets are cheap too, so no biggie there.

So... any interest, or questions?

[motoman110]

Man I sure could use some short track shrouds... lol To me it sounds like a good idea. Itd help keep some of the more rare parts around, well at least make some replicas of the hard to find plastic. We need more options for old school number plates! and short track shrouds.. lol

[Twilight]

I did a pair of ST shrouds for a member. They werent by any means perfect (went off of some crappy ones to begin with), but he liked em.

If you can make the mold, I can make the part. Trimming and finishing is the hardest part, but if you wanna do that yourself, then im all for it.

Like all my machines, I'll sell for what it cost me to do. I never charge for time or labor.

[hublake]

Sorry to hear about the torn rotator cuff. Thats a bad injury and the rehab is hard. I just had a shoulder replacement surgery last Nov. went through 8 weeks of rehab and my arm is still not very good. They say it could be up to a year before it feels good. I have hardly any pain but very little strength in the arm. Good luck.

[Dammit!]

Man I sure could use some short track shrouds... lol To me it sounds like a good idea. Itd help keep some of the more rare parts around, well at least make some replicas of the hard to find plastic. We need more options for old school number plates! and short track shrouds.. lol

I'm pretty sure Tony (Aussieduner) makes short track shrouds already. Contact him on 3wheeler.org.

[Saul]

old school style front numberplates are needed.

[firehart]

I like a new front fender for my 83 185s

[honda250sx]

So i am pretty sure the gases that the plastic give off (bad smell) in your oven that your using to cook in is toxic. This sounds like a bad idea to me.

Just like powdercoat, you never use the oven you plan to cook your food in...

[Saul]

So i am pretty sure the gases that the plastic give off (bad smell) in your oven that your using to cook in is toxic. This sounds like a bad idea to me.

Just like powdercoat, you never use the oven you plan to cook your food in...

Don't be a girl. Worst that could happen is death! :lol:

[Twilight]

Not all plastic is toxic, do research =)

[outtaline]

if you abs plastic it is only toxic if you burn it its the same thing milk jugs are made of so don't catch it on fire and your fine I wish I could make them I got a million Ideas but no time

[Twilight]

the new one im making plans for will have an oven built into it.

[honda250sx]

I'm not refering to research your project. Maybe you should be more clear. I could careless about making parts. You know there will always be some genious willing to throw something in an oven and cook in it later.

Hell while camping last year I watched a family with a large toy hauler throw there dogshit in a there campfire and make dinner on the fire minutes later.

[Twilight]

Man what is with trike owners being so pissy. You stated something and I did in return, dont get your panties in a bunch =)

[honda250sx]

Suck it up nancy. Relax.

[Saul]

Man what is with trike owners being so pissy. You stated something and I did in return, dont get your panties in a bunch =)

LMFAO - so damn true. But to be honest, it isn't all trike owners. Just the half a dozen or so who go on the forums and know more about life then anyone else. :lol:

[Saul]

Hell while camping last year I watched a family with a large toy hauler throw there dogshit in a there campfire and make dinner on the fire minutes later.

Flavor man. Flavor.

[Twilight]

Suck it up nancy. Relax.

I am relaxed, maybe you should suck it up?

I am trying to make a repro of my cr250 shrouds right now, im 20-30min i should hopefully have something nice to show, haha

[Saul]

I am relaxed, maybe you should suck it up?

Careful now - you don't want 'the clique' all ganging up on you and rating your posts 'thumbs down' so they get hidden/deleted! (have a look at all of my recent posts) :rolleyes:


I am trying to make a repro of my cr250 shrouds right now, im 20-30min i should hopefully have something nice to show, haha

Good for you bro. I hope they turn out good. :beer

[Twilight]

Well, edges are thin also a little warped, but here it is. I say farewell to the vacu-former today, a new one shall arise.

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j27/TwilightOfHeaven/DSC_0183.jpg
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j27/TwilightOfHeaven/DSC_0184.jpg

Any imperfections in the mold show, as you can see. That white line is a cat hair that got stuck, sorry.

[factoryX]

where do you get plastic?

[Twilight]

Local hobby shop

[factoryX]

ok, this is bomb, I am going to try this on my trx250r hood and tank cover and maybe tri-z shrouds..

[Twilight]

In my opinion, holes are the hardest part. The machine I scrapped had uneven vacuum power and mounts were ugly on it.

Im going do make my new one after the Thurston James machine, found a book at Barnes and Noble that gives good examples on how to build one.

[factoryX]

lol I have cord grinder that will take care of the holes, also have a 3.5 shop vac for the table set up.

[factoryX]

also wont it be bigger than the origanal piece?

[Twilight]

Thats where the mold comes in, for me, its placing the piece into plaster, cleaning it the best, then make another mold from that. Then the plastic will stretch over the second piece. It is sometimes off, but really its a chance.

Some pieces will be spot on, other may need some sanding on the mold.

I got a bigger shop vac from craigslist thats 5ho today =)

[factoryX]

its not to hard then, I get it. problem is, what to make the table out of?

[Twilight]

i'll go through that book tomorrow and let you know whats needed. i'll be off at around 5-6pm, haha need to sleep.

Im making my new one out of metal, that peg board was ****

[factoryX]

lol peg board is now off the idea list... I have an idea how to do it, but I want to see you do it first.

[Saul]

Very nice!!

You really outta try to make/create some old school style numberplates.

[Twilight]

Thats what im hoping to do is make extras. Best thing is that the plastic is like 20.00 a roll... very cheap. Not sure about other colors but black is cheap

[factoryX]

anyway the table?

[Twilight]

okay well i just typed up like 8 paragraphs and piece of **** firefox shut down on me.... im not typing it all again. I found a site that has great instructions so instead of typing all that again, heres the site;

http://www.tk560.com/vactable4.html

I will be going this route instead of the books route. Both are similar, but this one seems easier.

[factoryX]

lol, I found this yesterday....

[Twilight]

onlt difference in mine will be the size. im going to make mine a wee bit bigger. And the hinge idea, a few sealing options. Other than that its a great machine he has. Already looks like it would work better than my older model haha

[factoryX]

I like the on board oven..

[Twilight]

I do too, but it looks like it has heating issues... maybe the reflective tape should be around the whole base to create a hotter setup?

surgery went well... in at 3am out at 7am, not bad