Plastic Vacuum Forming Process
Vacuum forming plastic sheets is the process of heating a sheet of plastic to the point where it is flexible and can easily be formed into plastic products.
Once the plastic sheet has been heated to this point, it is removed from the heating area and stretched over either a male or female mold to thermoform plastic parts. Vacuum pressure is then used to draw the plastic tightly over or into the mold as it is cooled back to its rigid state.
Once the plastic has returned to its rigid state the vacuum formed plastic product is taken from the mold and the part moves on to the finishing process. The plastic finishing process includes trimming and any other cosmetic work needed.
The thermoforming plastic process as a whole is relatively simple, which means that compared to other plastic forming methods like injection or blow molding, the cost for vacuum forming thermoplastics tends to be lower.
Advantages of Vacuum Forming Plastic
Vacuum forming plastic has many advantages.
An added benefit of vacuum forming plastic products is that we can also generate Rapid Tooling Prototyping through our in-house rapid tooling facility.
Along with low cost tooling, other advantages include:
Rapid Response to Design Changes
Flexibility in Plastic Part Size
Flexibility in Quantity of Plastic Part Runs
A High Degree of Control Over the Cosmetic Aspects of A Plastic Part
Short Lead Times
The thermoforming plastic process can create both large and very small parts with the “part runs” ranging from a few prototypes, to hundreds or even thousands, as our customer’s needs change.
Plastic thermoforming is excellent for creating aesthetically pleasing, long lasting plastic products and parts, which will see an extended lifetime of use.
About the Facilities
at Our Vacuum Forming Company
Lemac Manufacturing Co (LMC) has 6 different vacuum formers to accommodate various rapid tooling requirements, and has created plastic parts ranging in size from 1”x 1” with a depth of 1”, up to 10’ x 10’ parts with a depth of 3’.
Having 6 thermoformers creates redundancy on the shop floor, allowing us to do multiple thermoforming plastic part runs at once. It also prevents production halts due to scheduling conflicts or equipment failure. (We do not like equipment repair, but we have not failed to prepare!)
LMC has redundancy in its vacuum and finishing systems as well so thermoforming your plastic product will always be done on time.
Plastic Finishing Process
Our plastic finishing process utilizes a variety of tools depending on the part being created and the tolerances required by our customers.
Our most effective machine for finishing is the 5 axis CNC which allows us to make plastic parts with repeatable tolerances that don’t degrade over time.
Every thermoformed plastic product we make is tested throughout the finishing process to ensure it stays within micrometers of the specifications created in the original drawing and prototype.
Vacuum Forming Quality Control
During the vacuum forming process, each thermoformed plastic product is assessed for quality from the beginning to the end.
Every sheet of plastic is looked at to ensure it meets our standards before it goes into the vacuum former.
Once thermoformed, each plastic part is checked to ensure there were no problems during the heating and vacuum forming process.
As the thermoformed plastic product is trimmed and finished it is measured to ensure it has stayed within the required tolerances.
It is our goal to produce the HIGHEST QUALITY thermoformed plastic parts we possibly can for you, our customer. We incorporate that ideal into every stage of production.
Ask Us About Our Vacuum Forming Services
Using the vacuum forming process Lemac Manufacturing specializes in creating custom plastic products. We can help you with:
Vacuum Forming Automotive
Vacuum Forming Marine
Vacuum Forming Medical Device
Vacuum Forming Industrial
Lemac Manufacturing services clients throughout Washington State and the Pacific Northwest. Ask us about vacuum forming services for Oregon, Montana, British Columbia and Alberta.
For more information about our Vacuum Forming Services using ABS, PVS, HIPS, HDPE, acrylic and other plastic materials, please email our Plastics Thermoforming professionals or call us at 360-756-1720.
What Lemac Believes
Lemac company policy is that there is no challenge we won’t
take on! We are dedicated to excellent customer service; our goal is
to provide the highest quality parts with the shortest lead times at
the most competitive prices possible.
LMC & Environmental Stewardship:
Lemac is committed to environmental stewardship. One of our
first priorities when we moved into our new facility was
retrofitting the entire building to use low energy light
bulbs. We implemented a recycling program that encompasses
both our shop floor and our offices. All of the plastic trimmed during
the production process is reground and recycled into usable plastic.
We use that same recycled plastic to produce our parts.